www.ColoradoClassicBroncos.com

I have run an optima red top battery for the past 12 years now and it has never let me down, even after the bronco sat for a year non started. Two weeks ago I got the bronco out of the garage for the summer and was getting it ready for the monthly breakfast and the battery would not hold a charge. I jumped it and let the truck run for half hour then drove it and about 45 minutes later I turned it off and it didn't even have enough power to do more than a small growl barely turning the starter. I have the battery on a trickle charger now but I still think its a lost cause. So now I'm in the market for a new battery. I have heard some mixed reviews on the optima batteries now that they are made in mexico, So tell me what battery you like and what your experiences are with it. I want a good brand that holds up to the abuse of offroad driving. Help me make a good purchase! Thanks.

In my dads we have dual duralast golds. They have been in since 99 and still hold a charge. Now I wouldn't trust the load of the winch on them but they still start everytime. I runa duralast commercial in my 79. I left my "kill switch" on in my bronco a few months ago and killed the battery. When I pulled it out it had 5 volts in it. Slapped it on the charger for a nice slow charge and it came back to life. And it's 5 years old.

I'm not sure what to think. I ran a red top, for 10+ years and it was great. But Optima changed hands, Johnson Controls bought them, and I've heard mixed results. The Deca dual purpose battery gets rave reviews. Carquest sells them private labeled as the "Extreme" or something. They are grey bodied w/yellow top I think, I'll go look & make sure. Rrrrraaaaaaayyyyyyy2 over at CB.com, is an alternator guru. I was having trouble installing his alternator, and he said that it was a "great battery". It isn't cheap, I paid $160 or something, wholesale. It'll run a winch no problem, a red top Optima is not for a winch, you should be using a yellow top Optima for a winch & start battery.

Chad

i got a yellow to run just winch, and red for starting and acc. i havnt had much problems ive owned them for 3 yrs so maybe i got lasty batch of them before mexico

I killed my red top a few times and it finally died recently. I went back to Advance because the battery was still under a pro-rated warranty. Anyway, I ended up with another Red Top because the manager told me the QC issues have been resolved. He said that middle of last year Optima reps came to the store and showed them the issues and how they were fixed.

But I also bought a Battery Tender to keep it in tip top shape.

These gel batteries can't be charged by any old charger. You need to make sure it's gel compatible.

J.D.

I've had a Yellow top in my 4Runner as a 2nd battery and a Red top in my Bronco as the main. The Yellow top died after about 3 years and I wasn't able to revive it even using a desulfator on it (I replaced it with a Red top). I've only had the Red top in the Bronco for about 8 months but it seems to be working fine.

I run dual red tops in my bronco, a yellow top in my truck, a red top in my wifes car and a red top in my car. Never had a problem with any of them. They are all of varying ages and build dates. When one dies I will replace it with another optima!

Had a yellow top for a few years. Hated it. Dropped a Duralast in the Bronco and haven't had a problem with it since.

I do run a winch, electric fuel pump, electric fan on radiator, pro comp lights, radio, and gonna put a trans cooler with fan. I don't run them all at once but it does sound like if I go Optima again I will get the yellow top. Sounds like there is a few guys on here who are having decent luck with the new optima's. I will look into the other two battery types mentioned. Keep the responses coming and other batteries you have used with good results. Thanks

Akafrankcastle why did you hate the Optima?

If I were you, I'd think about going with a 3G alternator with that much extra electrical attached.

Sbolt19 what's the difference in the Alternator? A 3G? Im not very good at the electrical stuff, I leave that up to my dad. We did a test on the Alternator and he said it was charging very well. I forgot I'm also looking into a CB radio to put in the truck.

Zenzone wrote:I do run a winch, electric fuel pump, electric fan on radiator, pro comp lights, radio, and gonna put a trans cooler with fan. I don't run them all at once but it does sound like if I go Optima again I will get the yellow top. Sounds like there is a few guys on here who are having decent luck with the new optima's. I will look into the other two battery types mentioned. Keep the responses coming and other batteries you have used with good results. Thanks

Akafrankcastle why did you hate the Optima?

Might have just been issues with the trucks I had at the time, but I had a hard time keeping the thing charged. I did several draw tests and could not come up with a short or ground anywhere and yet I would have to jump the truck once every few weeks. About once a month if not more frequently. I did check the alternator and voltage regulator and both checked out fine. Trickle charge would get it back up to snuff, but only for a few weeks longer.

