Posted by Caleb in Kansas [162.158.79.8] on Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 11:20:20 :
The Optima batteries I bought in 2004 and 2005 finally threw in the towel. The suburban is the 4th vehicle I have had them in. Stamped "Made in Aurora Colorado USA". I stopped buying them after it took 3 off the shelf to finally have a good one in my wife's Grand Cherokee but the 3rd one made it 5 years. Made in Mexico.
When I did the Cummins swap, I made my battery locations to fit the Optimas so no other battery with enough cranking amps will fit in the slot, or would hit the hood. Went and picked up 2 group 31 950CCA commercial truck batteries and remote mounted them back behind the transfer case cross member. I have had a few sets of power cables off of M1 Abrams power packs laying around and they were just about the perfect length. I don't know what gauge they are, but they are at least 0...That starter really cranks now!!
If you come across them, they are great for remote battery setups. A buddy of mine gave me 2 sets he got in a miscellaneous lot on GL, then another, who worked on remanufacturing the power packs, told me what they were and gave me another.
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