I've had a couple optima's years ago 10+ and they were great. I bought one 3 years(I think) and it did not last long at all. I will never buy another one. I read somewhere that they changed how they are made and they are not the same as the older Optima's. A lot of complaints about them nowadays. I don't know if it makes a difference but all the one's I bought were yellow top.

 

I am in real need for a new battery (the OEM one is still fine, only 18,000 miles on it) mainly for the reason that I am now running a 8,000lb smitty built winch and a I can not get a full pull out of my battery since i put the winch on. I maybe get about ten feet with no weight on the winch before it dies. I was told that a Red Top Optima would fix the issue, but i too have hear negative reviews on the battery and now I don't know what to do??

 

Red top is not designed for deep Cycling. The yellow top is what you would need. Look into northstar batteries. Their pure lead agm models are what you need. I killed my stock battery on the first pull. you can't cheap out on a battery if you are going to be using a winch. Look for deep cycle Agm batteries, that's what you will need.

 

Last time I got an Optima a couple years ago it didn't last for more than a year. Not going to buy from them again.

 

I'm not trying to hi-jack this thread but I keep this in the back just in case:

[ame]http://www.amazon.ca/Multi-function-Rechargeable-Emergency-smartphone-warranty-Green/dp/B00ME45A6O/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8[/ame]

 

I bought an Interstate battery for our 2008 Patriot because I had bad luck with cheaper brands. Those batteries seemed to fail right after the warranty period expired. We have a Delco battery in our XJ Cherokee that is 7 years old and still going strong.

 

I have the group 24 marine battery it's a fair amount larger than stock. They have a group 34/78 that would be the perfect size without any problems

 

Does the group 24 fit the tray? Or is there modifications that are needed??