With the goal of replacing my primary battery in the Toyota FJ cruiser with the best possible replacement I spent quite some time researching what battery would work best. My goals were to find a battery that would fit in the current location of the primary battery, provide good starting characteristics, supply plenty of current to the winch, and be able to be abused with deep cycles.

The factory battery has the following characteristics:

Type:	27F
Cold Cranking Amps:	710
Voltage:	12
Weight:	Approximately 50.4 lb(The stock battery is 46 lb)
Width:	6.81
Length:	12.06
Height:	8.87
Reserve Capacity	155 Minutes

The location of the main battery can accommodate a battery that is up to 13.5 to 14 inches long but the width and height need to stay about the same.

Through research online and other reviews I found that Odyssey batteries have the best all round characteristics. The batteries provide great starting power, good winching capability, can be treated as a deep cycle battery, and pack the most power into the space used. For the FJ Cruiser the Odyssey PC2150 provides an almost perfect fit. The battery is available with 3 different terminal configurations and I selected the PC2150ST-M that has both threaded and SAE terminals and studs posts.

The Odyssey has the following characteristics:

Type:	31
Cold Cranking Amps:	1090
Voltage:	12
Weight:	78 lb
Width:	6.8
Length:	13
Height:	9.47
Amp Hour	100
Reserve Capacity	205 Minutes

In addition to the listed these characteristics the Odyssey battery also has the following benefits:

• Absorbent glass mat (AGM) technology
• Rugged construction – hard trail abuse will not damage the battery
• Can be mounted in any orientation except up side down
• Shipped fully charged and by UPS
• Container and cover made from oil resistant plastic
• Long service life of 6 to 8 year
• Is rated as a deep cycles battery with 400 cycles at 80% DOD
• Recharge faster than standard batteries

As the above stats show this battery is just a little larger than the stock FJ battery but offers about 25% more capacity as well as being deep cycle. With these characteristics the Odyssey makes the perfect battery for off road travel where winching and accessories like fridges and radios will be used.

Once I received my battery from UPS it took about 20 minutes to swap out. I needed longer battery hold down j-hooks to accommodate the additional height, a  Marine 29/31 Series Battery Tray and a longer chassis ground wire.

With the installation complete my first test was to start the FJ. There was a noticeable increase in the speed that the starter turned the motor over.

Weighing 78 lbs the Odyssey battery could use a better hold down. At a later date I will be installing the Odyssey batter hold down which will take a little more time to due to how the bottom plate needs to be bolted into the FJ. I’ll post on this install once complete.