Yellow Top, Red Top, or Otherwise?

DISCLAIMER: Before I get the "yOu cAN uSe teH SUrCh FuNKsHuN!" know that there's so much information packed here on random battery data (and much of it is out of date) that for that function to remain relevant you'd need to have some further methods to parse data. If you don't believe me, well, use the search function and see for yourself. With that said, yes I did do a good bit of reading, which didn't seem to help.

QUESTION: So I managed to rapid-drain my battery a few times and now that temps are dropping here in CO I'm starting to have issues with drain. An overnight gets a slow crank. Or if I park it for a few hours on a colder than normal day, the same occurs. It's just time for a new battery. I have no history on the current battery other than it is an Autocraft Platinum AGM with no date code for some reason. And it is smaller than the tray...

I have a lot of LED lights and expect to run some with just battery power for short durations (less than 10 min before starting the engine)... overlanding set-up stuff and occasionally using the smaller lights to check/set-up areas.

I've seen mixed reviews on batteries (because I did use the search function) and it left me with:

- It's a crapshoot, they all suck or they're all great
- Yellow tops are better because deep cycle for goodies but suck to start (wut?)
- Red tops are better because not deep cycle and are good for starting but not for extended use
- Optimas suck because they fail before you install them and they sound like Transformers

Thoughts?

 

North Star for the win

 

I have had the same issues with the stock 27F Duralast, Super Start, Diehard etc. I went through 4 (?) batteries (5 year warranty from Autozone) I believe before I finally had enough.

I have several LEDs and electrical upgrades on my truck. Like you, here in the Midwest, it was ALWAYS when the winter months showed up and the temps dipped. I was finally able to remedy this by upgrading the wimpy 27F to a 31M. I was torn between a dual battery setup and a beefier dual battery system. Ultimately, to keep it simple, I went with the 31M. If I need more power, I will setup a system in the bed for auxiliary and solar.

Since upgrading to the 31m, the truck fires right up in the cold with no issues. VERY happy.

This is the battery I went with. You will need a new battery tray to house the bigger battery (also linked below) :

https://www.batteriesplus.com/produ...jio6IV4yHgHOahW0JQ9rhJl5w1mViBcBoCaCcQAvD_BwE

Battery Tray:

https://cbioffroadfab.com/product/3rd-gen-tacoma-battery-tray-group-31-size/

 

Thanks man! That was super helpful and I'll be looking into this, though I'll probably have to get an 'interim' battery. I'm also considering the dual battery setup given my intended uses for the truck, and this seems like a good start (both literally and figuratively).

 

That's one of the names I saw digging around in the search function results. I'm unfamiliar with them but I'll do some research for sure. Thanks for the testimony on both!

Edit:

I wonder how much this supply-line nonsense is going to affect my options...

 

Yellow! Had Optimas in our vehicles for years with ZERO issues. Yellow in the truck, Red in wife’s SUV and dual Blue’s in my boat… never a single issue!

 

I've had two yellers in my truck for about 10 years and they are holding up just fine for both starting and draining when camping and such. Maybe the newer ones the quality went down but mine have never given me any issues.

 

I got 10 years out of my first Optima back in the day. The last one lasted just long enough to get it out of warranty (3 years). The rapid drop in quality once Johnson Controls bought he brand has been well documented. I'll never buy another one, that's for sure.

 

My interim battery (for a year or two) was duralast IIRC. Once a year, around November/December I had to exchange it. Luckily I had the warranty. Definitely recommend a dual battery, but, it gets pricey. The space they require (either under the hood or in the cab behind the rear seats was a deterrent for me as well.

Odysseys are good batteries. If you look up "Expedition Overland" on Youtube, that is all they run. They definitely put their rigs and equipment through their paces. One of the reasons I chose to go with General Tires (coming soon).

The supply line issue will definitely affect your options. Some off the shelf battery with a decent warranty will do nicely for now.

 

I've actually watched a bunch of those (cannot stand the 'leader' though). Anyway, I never realized they used those batteries. Good stuff, and for sure those rigs see some hard use. That's a good endorsement for sure.

 

That's a really interesting statement, and now that I think on it almost all of the ringing endorsements for Optima come from folks who have had really long ownerships, but the failure replies have been within about 3-5 years. Okay, I'm a bit of a research geek so...

