Dumb Question - Any particular battery to get when replacing? (1 Viewer)

[tea LC]

(searched)

Went on sears.com and others to see my options, but I can't find any besides diehard and panasonic -

so, whats a good battery to get???

TIA

 

[brent]

optima is probably one of the best out there, I got a Die Hard International, big battery but would get an optima if I did it again or didn't need one as fast as I did.................try a search and see what pops up

 

[tea LC]

thanks for the suggestion... i just did a search on the optima site and found bupkis for the landcruiser???

optima search

do you know what size is recommended?

optima is probably one of the best out there, I got a Die Hard International, big battery but would get an optima if I did it again or didn't need one as fast as I did.................try a search and see what pops up

 

[Boston Mangler]

Not sure how local you are to a Sears or a Pep Boys, but they usually have them for pretty cheap. Could just drive over there and compare, maybe even bring in your old one! Also, i have seen them at costco for as little as $89

 

[tea LC]

i think the question was more whats the 'best' battery vs. where can i get a battery, but whatever..

i like your old set up:

what size tires?

Not sure how local you are to a Sears or a Pep Boys, but they usually have them for pretty cheap. Could just drive over there and compare, maybe even bring in your old one! Also, i have seen them at costco for as little as $89

 

[Boston Mangler]

i think the question was more whats the 'best' battery vs. where can i get a battery,

Thats always spark for debate, some will swear by optima, some will say their optimas have died, some love those new Exide Orbitals that napa sells, its all a matter or preference. With technology where its at with these new sealed units, they are almost all the same thing anyway! Personally, when i find a nice 80 and if it needs a new battery, i will be going with the exide orbital. I am a land surveyor and we run a GPS unit a fair amount of the time while working and the base station is run off of a car battery and if we are working long days it is often run totally dead. The battery i am talking about is a Exide Orbital Marine battery and have had it for over 2 years and it is CONTSTANTLY getting charged and drained all the way down and has never failed us! That has me sold! Again, its all a matter of preference!

Oh, and the tire size on my old rig was 35x12.5x16 or 315/something i forget

 

[tea LC]

thanks guys.. guess its between

1. Exide Orbital

or

2. Optima

---

BM, for the exide there were two different marine types (34M or 34DC) -- and your sure its OK to use marine batteries for the LC?

 

[Boston Mangler]

BM, for the exide there were two different marine types (34M or 34DC) -- and your sure its OK to use marine batteries for the LC?

I dont see why not. Personally i would use a red top battery for starting, but thats me. I dont know much on the subject, so i wont pretend too. I am sure others will chime in.

Thanks

 

[rgsiii]

Every battery has people who love or hate it. At a large NAPA store in Memphis, the guy at the counter strongly discouraged me from getting an Orbital. He seemed pretty well informed. I don't know if a bad batch came through there or what.

I have yellow top Optima's, but you get into the same sort of story with it in some circles.

 

[MLX450]

I like the optima D31M. Blue top and its larger than the regular optimas so they fit your battery tray very well. (It's not in the pic)

 

[Cruiserdrew]

The D31M Optima does fit the 80 series, barely. I'm running that in mine with no issues. If you use that battery, you really have to work a bit to get the stock hold down in place. Once it's in, it fills the space completely and has lots of reserve power. Great if you have a fridge or a winch. I've posted this pic before, so sorry if it looks familiar.

 

[flowman]

Not an expert, and i dont' know anyone w/ an exide so I can't say anything about them, but the optimas fall into three types; starting batterys (red top), deep cycle (blue, or "marine") and dual purpose (yellow top). Starting batteries are designed to be run down only slightly while starting a vehicle, and be charged up frequently (your allternator). They don't last long if they're completely discharged and then completely recharged.

Blue tops are designed to be completely discharged and then completely recharged over and over. This happens a lot in boats, expecially running trolling motors.

Yellow tops are a compromise--they can provided heavy current for starting, but also be drained down (by winching?) and then recharged over and over.

You can get away with any of them for a while--my dual battery system (some day!) will probably be a yellow for starting and a blue for accesories. Although I will be looking into the exides.....

 

[tea LC]

good summary on the optima color scheme thanks

i'm sold on the blue optima so thanks for the timely input, everyone

last question: which northeast retailer would carry said battery? i'm hoping to pick this up tomorrow morning.

Not an expert, and i dont' know anyone w/ an exide so I can't say anything about them, but the optimas fall into three types; starting batterys (red top), deep cycle (blue, or "marine") and dual purpose (yellow top). Starting batteries are designed to be run down only slightly while starting a vehicle, and be charged up frequently (your allternator). They don't last long if they're completely discharged and then completely recharged.

Blue tops are designed to be completely discharged and then completely recharged over and over. This happens a lot in boats, expecially running trolling motors.

Yellow tops are a compromise--they can provided heavy current for starting, but also be drained down (by winching?) and then recharged over and over.

You can get away with any of them for a while--my dual battery system (some day!) will probably be a yellow for starting and a blue for accesories. Although I will be looking into the exides.....

 

[Bryan E.]

I was looking at some magazines today, and found an article about the new larger Optima yellowtop. I believe it was a group 31 size. It had about 30% more power, CCA's etc. Sounded like it would definetly be worth looking into craming the larger size battery into the factory box especially if you're just running one battery. Same size as Andrew's pic. above. Nice job Andrew!

 

[tea LC]

hmmmmm.... if you still have the mag see if it has a model # and i'll compare tomorrow at the store if they have

thx

I was looking at some magazines today, and found an article about the new larger Optima yellowtop. I believe it was a group 31 size. It had about 30% more power, CCA's etc. Sounded like it would definetly be worth looking into craming the larger size battery into the factory box especially if you're just running one battery. Same size as Andrew's pic. above. Nice job Andrew!

 

[tea LC]

this could be it - says its the "THE NEW GROUP 31 OPTIMA Battery!"

DETAILS

$184 tho < ouch

 

[BOUNDER]

thanks guys.. guess its between

1. Exide Orbital

or

2. Optima

---

BM, for the exide there were two different marine types (34M or 34DC) -- and your sure its OK to use marine batteries for the LC?

I guess the Sears Diehard International is to ordinary for this crowd - not sexy enough

 

[MLX450]

The D31M Optima does fit the 80 series, barely. I'm running that in mine with no issues. If you use that battery, you really have to work a bit to get the stock hold down in place. Once it's in, it fills the space completely and has lots of reserve power. Great if you have a fridge or a winch. I've posted this pic before, so sorry if it looks familiar.

NICE! can you give us some info on the wiring? What did you do with all the in line fuses and stuff? Looks like new wiring. Very clean install.

 

[Fly Rod]

FWIW,

One day last ski season my heep refused to start after sitting all day in 15 deg weather. I have no idea why but the optima red top never indicated that it was slowing down after 1/2 hour of experimenting and cranking the heep. Finally got it started by flooding it with starting fluid after abour 45 minutes. I stand by any battery that will crank like that one did at 15 deg. and at altitude.

Fly Rod

 

[NorCalDoug]

I have an Optima Blue Top, similar to Cruiserdrew's. Bought mine from Costco. Price was aprox $140. If it looks like it's going to die before it's supposed to, I'll take it back and get another.
It's hard to beat Costco's return policy.