NewHilux.net

well the original battery in my ute 2008 sr d4d is starting to go ie.first up in the morning slow crank and alot of voltage drop goimg out of it. So I was looking around at optima red top batteries the larger 900cca one. does anyone have them fitted and can tell me the good the bad or the ugly about them? i dont requier a deep cycle as I have dual batterys already I just need a main start battery or if tbere are any other brands out there that can compare.
thanks
Putsy

They are an awesome battery. I have yellow top for aux as well as another for camper van.
There's a seller on eBay, autoelecau I think his name is and he has the best prices around for them, even better than I can get coz I'm in the trade. I paid $548 for 2 delivered with freebies

Yep i have two under the bonnet(yellow Top) the best battery i have used..I payed $370 each Extreme Battery's in Lilydale Victoria, also seen them at Ray's Outdoor in Nunawading for the same price if that helps

Just put a yellow top as my main battery in mine got it pretty cheap. Love it not planning on putting dual battery in my car so thought I would get a good deep cycle as my main. Just me though

toyboata wrote:They are an awesome battery. I have yellow top for aux as well as another for camper van.
There's a seller on eBay, autoelecau I think his name is and he has the best prices around for them, even better than I can get coz I'm in the trade. I paid $548 for 2 delivered with freebies

hey there I was thinking of getting this setup but thought the Cca were a bit small for fridge and winch setup

I run two of them ( one red one yellow ) and they are pretty hungry- they are rated to charge at 15volts which the hilux won't do. I added a ABR diode thingy ( yes that is the scientific name) and it boosts the voltage to 14.8v which is as close as you'll get.

I've heard of red tops lasting 8 years or more so they save you money in the long run.

Yeah awesome battery I have a yellow top for starting and 2 big blue tops (D27m I think) for fridge lights etc and they are now 7 yrs old Still perfect. Started the hilux at long term parking after it was parked for four weeks wouldn't buy anything else I have 6 in my Kenworth four red tops for starting & 2 yellow tops for bunk ac engel etc that have been been in there since 2004 never had an issue truck travels all over aus on our perfect roads..... The vibration resistance is there best quality

I have them in both my boats and yes I agree a good battery, one is 5 years old and relied upon to keep the thing afloat, hmmm timber boats.....

I would have one in my Hilux but the only one you can fit into the ARB tray is only 55ah

aandy wrote:I have them in both my boats and yes I agree a good battery, one is 5 years old and relied upon to keep the thing afloat, hmmm timber boats.....

I would have one in my Hilux but the only one you can fit into the ARB tray is only 55ah

Bugger,

I'm having the ARB tray fitted to my new dual cab, and was going to go with the Optima.

What's the biggest AGM battery people are fitting into this tray?

What the difference between the yellow top and the red top?
I need a new starting battery so which would be better? I'll be running the winch from it.

Blackie2008 wrote:What the difference between the yellow top and the red top?
I need a new starting battery so which would be better? I'll be running the winch from it.

Red cranking, yellow multi-purpose. In your case yellow top.

BIGFOOTJR wrote:

Blackie2008 wrote:What the difference between the yellow top and the red top?
I need a new starting battery so which would be better? I'll be running the winch from it.

Red cranking, yellow multi-purpose. In your case yellow top.

thanks!

ive got a red top for my starter and a blue top for my aux fridge ect... love them

Everyone seems to love them. What I don't get is they don't seem to have many amp-hours on most of them, for their size at least. Can anyone tell me what the story is with them?

strangenuts wrote:Everyone seems to love them. What I don't get is they don't seem to have many amp-hours on most of them, for their size at least. Can anyone tell me what the story is with them?

optimas can be discharged down to 0 and then still recive a charge from an alternator... a normal battery can only be discharged to around 70% without doing damage to battery. so if you have a 100ah battery you really only have 30ah that is usable whereas my optima has 66ah and can use the whole lot safely time and time again without damage. if you discharge a normal battery more then 5ish times it will be stuffed.

A lot of agm batteries allow you to discharge to 0% without hurting them not only optima. But out of that how many of the volts are usable. Remember your not going to get 12-11 or even 10 volts down around 20%

Interesting thread guys and some good information. I bought an ArkPak early last year and installed a good quality AGM battery in it. Mainly use it to run my 47 ltr ARB fridge. Doesn't get used a great deal but after reading everyones post's and doing a bit of reading on the net I now have a better understanding of batteries and how to look after them and they will last a bit longer.

All you guys running the yellow tops, do you have them under your bonnet? Usually it's a no no with AGM batteries but I think the optima's are approved for it now but I haven't seen anything official.

07luxyTD wrote:A lot of agm batteries allow you to discharge to 0% without hurting them not only optima. But out of that how many of the volts are usable. Remember your not going to get 12-11 or even 10 volts down around 20%

you right mate i was more refering to the huge lead/acid batterys you see people putting in because they have 100ah+ rating.

Blackie2008 wrote:All you guys running the yellow tops, do you have them under your bonnet? Usually it's a no no with AGM batteries but I think the optima's are approved for it now but I haven't seen anything official.

im running a red top and a blue top under the bonnet with no troubles so far and i live in the desert where it adveraged 45degrees for this summer.