Is the battery breathe hose necessary? I purchased my savage used and being a newb i made the mistake of leaving it in the P position and that drained my battery dead.  so i went to Wal-mart to pick up the same exact battery as was in there before, however the battery's breathe tube was on the other side ( left side) it wasn't until I got home from putting the new battery in my bike that i realized that the previous owner had cut the left side flush so it would fit in the battery case.  i was considering doing the same but i figured i'd ask here first.  Any advice?

battery drain tube should hang down so any acids won't drip on the bike.

How would you recommend cutting this notch?

Will they take a battery back that has already been opened and filled with the acid?

Serowbot wrote on 06/08/10 at 21:14:16:

I stuck a Walmart battery in mine,same situation.I just routed the tube down the left side and secured it without notching my battery box.It works fine,but it's more of a wrangle to get the battery in there.If I do it again,I will cut a notch.I would think tin snips and pliers to bend it out and over would do it.
I don't know how the Walmart in your area is,but where I'm at,they would only exchange a battery that had been filled for another.

ratz wrote on 06/09/10 at 08:07:34:

my problem is getting the right side of the box to screw on, the part where the tool box latches on to.  Did you have this problem when you put the walmart battery in?

Aggie10 wrote on 06/09/10 at 08:12:36:

Yep,that's where the aforementioned wrangling came into play!
It's do-able,But a notch WOULD make it easier!