Battery OPTIMA or Duracell

Unfortunately, I only ran that battery for 10 months.....car was stolen, so I can't say it was great for many years, but in 10 months time, not one hick-up......even when my Autolamps Online HID kit went haywire and turned itself on and stayed on ALL NIGHT.

I just replaced the red top Optima in my Cherokee after 8 years. Put in a yellow top Optima.

I have a red top optima. I was told that the yellow top is better if your running competition stuff in your car, ie stereos, strobes, neons, and such. 1st red top lasted about 5 yrs. On 2nd red top and have no problems with it.

I bought the Yellow top today . fits the TT perfectly . and also made room for the breaker for the power cable for the Audio setup . the original battery was a little taller and wouldm't clear the battery coverery. so I was worried about mounting the breaker too far from the battery, now its all good.

i had a yellowtop in my gti for several years. i got it from a friend who had had it as a second battery with his stereo install for 2 years. it lasted about 6 years total. bought a red top and liked it a ton. when my tt stock batt goes out, ill get one.

red top fits perfectly fine..no mods

If your cover does not fit on the 75/35, you must be using the spacer under the battery! I have this model and my cover fits fine and no modifications to the battery box were required.

I would guess the alternator is fine, but you toasted the battery on the charger. Optimas don't respond well to rapid charging, and will do as you described. The top will warp, and acid/gas will escape from the vent holes. I'd bet it was screwed before you put it in the car, and the drive just finished off the job.

I've had to return 3 Red Top's prior to their 1 year warranty for replacements. Only 1 of the 3 replacements is still installed, the other 2 have gone bad and have been replaced with generic O'Reilly's batteries, which i've had much better luck with.

Optima are very over rated. They once were good batteries but not anymore.