Best Battery for a Tacoma
Trucks
- Sponsor
- OPTIMA Batteries
- Location
- Glendale, WI
What's the best battery for a Toyota Tacoma? It depends on the truck and how it is used. If you are getting ready to sell your Tacoma, you probably won't get extra money in the sale for installing a better battery, so buy the cheapest flooded lead-acid battery you can find, maybe even a used one from a scrap yard, as long as it passes a load test.
If you plan on holding onto your Tacoma, then you'll want to scrutinize your battery options more closely. Fortunately for Tacoma owners, things haven't changed much over the years. The go-to battery upgrade for the Toyota Tacoma for decades (through the 2023 model year) has been OPTIMA's Group 35 batteries. OPTIMA offers those batteries in either a REDTOP or YELLOWTOP.
Both batteries have plenty of cranking power, but if you plan on deep-cycling your battery with a winch, car alarm or significant stereo upgrades, we'd recommend choosing the YELLOWTOP. The REDTOP is a great cranking battery, but it is not designed or warrantied for deep-cycle use.
If your Tacoma is newer than 2023, you'll notice the battery has gotten significantly larger, with a Group H7/94R battery, even though the engine size has gotten smaller (3.5L to 2.4L). OPTIMA's DH7 YELLOWTOP is a direct fit upgrade for those trucks. Why does a smaller engine need a larger battery? It's not about cranking power, that's for sure! Newer trucks are just far more demanding from an electrical standpoint, with many trucks now using start/stop technology that cycles a battery thousands of times more than past generations and trucks also have lots of modern electrical conveniences, including Wifi and sometimes satellite connectivity.
Whatever battery you choose for your Tacoma, we recommend keeping it fully-charged (at least 12.6V for REDTOPs and ~13.0V for YELLOWTOPs) whenever possible to maximize performance and lifespan. We're so confident this will enhance your battery ownership experience, we will extend your OPTIMA battery free replacement warranty by a full year, if you purchase an OPTIMA D1200+ battery charger when you buy your OPTIMA battery from us!
If you plan on holding onto your Tacoma, then you'll want to scrutinize your battery options more closely. Fortunately for Tacoma owners, things haven't changed much over the years. The go-to battery upgrade for the Toyota Tacoma for decades (through the 2023 model year) has been OPTIMA's Group 35 batteries. OPTIMA offers those batteries in either a REDTOP or YELLOWTOP.
Both batteries have plenty of cranking power, but if you plan on deep-cycling your battery with a winch, car alarm or significant stereo upgrades, we'd recommend choosing the YELLOWTOP. The REDTOP is a great cranking battery, but it is not designed or warrantied for deep-cycle use.
If your Tacoma is newer than 2023, you'll notice the battery has gotten significantly larger, with a Group H7/94R battery, even though the engine size has gotten smaller (3.5L to 2.4L). OPTIMA's DH7 YELLOWTOP is a direct fit upgrade for those trucks. Why does a smaller engine need a larger battery? It's not about cranking power, that's for sure! Newer trucks are just far more demanding from an electrical standpoint, with many trucks now using start/stop technology that cycles a battery thousands of times more than past generations and trucks also have lots of modern electrical conveniences, including Wifi and sometimes satellite connectivity.
Whatever battery you choose for your Tacoma, we recommend keeping it fully-charged (at least 12.6V for REDTOPs and ~13.0V for YELLOWTOPs) whenever possible to maximize performance and lifespan. We're so confident this will enhance your battery ownership experience, we will extend your OPTIMA battery free replacement warranty by a full year, if you purchase an OPTIMA D1200+ battery charger when you buy your OPTIMA battery from us!