So I just purchased my Warn M8000!
Now comes time to upgrade my battery!
I am looking at the Optima Yellow Top.
Question is do I NEED dual batteries or is that just something most people WANT and do not necessarily need. Everyone I wheel with running a winch is running a single Optima yellow or blue top.

 

Optima= are overpriced crap. I use to run one on the Viper but never again. Do yourself a favor and stick with the stocker until it gives out. Unless you are winching folks weekly you aren't going to strain the factory battery. The only thing the optima does is look pretty under the hood. Two (stock equivalent)batteries would be my preference if the one happened to fail.

 

i beg to differ, one good long hard sloppy wet pull can kill the batery in one shot. i wouldnt say he needs dual either, and there are other batteries besides optima anyways. just get a good quality battery that is rated for stuff like winching, lights, etc....

there are going to be many opinions on optima, some people swear by them and others hate em.

 

I put my winch on just before Christmas and used it the next day. I pulled a Nissan Pathfinder, while it was in park (couldn't find the keys) out of the barn.

My battery light came on and my battery was toast. It was dead the next day when I tried to start the jeep. So I jumped it, drove it for like an hour, parked it at the house, shut it off then started it again, and it seemed fine.
The next day it was dead. I jumped it, ran to Discount auto and bought the Yellow Top. Got into the jeep and it was dead. Got a jump, returned home and replaced the stock battery.

IMO, DON'T wait till the stock battery leaves you stranded somewhere wishing you had listened!!! Change it out. Yeah, you may be one of the lucky one's and your stock Battery may last you a bit...Then again, you may not.
Especially now that you have a winch..i'd seriously recommend a battery swap!!!

Myself, I have a winch, 4 lights & an aftermarket stereo (and plan on other stuff in the future), so I needed something that was a bit more heavy duty.
I plan on doing the dual battery set up in the future, but there's other mod's I wanna do first.

 

I disagree as well. There's nothing better for off-road and harsh condition use than a dry-cell battery. Read about it on Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRLA_battery

I've had Optima Yellow Tops before and they are excellent. No hesitation in the harshest conditions. No fear of freezing or leaking. I'm just waiting for my stock battery to give out. I've already got a Yellow Top in the back ready to swap out.

 

My stock battery so far is holding strong. Pulled an F150 out of the mud two days after installing my winch. I've been wondering about the benefits of 1 or 2 batteries. I haven't heard anyone say yeh or ney, just which batteries to stay away from.

Question? If the stock batteries suck, What do you recommend??
Question? Are two batteries overkill for the moderate winching and lights??

 

Good upgrade. you can not recharge your stock battery. if for some unforseen chance you do kill the yellow top. you can hook it up to a trickle charge and recharge it to 100%. Do yourself a favor and upgrade. once you stary adding lights and other fun stuff your stocker wont hold up long. if it does your lucky.

 

Just my opinion on optima... i have had a red top and a yellow top in the past... Neither were strained by anything they couldn't handle... Although I was impressed by the fact they would keep enough charge to start even after listening to music all night camping or all day tailgating without starting the vehicle up a whole bunch. They also started in extreme weather conditions without hesitating. I was disappointed in the fact that both died quite young. I can't remember the exact issue, but BOTH died in less than two years. I know these batteries aren't supposed to last forever, but less than two years was disappointing.

Just wanted to chime in on the optima debate

 

Skip the Optima,their quality has gone down hill the last few years.

Go down to Sears and buy a Die-hard Platinum which is an Odyssey in disguise.

 

No you do not need dual batteries. But upgrade the battery to a good deep cycle battery. Stock one will get killed and not be able to hold a charge. It would suck especially if no one had a spare battery to loan you.

I have three batteries. Two to run everything when the Jeeps not running. One in case I drain the two.