What is the Best Battery for a Jeep Wrangler?

Some people may see a Jeep of any vintage rolling down the street and automatically associate it with their popular "Wrangler" name brand, including the CJ (Civilian Jeep) models that came before it. The lineage is undeniable, even if the purists will scold you for calling Daisy Duke's Jeep CJ a Wrangler. The question relative to car batteries is which one is best for your Jeep?

With OPTIMA Batteries, you're sometimes offered multiple choices, in both our REDTOP and YELLOWTOP offerings. Generally speaking, the REDTOPs are great for stock vehicles, that just need a battery to get things started- your typical daily driver. The YELLOWTOP batteries are better-suited for more highly-modified or high-demand applications, where you may have installed significant electrical accessories, like a car alarm, big stereo, winch, refrigerator or auxiliary lighting. However, not every Jeep Wrangler can fit every OPTIMA battery. In fact, in many cases, there may only be one choice.

With 2018 and newer Jeep Wranglers (as well as Gladiators), the battery you'll want to use is the OPTIMA H6 or H7 YELLOWTOP. They are direct-fit upgrades and will provide plenty of cranking amps, reserve capacity and deep-cycling capability for just about anything you can throw at it. In fact, that H6 YELLOWTOP is probably a good choice going all the way back to the 2012 Jeep Wrangler JKs.

The H7 is the standard battery for the 3.6-liter V6 in 2018, but the 2.0-liter engine was also an option starting in 2018 and later, a 3.0-liter V6 came along. The bottom line is, if your newer Jeep Wrangler has start/stop (the engine shuts off at stoplights & starts up when you press on the gas like a golf cart), then the H6 is your battery. If it doesn't have start/stop, then the H7 is your battery.

It's also worth noting that start/stop Jeep Wranglers also came with a smaller, auxiliary battery, either a Group 400 or Group 401, for which OPTIMA does not currently offer.

From 2007-2011, there were several Jeep battery sizes to choose from and you can see the choices for the 2011 Jeep Wrangler here. The options for the TJ era of the Jeep Wrangler from 2002 to 2006 were a little different and you can see the choices for the 2006 Jeep Wrangler here. The earlier Jeep Wrangler TJs from 1997 to 2001 used several different sizes, including the Group 34 battery and you can see OPTIMA's fitment options for those Jeeps here.

The earliest Jeep Wranglers, known as the YJ, often used a Group 58 battery, of which OPTIMA doesn't currently offer fitment. However, many YJ owners didn't like the smaller size of the Group 58 batteries and looked to install a larger Group 34/78 OPTIMA battery in what we would consider a "custom fitment," which includes a custom bracket to secure the battery in the vehicle.

If your Jeep Wrangler doesn't see regular use, the best thing you can do to maximize performance lifespan for whatever battery you are using in it is to use an OPTIMA Charger or Maintainer to keep your battery topped off and ready to go.