Zenzone wrote:Sbolt19 what's the difference in the Alternator? A 3G? Im not very good at the electrical stuff, I leave that up to my dad. We did a test on the Alternator and he said it was charging very well. I forgot I'm also looking into a CB radio to put in the truck.

Its a higher output alternator. The original alt. puts out somewhere in the neighborhood of about 65 amps and the 3G, like off a Taurus, puts out around 120. You can get some that put out a whole lot more than that too. It solves a lot of power problems, like flickering headlights, not being able to run multiple things at the same time. It just gives you more electric power is all.

i love my 3g. it 130 amp i got mine at junk yard for 20 bucks and took me 9 min to take it out

I have a Car Quest Battery. I kept it on a trickle charger on my workbench since last year when I tore my truck apart. Seems to be working well now that it is finally installed. I will definitely get an Optima when I need to replace it. Costco sells Optima.

I will look into a 3G alternator. How many guys are using duel Batteries. I know there is a couple guys on here. How has it worked for you? Is it something I should be looking into or would it be over kill for me? What is involved with running two batteries and how did you loop yours together? Would a standard battery work for starts and then use a yellow top for running all the accessories. As I said before I'm not an electrician. lol

Don't buy into those dual battery isolaters. Just buy 2 new ones and wire them positive to positive and negative to negative.

Also never mix sizes or brands. Do both the same.

ZOSO wrote:Also never mix sizes or brands. Do both the same.

It looks like my optima might still work after the trickle charger is done. Why can't I connect the optima and the Costco battery together. Excuse my ignorance, but it never hurts to learn why something is.

ZOSO wrote:Don't buy into those dual battery isolaters. Just buy 2 new ones and wire them positive to positive and negative to negative.

My dad got me two new Costco batteries for my birthday (early birthday present June 19th). We are not going to run dual battery isolators, we are just going to run them together as one. If anyone has comments or "I wish I would have done it this way" please let me know. Thanks.

I am going to pick up a larger alternator. Will the alternator be larger than the ford one in there? I have my on board air mounted above the alternator running off the alternator pulley. Do the newer alternators have a pulley with two grooves like my bronco one?

Zenzone wrote:I am going to pick up a larger alternator. Will the alternator be larger than the ford one in there? I have my on board air mounted above the alternator running off the alternator pulley. Do the newer alternators have a pulley with two grooves like my bronco one?

As I've said before if you have an electric winch you want all the amps available to the winch that you can get. Only thing you have to remember is if you pull em both down to almost dead and need to start the engine you might be stuck. I've always ran the engine at a fast idle to at least make up a few amps going in even when 400 to 500 is going out. Isolator or battery selector switch would be handy when re-charging and you can charge one at a time but thats about the only advantage I can see.

The 3G alternator should fit. There are small bodied 3G alts & large bodied 3G alts. Small bodied alts are about the same size as your stock alt. I bought a large bodied one through Raaaaaaayyyy2 on CB.com. He made me a deal on one he had from a show. Even the large bodied one fit fine, & I've got a York pump mounted directly above my alternator. You can see the top of the alt under the pump in this pic. its blue.

i will be running duals, i am useing a dual guage to see life of battery ( got off cabelas site, and i got a dual battary selector, you can go to off for storing, one, two, or both, so i got yellow one side and a red optima and when i use winch i use switch to my yellow, and when i running a ton of things i use both

goldenboy_cp wrote:i will be running duals, i am useing a dual guage to see life of battery ( got off cabelas site, and i got a dual battary selector, you can go to off for storing, one, two, or both, so i got yellow one side and a red optima and when i use winch i use switch to my yellow, and when i running a ton of things i use both

I may be wrong but dont mix the deep cycle and standard battery. You could be asking for problems. Maybe Im wrong and my pops will chime in. He picked up all that from my grandpa when he worked at exide.

ive been running my red top n yellow top conv, for yr, not much issuse if u find problem let me know

goldenboy_cp - you should run both of the same type,age and size but if you just winch with one and normally run with the other then that's alright. It's not like anybody is gonna take away your birthday because you did it different. I just believe that using 2 good batteries for winching (or any other high load application) is better than one (more current available).