SeniorXJ

I keep hearing wispers about this DieHard Platinum battery that's being talked about as the go to battery & chosen over the Optima Yellow Top, but I have yet to find a thread about them on most jeep forums.

I've been running yellow tops for years with good results, but just cause that's what ive ran in the past, doesn't mean that someone has stepped forward in present day to make a bigger better battery, & so befor I buy either, id love to hear some feedback from people who have ran one of the 2 or even both batteries, & anyone who has a "strong" opinion on one over the other!!

Thanks!!

Big David

I think the Odyssey is a cheaper version.

SeniorXJ

Yes i've considered an Odyssey but found out that the same company makes both.

00SportXJ

I was wondering about those Diehards too. Have you seen anything on the Deka Intimidator AGMs?

glass3222

I have not used Die hard platinum in my jeep since the battery was replaced by the previous owner just before I purchased it, but I have used them in past vehicles.

Diehard platinum are made by odyssey. Odyssey make probably the best batteries. I would, and have, bought them over optima. IMO optima are over priced and do not last. I have tried both red top and yellow top in previous vehicle and was not satisfied. I have always been very happy with the diehard platinums.

I had a dodge ram for 5 years with large stereo, 8 off road light and a winch. I put in an optima red top when I purchased it. Within a year I went through 2 red tops and a yellow top (covered under warranty). After the 3rd failed, I replaced with a Diehard platinum and never had an issues for the remaining 4 years I had the truck.

SeniorXJ

This is straight up killing me here!! Optima Yellow Top, Odyseey, or DieHard Platnum...???

It seems like for every person who swares by one of these batteries, there's another who says the total opposite & ALL seem to provide good arguments for why one is better then the others!!!

00SportXJ

You always get that with batteries (oil, tires and the like). Some people get the lemons and others have no issues. Don't sweat it too much. Just pick the one that sounds good to you.

Any one with a good warranty and that has good availability in your area is the one for you.

lateralustool89

There are only 3 companies who manufacture batteries Johnson controls will be the better of all. So die hard and auto zone batteries are all but totally identical. Platinum batteries are flat plates optima are tight coils, handle derp discharge and shock/vibration many times better also better output. No walmart batteries energizer included they are also Johnson controls, but many times crappier, cuz well cheap walmart

SeniorXJ

So ur saying 1st choice is the Optima being the coiled/gel filled deep cycle battery design over the rest...?

I've ran nothing but Optima yellow tops for years now & the only thing stopping me from getting another yellow top is that, evey so often a company can step up & make something better & superior to what was once the top rated battery... Hence the chit chat about the DieHard Platnums. Only issue I see with this Diehard Platnum is the straight plated acid filled design which is still the old school way & the reason why everyone was grabbing the deep cycled spiral celled yellow tops!!

lateralustool89

you have it spot on untill JC develops a new type or a competitor does yellow top would be your best bet power wise, but platinum can handle deep cycle drain/ recharge also. most optima are 2yr warranty, duralast/die hard run a 3 year warranty. both types are AGM (absorbed glass mat) spiralcell just puts more power with less resistance.

salad

"Only X companies make Y" is a poor line of reasoning since EVERYTHING is built to the customer's specifications and often the same product is sorted by QA results. High quality items sold under a premium brand, items with lots of defects go to cheap part store brands like Walmart and AutoZone.

All the positive reviews of Optima you'll see are "I've been using them for years". Many of the original batteries are still in service. All of the new reviews are that they are junk. IMHO their quality took a **** once they started dealing with Walmart... like many other products.

Never heard anything bad about the DieHard Platinum or Odessey batteries.

lateralustool89

Anyway... auto zone and die hard are the same exact battery if you notice the new autozone batteries they are solid black case only difference is stickers die hard is exact same way and I see these to lines of batteries every. Much to my dismay

93XJLI

Deka rocks. East Penn makes the best batteries IMHO

k4ylr

Just like tires/lifts/wheels everybody will have a favorite. In those camps, some people will have gotten a lemon, others have no issues what-so-ever. That being said, there's probably an even split between jeeprs who will recommend one battery over the other.


As for the Optima recommendations:

If you are not using it as a double battery set up or putting a huge load on your battery you don't need a yellow top. If you have no accessories, get a red top, if you plan to use some accessories (which nearly everybody does at some point whether its aux lights or a 10k winch) get the marine blue top with the wing-nut capable aux posts.

The Yellow Top is a pure deep cycle, meant to be drained and charged back. Deep cycle batteries typically have smaller CCA's so while suitable, aren't necessarily designed for starting. The red top is a bonafide starter battery and that's about it. The Marine built Blue is essentially a repackaged Yellow Top with better aux terminals IMHO.

tl;dr: If you just need to run the starter, red top. If you are planning on running auxiliary components blue.

glass3222

One battery that has peaked my interest is the lithium neverdie
http://www.lithionicsbattery.com/auto.html

But I do not know of anyone that has used one, other than seeing it on "trucks" tv show a few weeks ago.