Spring 1996

When I put my winch on before the Canadian Jamboree I also stuck in a high output 80 amp alternator to try and keep up with the electrical requirements of the winch. This worked all right but the few times I had to use the winch I was really worried that it would drain down my battery to nothing real fast. The problem I had with finding batteries was that they had to fit in the little battery box behind my hood. Usually the only battery I could find to fit in the box was a pretty small one. I looked around and tried to figure out a way to do a dual battery setup and a place to put a second battery but didn't find anything.

I had been to Kevin's Offroad Outlet a bunch of times and saw the Optima batteries he had there. They were a little on the expensive side but they were a mix of a deep cycle and normal battery with a lot of energy. One day I went over there and decided sort of on the spot to try and fit the Optima in my battery box. I didn't think it would fit and initially it didn't but it was really close. We ended up shaving off a couple of tabs and the battery slipped right inside by battery box. Sold! The difference was amazing. Starting was the only thing I could really test, but that was much better than before. It was not until my next trip up to Canada that I really got to test the battery out with the winch.