The larger size and capacity is what I use too.

Btw:

The Yellow's have extra side terminals too, and the blues are not just Yellows with extra terminals, their specs/performance are different too.

Exide Orbitals are also very good, and are also closed cell/Spill/leakproof, etc.

We use both Orbitals and Optimas, and they are both super long lasting tough batteries.

I would NOT get a wet battery again in a jeep that offroads....the specs can be great, but, subjected to water, vibration, impacts, off camber shenanigans, No flammable gases to blow you up or burn you to death, etc....the gel cells are the best way to go.

 

I've got to make an additional comment that I am kinda surprised at all of the good sucesses with the Yellowtop and Optimas in general on this forum...if you look around on the internet you will find many a post suggesting that the Optimas are "crappy" and also don't work well with the high output alternators in our JK's - - - i.e. they die quickly. Of course, this is probably like everything else...you hear several bad stories, but you never hear the thousands of good ones. I'm keeping my fingers crossed at least!

 

I read somewhere the JK alternator overcharges the Optimas, but so far no problems with mine. I ended up ordering mine through Amazon.com as they had the best price and no shipping. When it showed, the box looked like the boys in brown threw it down on its corner. The side of the battery was cracked and when I called Amazon, they sent me a new one and told me to dispose of the other one as I saw fit. I filled the crack with JB Weld and it's working great in my tractor. Couldn't do that with a wet battery.

 

I have the yellow top. No problems.

 

Yeah - that's a common internet phenom...

You get a biased version of EVERYTHING based upon who bitched, and who joined in....and who chimed in on which side...



Hell, that's why Throttle Booby Spacers and Fitch Fool Filters are still able to sell...

...for every intelligent post explaining that they are snake oil in the context they are to be used...there are 100 posts claiming they got 100 mpg and now pop wheelies, etc...

...So a newbie logs on, sees "Disagreement" among the posters...and assumes no one really knows, etc...
...


OR

Concludes ONE side is right...usually the side with the 100 cases of snake oil.



So - Yeah - the Optimas and the Exide Orbitals I can vouch for, the company uses both interchangeably...and we have never had one fail, overcharge, etc.

IIRC, there WAS a bad BATCH of Optimas a while back...and, a bunch of people (RIGHTLY) bitched about the problems...but the company DID take any of that batch back w/o question....one guy I wheeled with had the store replace 3 in a row under that program, as ALL of their replacements were from the same batch

 

Man, if you guys are going to start to hate me...

Just got off the phone with an Optima tech and he said he had never heard of a bad batch of batteries.

He also explained the rumor I told him I had heard about the JK's alternators being too large...he said it should be fine as long as the alternator charges between 13.7 to 14.7 V. He didn't really seem to even care about the amperage. Now, the reason I think this is tomfoolery (on Quadratec's part) is because in the post that I saw, which was from a Quadratec rep, he had said "Optima's don't like being charged over 13.5 volts...most Jeep charging systems charge about 14.5 to 14.9 so you basically cook the battery and shorten their life span. This was told to me be a rep. from Optima battery before they were purchased by Interstate." According to the spec that the Quadratec rep posted (if it's true) - of Jeep charging systems charge about 14.5-14.9, this would be at the upper limit of what the Optima could take. Plus, the Quadratec rep had quoted Optima being bought by Interstate, which is untrue because they are owned by Johnson Controls and have been for quite some time now.

Edit: Just talked with the same gentleman over at Optima again, and he stated that a 14.9V alternator will be fine, just as long as it doesn't go over 15V...He stated that most likely any battery would eventually get damaged if your alternator charges over 15V.

Anyone have a good method to check the output of our alternators besides just putting a voltmeter across the battery terminals when the engine's running?

A second tech actually disputed the "bad batch" rumor going around...

 

The blues terminals are on the top not side so that is really the only difference. The yellow top D34/78 (this one has the side terminals) & D34 (this one does not have side terminals) have the exact same specs as the Blue top D34M.

 

A friend of mine had several bad Red tops in a row, but they took care of him .

Anyone use Deka Intimidators? I have read alot of good things about them and their specs look good, but I dont actually know anyone that has one.

 

I've killed my red battery in my willys the last two years, they replace it with no problems, the one time it was my mistake and they still replaced it.,

 

This is correct, they do indeed have the exact same specs (confirmed with Optima). I have the Blue D34M because I simply preferred the top posts over the side posts.

BTW, careful with what accessories you run off the auxiliary posts--they cannot withstand high-amperage draws (e.g., a winch) that the primary posts can. I purchased mine from Costco as they had the best price, and of course an awesome returns policy.

Also, the Blue-tops and Yellow-tops are Deep Cycle/Cold Cranking batteries, and the Group 34s have plenty of CCAs and ample storage for winching, etc. I'm reasonably certain the Red-tops are just Cold-Crankers.