willysmjeeps.com

Hey,

I have been looking into dry cell batteries (Optima D51R) for the M38.

I have been told that these batteries last 2X as long, are less corrosive, have more cranking power on startup, etc.


The Optima battery is $180.00 (not including sales tax) while a regular wet cell is $60.00.

My thought was the less corrosive nature, the longer life would make up the difference, I think. One person told me they have had an Optima dry cell battery in thier pickup for 8 years with no problems yet.

Thoughts anyone?

I used an Optima in my '72 CJ5 for years. I picked it up because I also ran a 9,000lb electric winch on the rig as well. There were many a time on a steep trail where the engine flooded and stalled, and I would use battery power alone to winch me out of a bad situation. Always had more than enough juice to crank the CJ right back up.

I the five years I had the Optima, I never had to charge it or replace it.

They are pricey, but save you in the long run.

I've only got experience with one Optima, it's one that came with a pickup I bought over 10 years ago that's still going. I'm pretty impressed by it. It's been run dead repeatedly and always comes back. It's currently being used to run the winches on our trailers, and gets deep cycled frequently (run very low on voltage and then charged back up). We also use it to start tractors or cars that don't have batteries or have dead batteries a lot.