Optima was Optima until about 2019 when Johnson Controls bought them. That would leave a couple of years (not the 3-5 year fail mark) of production.
Johnson controls apparently just sold off their battery business (seems foolish) to Brookfield Business Partners ALSO in 2019. I'm guessing they flipped it when they realized they could get money for a declining quality product. I wonder what drove the (alleged) quality drop that seems to have occured around 2014-2016ish?

Not that any of that really matters for the discussion at hand, but from an avionics production background I find this stuff fascinating.

 

Feel you there. I have been rewatching the series lately..the amount of cringe...

 

Not sure if this is the testimony you’re looking for. Had an Odyssey 27f battery and HO alternator for my stereo. At idle, in gear, the Odyssey would drop to 12.3v. I now have a Northstar 27f, and I don’t drop below 13v now.

 

Yellow. I run 2 in my truck currently. They have been in there for 3.5 years now, with not even a hint of an issue.

My wife has a red. My son has a red.

I have run Optimas in ALL OF my rigs since the early 90s. That includes offroad vehicles with lights, and wenches, and all the other bells and whistles... as well as cars with stereos pushing 1000w, 2000w, 4000w, 6000w and more. They have always done their job, and have always lasted well past the warranty. As a matter of fact, I've never had an Optima fail on me. They have always outlasted my ownership of what ever vehicle they were in.


Optima Quality did not decline... Optimas were long considered the "best" because they were the "only" (real) option in their class. When other options came on the market. Frivolous people who want the next, shiniest, newest, thing started looking at those options and decided Optimas weren't as good. Because they weren't the new thing.

That is what happened.

 

Interesting take, and perhaps accurate (I can't say, I don't have any data on one side or the other). What I would ask though is how you account for the reported failures that don't seem to be all that elusive? I know for sure that 1 person can leave 10 reviews of an unusual and rare failure. That makes it seem like 10 instances instead of one. And I'm quite positive that's at least a portion of what I'm finding, but it certainly can't be all of them. When I search for Northstar or Odyssey battery failures, I don't find nearly as many reports. That could possibly be to lower sales, thus smaller exposure to report those failures. Tough to say, but I'm interested in your thoughts.

 

Tell me you're more of a stud than me without telling me you're more of a stud than me. LOL

 

Some more interesting stuff (this thread didn't come up in the search for some reason). I did a search "Northstar battery, tacoma" and it queued this thread which does detail more of the Optima history.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-northstar-agm-battery-voltage-booster-upgrade.604478/

 

Most of the time Optima failures can be attributed to lack of adequate charging (AGM usually require a better charging system than stock) (this would effect any AGM though) and improper wiring. Which is especially funny because a lot of the time I see people make the comment that "Optima is junk, I pulled it out and replaced it with ____ (fill in the blank) off the shelf (non AGM) battery and it works just fine." Which is basically saying their charging system is junk and only adequate enough to support the factory load.

The ONLY time I have seen an Optima fail and need replacement was in a friends truck. He was running dual (yellow) batteries. His system was incorrectly wired so his solenoid between batteries had constant power (instead of true ignition) which left the solenoid open all the time, and the batteries continually equalizing, and killing each other.


Nothstar, Odyssey and others are not as well represented in the market, as you said. Also, It's more likely that someone just picks up an Optima, off the shelf, from Napa, O'reily's, etc and puts it in their vehicle like any other battery, as a replacement, in vehicle that already has a problem undiagnosed. Northstar, Odyssey, etc are more likely to be replaced by someone who knows what they are doing, and in a newer vehicle.




Sure, there are stories about things all the time. Read Amazon reviews on an item you are 100% satisfied with... 1000% BET there is at least 4 or 5 Karens posting a review about how shitty the product is. All I can tell you is I've had Optimas in my vehicles (every single one of them) for the better part of 30 years. The Optimas in my vehicles today work just as good as the one's I ran in 1993.

 

I've run Optima in the past and wasn't thrilled. Also have tried Kinetik with unsatisfactory results as well. TBH the Duralast Gold batteries have outperformed them in my experiences and carry a better warranty. Nothing here has lasted me more than 2.5 years but I live in AZ so YMMV. I will be doing a NorthStar in the Taco once the time comes.