Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Red Top or Yellow Top?

[motohead84]

I want to get new optima batteries to replace my stock ones.

should I go with a red or yellow top?



Pro's and Con's of each?



I've heard that the higher CCA can cause damage to the onboard computer. True??



thanks for all your help



Andrew

 

[Soot4Life]

Red tops work for me......

My auto parts pro said red tops were the cross reference "no maint. battery" to the OEM traditional battery. I bought 2 and they work perfectly. No issues and no spitting acid on the underside of the hood and fenders.

 

[Idaho Native]

I won't stake my reputation on this, but I think there are two CCA ratings for the Red Tops as well. I don't have ready access to my rig, so I can't tell you exactly which rating I ended up with. I bought a pair of them from Summit Racing last fall and got a great deal. However, I ended up getting the ones that have both the side and top posts on them. Didn't present any real problems, but I did have to "stretch" my battery cables just a bit. Also, the Optimas aren't as tall as the OEM batteries, so you'll either have to remove some of the length on the factory tie-down rods or put a spacer on top of the batteries. I opted to by a chunk of industrial plastic to make a spacer on the top of them. They work great!!



Loren



PS do a search for Optima on the TDR... there were some great discussions and even pics if I remember correctly

 

[bmoeller]

Re: Red tops work for me......

Originally posted by Bill Tuft

No issues and no spitting acid on the underside of the hood and fenders.

That's why I bought Optimas. No leaky. Very happy wih my Red Tops.



You do need to make 1" spacer for the hold downs, but could also shorten the hold down bolts. I used some 1" dia. pipe for my spacers.

 

[Thomas]

Poke around the Optima website for sizes and specs. The 34/78 is the largest that fit my model year 2000 Ram battery trays without altering anything.



Here is one in red with my method of using the over-long OEM hold-down bolts:

 

[csutton7]

go with the Reds---chris