Optima Batteries

[krazy_texan]

are any of you guys running one, i had to buy a new battery today for my truck because i had a crappy wally world battery that would not hold a charge more than a day, and i know for sure it was not the wiring so i went out and bought the red top Optima battery so anywho i want to hear from you guys that have them and what you think of them.

[kwmech]

Got one in my suburban and 68 longhorn, both are great. No maintenance, lot of amps. Just bought the new NAPA orbital gel the other day for my 69 GMC. We'll see how that performs.

[Longhorn Man]

I dunno about teh NAPA jel batterys, but there normal acid ones aren't worth the plastic they are made out of.
The optima is an awsome battery, 7 yr shelf live and NO acid water...good stuff.
Do a search, there is a thread somewhere, (not on FAQ board, just looked over the whole board there...it should be moved to the FAQ though) some good info in there on them.

[chevymad]

Neither the Optima nor the Orbital are "gel" batteries. They're both glass captured acid. They use a fiberglass matting that is soaked in a tablespoon of liquid acid.

Napa batteries are made by Exide. Exide makes alot of the batteries you find everywhere. Shucks/kragen, Schwaabs(though the last one i saw looked to be interstate), walmart had some, sears silver etc are all exides. What you have to watch is the warranty period is whatever the sales outlet pays for. So one guys 40 month battery may be the same as another outlets 72 month. You'll just pay more for one and have to change it more often.

I've had an orbital battery in my 70 since they came out(think it was 99). So far it works just fine. I've used an optima at work since 95 for a jump battery. Jump cars till its dead and recharge.. Still working. Seen it put out over 1100 amps before. Most of the orbitals we get back go bad from being let sit dead. They dont like that. Never seem to come back from it. If the batteries charged it can sit up to 2 years with no harm, but dont leave it a week dead or you'll be replacing it.

The other thing you gotta watch is charging them too fast. If they get hot, they can boil that tablespoon of acid out. Then theres nothing left to make the battery work.

[69 Short Fleet]

I bought a Optima "Yellow Top" ( the top post model) a year ago and put it in a few months back just to crank my engine over again (as my restoration is still not quite done yet) and it cranked over like crazy! I'm very impressed with it, they are a bit pricey but so far I'm happy Doug

[PICKMUP]

The most important thing to me is...they don't eat up/rot out our trucks!!! No fumes to destroy bat box/inner/fender tip.
Rust repaired & new paint---they are a must!

[hughnews1]

i got my red on ebay $82 ... and in my 71 c-20 now .... can i say NICE ....

[Blue Beard]

What is the difference in the colors of these.....?

[djracer]

yellow and blue top are deep cycle blue has studs for marine use. The warranty is better on the red top. I have optima's in every thing I own and have used the excides also! I wouldn't have a lead acid battery! They are worth the extra cash!

[jorgensensc]

I have an optima red top I got from Sams club for 99.00. It works great, even when you leave the cab light on overnight.

[rigo]

I've got 3 optima red tops on different vehicles...great battery and no leaks!!

rigo

[stelth2002]

I also can say they are an excellent battery. If you dont use them I always use an ac delco.

[jays68yak]

hmm i just went from a red top to a wall mart battery..........

[72LOWBOY]

Not to rob the post, but is the optima batteries lighter than a standard battery.

[lost wages]

id say they weigh the same, i bought my optima red tops at summit when they had a sale on them, 89 dollars a peice, didnt need two but hey, the price was right.

[67Fleetsidedream]

I agree with everyone else. They are great batteries.

[mocwon]

Excellent batteries. $99 at Costco. I have one mounted in the truck of a car and it has been outstanding. Won't ever buy another lead acid battery.

[krazy_texan]

good to hear all these things looks like i did not waste my money, as for weight the darn thing weighed what seemed like 5lbs heavier than my old walmart battery.

[hughnews1]

75/35 RED TOP OPTIMA BATTERY - NEW! Item number: 2471108240 $ 73.45 buy it NOW + s/h right to you garage..

[angelsairman]

we run the red optima batteries in all of our flightline equipment. They are exceptional batteries but we have found the blue tops seem to handle the cold better. But i HIGHLY recommend purchasing the optima battery charger for these, its small and takes a bit longer to charge the batterys but well worth it in the long run as they seem to handle it better.

[RON WOODGEARD]

I went through two of them in about 6 years in my Off road truck.. Seems as if they didn't like the heat of vegas with the beating of the off road of the desert.

I ended up with a different type of battery altogether, Forgot what they call it,, But it has a metal case and is very heavy.. You can mount it Upside down if you want.. It was expensive, $170.00 It is about 8 years old now, And is in my R/C flying trailer.. It has 1000 or 1200 cranking amps.. Biggest they had. I bought it through Sheldons Batteries in Vegas..

[70-Chevy]

i bought my Optima red top from Advanced and put it in my 70. They are definelty worth the money. Mine came with a 3 years, no questions asked warranty. Im in Japan right now and the truck is with my dad, he starts its every 2 or 3 weeks and it fires on the first crank. Throughout winter and all. I love it and will never go with another.