Question for Tacoma owners that have a Optima:

Which one do I get? The 34 or the 34R? I am kinda stuck....... All you Taco owners that have an Optima Red Top please chime in.... Thanks....

 

34R has reverse terminal posts, 34 has regular iirc. All depends on where the + and - terminals are.

 

I understand the "r" means reverse. I know the 4runner requires 34r but does the Tacoma need one also????

 

Keep in mind these red tops are not a good idea if you plan on discharging repeatedly. I would suggest the marine yellow top. Just my .02

 

I thought the marine ones are blue.

Rob

 

Don't waste your money. They're all made in the same factories, Optima just has awesome marketing. I'm not trying to start a flame war it just that my fiancee's father has worked in the battery business for over 30 years. Their batteries at 3x the cost of any other name brand is not 1x or 2x, and certainly not 3x better. It does look cool so if spending $150-$180 on a battery for looks is worth it then give it a go.

 

Blue are Marine.
Red have lots of cranking amps for trucks.
Yellow are for long cycle discharge. Such as car audio. although i suppose they would run lots of aux devices well also.

 

My bad, the "Bluetops" are their marine battery. However, the yellow and blues and what they consider deepcycle batteries. That's what I meant to suggest if you intend on cranking your stereo for long periods or using an inverter. When you use a redtop for these purposes they don't last. I've heard of people bashing optima because they keep killing the battery, only to find out they have discharged it multiple times and then tried to recharge. Low and behold, they all of the sudden won't hold a charge. They killed the life in the redtop by treating it like a deepcycle.

 

Or just get the best battery that is made. They Odessy series! I can verify that they outdo any other battery out there, i have a pc1700 for sale BTW.

 

Ace, if your keeping those lights man, I hope you hold onto that battery! Why are you selling?

 

Ok, the guy's original questions wasn't what color to get, but which model number......the answer is the 34R with the reverse posts. You can make a 34 work but you'll end up needing to extend your battery cables.

 

LOL, yeah i would keep it if not for needing the $$

And long story short the custermor service at Odessy is great. The positive terminal on that one was a little too big and i took it by a loacal dealer and he said they will send me a new termainal for it. So i called and they just sent me a new battery instead so i have an extra one sitting there ready to go in perfect condition. Just doesn't have a wanranty.

 

So what do you recommend?

 

I got the red top 34R, so far so good.

 

The red ones are junk. Mine went dead once(all the way) and has been a weak little b*tch ever since. Good thing I know the manager at Pepboys, and he let me return it and get an energizer(+ cash back) The blue ones are great. I've got one in my '70 Buick, and it cranks over that 455 effortlessly everytime, even when I let it sit for a while.

 

If you are going with the Optima brand, go yellow.
I picked one up a few weeks back for my dual battery project.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f131...ng-tip-122754/

 

The story goes like this, I was all set on getting an Optima for my 4Runner once the regular battery died. I ran this by the expert and that's when I got the news that they were no better than the others, just good marketing. In a lot of cases the cells die or perform poorly on those actually. Anyways, the battery in my 4Runner hasn't died yet so I've not bought yet. I will most likely go with a Bosch if I can find one for my 4Runner or one of the large retail shops that sells batteries w/ a 3 year replacement and 8 year pro-rated warranty.

 

I never once had a problem with my Optima redtop in my '91 4Runner.
That battery was in the rig for 5 plus years (and still going strong when I traded the rig in), and I use to listen to the stereo sometimes for an hour without starting the rig.
It was a big stereo too.

 

You said it yourself man, your optima sucked cause you killed it once....

Don't kill Optima's keep them charged and maintained, if you kill an optima its going to be weak. It happens.

 

I figured I'd take more heat over my comments. Just look past the marketing and see if it's really the battery for you. Other than their own website and a few biased reviews there nothing I can find that says they're flat out better than anything else. And I find it odd there is only a 12 month warranty, even the cheapo's at the retail stores can do better than that.