Costco Battery Question

[DesertBoater]

My current plan is to install a second battery into the bed of my truck, 05 tacoma, and in looking at my needs, I'm leaning towards solar. I usually end up parking somewhere for longer periods of time with little to no running of the engine, so a linked system probably won't cut it. I have more than enough rack space to make this work, I'm now mostly beginning to look at different options for batteries and panels. Having pored over the OJ battery article, I really like the idea of the Odyssey battery, but I'd still like to investigate other options. Does anyone have any firsthand experience with batteries from Costco? I found a couple deep cycle units for around $80 with a decent warranty/pro-rate schedule.

Also, I'm planning on mounting it up in the front of the bed, underneath my sleeping platform, and thus venting could be an issue. I realize that an AGM battery would probably be the best bet. Any thoughts on that front?

Thanks,
West

 

[Pest]

Just a thought, if you do go with solar, will you need a second battery at all? If you don't have a huge power demand, solar plus the truck battery might be easier and save you apace, money, hassle.

 

[spikemd]

I replaced my starting battery with a dual starting/deep cycle battery from Costco in my Range Rover. It had the best amp hours (115) for the costs and of course the great Costco warranty if anything goes wrong. It has worked great for me as I didn't have confidence in the starting battery for keeping the fridge going. It shuts off in the 4runner with a nearly new regular starting battery if the outside temp is hot. Too much draw. Starting batteries are just not made for deep cycling.

The CCA is actually lower than LR specs, but I live in California, so CCA isn't an issue for me. Also, the 4.6L in my RR is the same engine in the Disco, but the specs for the Disco call for lower CCA (650 vs 950).

I had to modify the battery strap as the Costco battery is a bit shorter than the RR battery.

For your purposes, I think it would work great. The other batteries are two to three times as expensive.