Winch wiring question...

[Jack Russell Racing]

First, a big shout out to Andre @ Fat Fabrications for a beautiful front bumper It arrived today via UPS Freight, and was a snap to install.

However, I'm wondering what most folks do for wiring... I have a WARN XD9000 mounted right now, but obviously the cables aren't long enough to reach the battery box. Is the proper approach to extend the cable and go all the way to the battery ? In terms of cable routing, I could easily pull it into the cab from the drain holes in the drivers floorboard, but I worry about chafing on the cutout. Thoughts? In the picture, you can see I've just fished them loosely into the cab.

I'd love a quick tutorial from people have done this install before. I'm a bit of a 24v neophyte.

[Jimm391730]

I had enough winch power cable to run straight back, under the floor of the air tunnel, and into the passenger side of the engine compartment where I connected the positive lead to the starter terminal and ground to the chassis. I put the split corrugated plastic wiring loom around the leads where chaffing might occur.

Remember that for the same power, the 24V current is half what you would expect from a 12V system; this makes the wiring less critical (but still important) than a 12V winch would require. So my winch current path goes from battery positive, through the stock heavy cable to the starter, where the positive winch lead is connected. The return path goes from the negative winch cable, to the truck chassis, through the battery disconnect switch, and back to the battery. This path has several more connections than "straight to the battery" but it has worked flawlessly so far for me.

If you decide that the cables are too short to reach wherever you decide to run them, it is a much better choice to replace them with a single longer cable than to splice additional length to it. Sometimes I just go to Sams, Costco, Walmart, etc. and look for #4 jumper cables - these can be less expensive than trying to find raw cable and are much easier to get. Just cut the clamps off and use the cable. But be warned: many jumper cables are very wimpy, I've seen some that have only #10 gauge wire in them!

[Andre]

if you cut a small hole in the grill and run them through the tunnel, the stock wires will reach all the way to the starter post and the coil mounting bolt for a ground.

[krick3tt]

I ran the stock cables to the starter connections. Red and black. Placed the control for the winch inside the cab on the side of the tunnel at the passenger area.
This also helped to allow the winch to keep a lower profile and not be so noticeable.
Had a battery company build three cables for me to run from the control, down through the hole in the side of the footwell (grommet at the hole to keep chafing to a minimum)
and to the winch. All cables are zip tied to the chassis from winch to hole to prevent being torn out off road.
The company cut the cables to proper length, installed end pieces and the charge was about $25 for three proper size cables, same as originals.

[Jack Russell Racing]

Easy as pie! No drilling required. We routed the cables through the front grill (there is plenty of loose area around the horn's cutout) and zip-tied in the tunnel. One lead to the starter --- (total beoytch to access); the ground is on the solenoid clamp. Works like a dream.

[TechMOGogy]

Picture of your new wiring would make this thread complete (esp since I will be doing the same thing next spring )
However, I am using a different Warn winch

[Jack Russell Racing]

Picture of your new wiring would make this thread complete (esp since I will be doing the same thing next spring )
However, I am using a different Warn winch

Without taking it all apart again for pictures, here's the skinny:

0) Disconnect the battery

1) remove the seats. A single wing-nut behind each seat is all it takes. Remove the wing-nut and tilt the seat forward -- it'll pop right out.

2) Unscrew the 1/4-turn brackets which hold the engine cover in place. These take just a simple 1/4 turn of a flat blade screw driver, and they release. There is one on each side of the plastic engine cover.

3) The engine cover will now just lift right out of the cab.

4) Fish the cables through the horn hole. Mine got stuck a few times on the nasty foam in the tube, but they came out just fine. Route them toward the passenger side of the cab.

5) Using zip-ties, make sure they are held a safe distance from the fan and fan-belt.

6) The solenoid is mounted in the front-right area. Looks like a can of Diet Coke. Remove the single nut on its chassis clamp, and attach to the winch ground wire. Snug it nice and tight.

7) Shrink your hands down to the size of a 9 year old girl.

Repeat step #7

9) The starter is on the rear-right of the engine, fairly deep. I found that loosening the air box allowed better access -- and if I wasn't so lazy, I probably would have removed the filter housing altogether for much better access to the starter.

10) The starter has a rubber cap on the hot connection. Peel it back and using the tiny hands mentioned in #7, attached the winch's red wire. Honestly, this might be easier by gaining access from below. There is a mudguard between the fuel tank and RF wheel that might give perfect access. Once again, I didn't want to mess with it -- but in retrospect, it might make access much much easier. Once re-attached, put the rubber boot back.

All done.


(My colleague, Aaron, decided we needed to properly stretch the cable before real-world use. He took the Pinzgauer this morning and dragged his Audi SUV the full length of the cable, up a slight incline hill at the office)



The construction of this Pinzgauer has me literally laughing daily, at is brilliant simplicity. I work in the Ferrari & Lamborghini parts world daily (I have a little internet business), and the Italians find ways to over-engineer absolutely everything. The idea of gaining full access to the engine in less than 4 minutes is unthinkable in my daily world.

[TechMOGogy]

Thanks - that step x step will benefit many!

[landy]

Nice looking bumper! What'd it cost?

[Andre]

I sell those bumpers for $1500, powder coated semigloss black, plus shipping. I can also mount the winch on the bumper for "bolt up and go" installation.
Powder coating also available in RAL 6014 (swiss) or 7013(austrian) for an additional charge.

[GenevaPinz]

Hi,
Sorry I am posting late.
When wiring my winch, I went through the grille and the front sheetmetal, so that I could keep the solenoid in the cab.
The ground cable goes straight to the chassis side of the main battery switch (and I beefed up the connection between the battery side of the switch and the battery).
The + cable goes to a "master solenoid" that I installed next to the battery switch, between the driver side "mud guard" plate and the battery box. The solenoid is wired to the + battery.
So the winch is wired with cables that go all the way to the battery, + and -.
I wired the whole thing with #2 gauge, because that' what the winch manufacturer advised... but seeing Jim's post above, I believe the manufacturer wanted to be on the safe side without the bother of any wire gauge vs. amps drawn calculations. And smaller cables are easier to install...

[Jimm391730]

The ground cable goes straight to the chassis side of the main battery switch

That's good; there have been posts here that show that some accessories ground the negative lead to their part's mounting, so if you went straight to the battery then you would be bypassing the battery switch for the whole truck. Not all parts do so, but since they might expect the ground lead to be the same voltage as chassis they might not check or care if they are connected or not.