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Upgrading to a better battery.

S

SLAYER

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Roseville/California
I have an everstart 58-3N 540/640 battery in my 97 XJ. And have been annoyed by its lack of juice since im running a winch, stereo with amp, and some night crawling lites underneath the beast. Ive been looking at these dual battery setups and decided to pass, since id have to can the K&N fliter box that i payed out my ass for.
So, ive been having a hard time finding a battery that has a nice amp rating that will fit into the tray. How do people fit the Optima's in their rigs? Cutt the tray to fit it in and get longer battery strap bolts?
Besides, what is the amp rating on the battery in a 97 with power everything straight from the factory? 540/640 seems saucy.

My girls 4 cylinder cavilleir has a 900 amp battery in it. :looney:
 
Must be a cheep battery, and definitly not the original. They are Mopar, and seem to be quite hardy. I have a 1140/880 Deca in mine, and IIRC the Mopar it replaced was right around there in the ratings. Have you ever thought of doing the extended idle mod? That would be perfict for someone with a winch.
 
Put a second battery in the cargo area.
 
My yellow top fit just fine.

Also look into upgrading cables while you're at it.
 
I put a red top in on Sunday. Remove old battery, install new battery. They appeared to be more or less the same size.
 
A Jell-O battery and a extended idle mod would be good for the winch as this is a short term very heavy load.
Hint: Shut the rest of the stuff off when using the winch and give the alt a break. Use an IPod if you got to have tunes when winching.
The rest of the stuff is a long draw and may just take a little longer to pull down them over priced airplane batteries. A high out alt may then be called for. luck
 
Last edited:
Yellowtop up front, dual marine blue tops (the bigger ones) in the cargo area bolted to the body and tied down with tubular webbing. Everything runs off the stock alternator and a Vanner isolator, system pulls about 40-50 amps with everything running. The extended idol really helps out. I believe my stock alternator is 124 Amps though, so its a bit higher than most others. The yellow top has been very good to me, no complaints. I believe it is actaully smaller than the stock battery. Can't go wrong with an optima, just don't mount it upside down if you can help it, even though they say you can.
 
I went with a group 34 size battery, Optima red top in my 97(also had a cheap Walmart one in there too). I think the 99-ups use these? All you need to do for these is cut off the raised lip on the inboard side of the battery tray(longer battery). The little bracket that ties the hold down bracket to the core support gets flipped upside down(taller battery). I think these are rated about 200CCA higher, the Optimas are a little more. That's all that's required, no clearance issues. I'm sure there are larger batteries that fit as well, do some measuring.
 
bobb said:
I went with a group 34 size battery, Optima red top in my 97(also had a cheap Walmart one in there too). I think the 99-ups use these? All you need to do for these is cut off the raised lip on the inboard side of the battery tray(longer battery). The little bracket that ties the hold down bracket to the core support gets flipped upside down(taller battery). I think these are rated about 200CCA higher, the Optimas are a little more. That's all that's required, no clearance issues. I'm sure there are larger batteries that fit as well, do some measuring.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with the Optima that fits right in the tray.
 
I know the Optima is popular and I am sure it’s a good battery but they are to high priced
I bought a AutoZone battery with 3 year free repl for under $70.00
(That’s about half the red top cost)

I have good luck with batteries in general and most name brands are good units if bought from fresh supplies so I don’t buy the “fad” just the best warranty and price combo

That’s my 2 cent
 
got my red top for free. someone turned it in as a battery core at work and i just swapped it for the interstate that was in it. used my headlights as a light while swapping trannys in my buddys FSJ with the music going for about 4 hours and jumped right in and fired up with no hesitation.
 
Thanks for all the info everyone!! awesome.
Im going to look into getting a yellow top but will search around a little more for a better price/ equal or more warranty. And maybe a higher current alternator. I kind of want to keep it as stock as possible and ive heard the factory alts werent too bad.
But i will definately get some better battery cables for sure, something meaty.

Whats the extended idle mod?

MORE POWER!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! YESSSSS!!! MOOOOORREEE!!!!!
 
When my red top was newer, about 4 months old, I went to a microsoft build class in NJ, parked it in the underground garage and left the headlights and fogs on. Attended a whole day of class then went to the movies in the hotel where they were having it. Came back out and went 'oh oh'.... Got in, stuck the key in and it fired right up. Both my XJ and TJ have had them since then...
I look for sales, got these at Advanced auto for $99, seemed a good deal to me. Just gotta keep your eyes open, for some reason they seem to go on sale in the fall...
 
SLAYER said:
BTW i went to the optima battery website, did the search vehicle battery match and came up with zilch. Whats up with that? XJ's are a common dime a dozen in USA.
Click to expand...

The XJ is spec'd for a BCI Group 58, IIRC - I know mine are. However, I've fit BCI Group 34 Optimas with no trouble at all, and that's even using marine-syle clamps that add another inch to the height of the group 34!

For cables and alternator, check my site. I do cables, and I've got a shop that does alternators (with are ROCK SOLID, in my experience...) and he'll do high-amp stuff as well. I talked him into doing mail-order, because I got tired of hearing how much MG costs, and I'm sure he can do better...

5-90
 
x 50 million on the yellow top.

I have had mine for a few years now, and I have dual electric fans and a winch. One day the relay stuck and I walked outside and heard a low whirr coming from the jeep a few hours after I got home. I unplugged the fans and tried to start it but it was a no go. I then went inside, got distracted and forgot to put the charger on it. The next morning I woke up and realized I had forgotten the charger. To my surprise it fired right up with no hesitation. That is a good battery imo. You just have to get a top post yellow top, it fits.
 
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