Optima Battery

[TechnoPope]

It might be time for a new battery. What size Optima best fits the Vehicross?
Their on-line selector was useless. Any help would be appreciated.

[tomdietrying]

Go to Sam's to buy the Optima Red. Not sure about the size. It cost about $100 there, and $130 at Sears. Be sure to get the inch platform for it to set on. It fits much more snug with that in place.
Peace.
Tom

[Heraclid]

Just bought and installed one this very night. I have the Optima Red Top 75/35 size battery and it fits great. To my surprise, I made sure the guy didn't forget to give me the height adapter, only to discover later that I didn't really need it. I also picked up some of those toolless terminals that have a quick-release lever - they're a nice little bit of convenience so you can connect/disconnect it in a flash with no need to get the right sized tool. I'm not a member at Costco and let my Sam's membership expire, but did alright - Pep Boys here didn't have one in stock and Sears wanted $129.99, so I went and paid $108.99 at the Advance Discount Auto Parts here.

[WyrreJ]

I went heavy duty and bought a blue-top D31M, it fits but required a new "tie-down" bracket thingy and the terminals do leave indents in the hood sound-proof/heat-shield. Just last week I left one of the lights in the mirror on for over 12 hours by accident and still had no problem at all starting the engine - didn't even realize I had left it on until I got out on the road.

[Todd Adams]

I have nothing but gell batteries (except in the new Dodge). The red top I put in my Amigo (now my son's) is still doing great after 8 years!
Todd

[Heraclid]

The reason why I don't need the height adapter on mine may be that the rods for securing the battery are tall and one has worn a hole through some of the hood insulation. They're longer than necessary and the threads go down far enough on the rods that I don't need the adapter. Maybe at some point something else was in there and the bracket I have isn't stock.

P.S.- Someone brought this up before, but I'll reiterate - get one of those things you can plug into a cigarette lighter and you won't lose station presets when you fiddle with batteries. Just snap on a 9V battery and plug it into the lighter port.

[Spike]

It's cheaper than Pep Boys..

[Tone]

Not sure the 9v battery trick will work since the lighter is off when the car is off. With the key on, there might be too large a load. Blue and Yellow top Optima's are the SAME deep cycle battery (when comparing cca, etc) with different terminals.

[GOVEHIX]

Just last week I left one of the lights in the mirror on for over 12 hours by accident and still had no problem at all starting the engine - didn't even realize I had left it on until I got out on the road.

i had that experience too, but was with the original factory battery, and i had no problem at all starting the engine too.

[driver3]

I went heavy duty and bought a blue-top D31M, it fits but required a new "tie-down" bracket thingy and the terminals do leave indents in the hood sound-proof/heat-shield. Just last week I left one of the lights in the mirror on for over 12 hours by accident and still had no problem at all starting the engine - didn't even realize I had left it on until I got out on the road.

Hey.. what did you use for the new tie down? I just got the D31M and I'm using a bungee cord until I get a real tie down set up. I'm heading to home depot today to look at some brackets... but if you have any hints, let me know. The hood insulation definitely hits the top of the battery.. but for right now that's holding her in well anyway... $225 with tax.. hopefully this is the battery I'm looking for. If I don't start the vx for 3 days or so, my old battery would die. I'm thinking with the deep cycle I'll be ok now...

[Joe_Black]

If you check at your local AutoZone/PepBoys/Advance parts places or better yet, NAPA, you should find a variety of universal brackets. Be sure to take sketch with measurements of your battery and any possible mounts points so you can match it up with what they've got on hand.

Another good place for battery goodies is a commercial truck supply or truck stop.

Do take a good look at your electrical though, as a drain enough to kill your current battery after three days will eventually ruin your Optima as well. No battery is a cure for an electrical problem! If you have a multimeter, take a reading between the positive battery cable and your battery's positive post and take note of the amperage draw. You may find you've got a load somewhere that you shouldn't, and you'll need to track that down and get it on a switched or isolated circuit.

[SPAZZ]

there are 2 Redtops, so be sure if you get a Redtop get the higher power one. I am running two Optimas.

The higher power Redtop for starting and a Yellowtop for running the winch and audio amp. These are charged by a 160 amp alternator running to a 200 amp battery isolator that charges either battery automatically.

[nfpgasmask]

Yeah, I have the red top Optima too, and I had to shim it up a little to make it fit snug also.

Bart

[driver3]

Do take a good look at your electrical though, as a drain enough to kill your current battery after three days will eventually ruin your Optima as well. No battery is a cure for an electrical problem! If you have a multimeter, take a reading between the positive battery cable and your battery's positive post and take note of the amperage draw. You may find you've got a load somewhere that you shouldn't, and you'll need to track that down and get it on a switched or isolated circuit.

I'll take a look.. I added a constant power wire from the battery that runs my gps and radar detector... even when they are off, it still dies... I should probably run that wire switched from the fuse box... I still hope to be able to run my stereo while I'm camping and still start the car in the morning... With the old battery, if I ran my stereo over 2 hours.. it was dead...

I got the blue top - D31M
http://www.invertersrus.com/optimad31m.html
(not from there though.. I got mine at sears)

[Joe_Black]

Well, your old battery was probably on its last legs but it still sounds as if you have a phantom load somewhere. The Blue Top is the marine flavor of Optima and not ideally suited to an automotive starting role, but will work. The Yellow Top is the automotive version of the marine Blue Top, and with either you should be able to run a light accessory such as OEM audio overnight without worry.

Definitely check your load though to see how much is being drawn with everything off, that may be what caused or helped your conventional battery to fail.