Sealed Batteries, Gel Cells? Options

[qa1142]

Morning,
Has anyone put sealed gel cell battery in? Are there any (even "full race") that would be direct bolt in replacment? I am welding in my new battery tray tonight and want it to stay new.

[Andy]

I have a red-top Optima in my Jeep, the 914 will get one too when I start messing with the motor, I've heard good things about the Odyssey batteries too but I haven't used one.

My optima is 7 years old, still cranks every time, even after sitting for months on end, it's has never had an issue with the 400amp draw of the winch, and still worked and didn't leak while upside-down, sadly it was still securely bolted in it's bracket... The Optima's really only come in one size (look closely at the spec sheet) but in three flavors; red-high output, yellow-deep cycle, and blue-marine. I'm not sure of regulations but I've seen them in several different full-race cars - NHRA, SCCA, Redneck roundy-round... I paid $120 for my Optima I think Odysseys are a little cheaper, at least the optimas are pretty easy to find - if your flaps can't get one try a 4x4 shop - they're big with off-roaders (high draw winches and not leaking).

I highly recommend them!