I had a job at a service station as a tow truck operator when I was going to school so I did a lot of jump starts then. I'm not picking sides between side post or top post but I have had batteries blow up on me twice and both times they were side post. Both times they had the 5/16" head bolt replaced with a standard 3/8" bolt with a 9/16" head and after it blew the top off the battery you could see the lead strap from the terminal to the plates was twisted off. From being over torqued is my guess. One of them earned me a ride in an ambulance to get the battery acid flushed out of my eyes.