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Mounting the mobile solenoid winch pack...underhood or on top of winch???

Big Red

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Roscoe, IL 61073
Mounting the mobile solenoid winch pack...underhood or on top of winch???

I'm thinking of mounting the solenoid pack if it stretches that far to the open area where my stock air box is now that I run a smaller K&N cone. I'm thinking it will be out of the elements and harder to steal, but could cook under the hood with the high temps. What do you guys think? I already had my Warn 8000i and Olympic winch bumper stolen by some punks and now have a Nate's4x4 winch bumper and Warn M8000 I going to be putting on my Jeep.
 
Although its not on an XJ, the winch on my TJ has the pac under the hood. Its a '99 and has NO AC so I was able to mount it to the plate where the AC would have been. I than swapped the cables for larger ones because of the extra legnth of remountly mounting the pac.

Works great and cutts down on people screwing with my winch.

CW

Solonoidfront.jpg

Solinoidbox.jpg

stingerfront.jpg
 
I did the same thing with my milemarker 9000lb but went a step further and mounted the on/off switch in my dash along with the remote. I unfortunatly lost my digital camera on a trip to dallas so i dont have any updated pictures but i took out the cigarette lighter and the switch fit perfectly. I mounted the solenoid right infront of the master cylinder. I recommend doing the mod, im real happy with it.

Heres a picture of the on/off mounted in the cigarette lighter spot. I had to do some trimming behind before it fit.
http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i...urrent=DSCF0578.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch3
 
i just got a warn 8000 and im thinkin about doing this as well, but it would require the hood to be open during winching to let the remote wire out, anybody have any problems with that?

-Tim
 
I have heard some recommend that the hood be open when winching to act as a shield incase something comes apart an the winch line???
 
Big Red said:
Mounting the mobile solenoid winch pack...underhood or on top of winch???

I'm thinking of mounting the solenoid pack if it stretches that far to the open area where my stock air box is now that I run a smaller K&N cone. I'm thinking it will be out of the elements and harder to steal, but could cook under the hood with the high temps. What do you guys think? I already had my Warn 8000i and Olympic winch bumper stolen by some punks and now have a Nate's4x4 winch bumper and Warn M8000 I going to be putting on my Jeep.


Wow...you didn't hear wrenches turning in the middle of the night??And the sound of one of the punks screaming when the bumper fell on his foot?
 
jeepnuts311 said:
i just got a warn 8000 and im thinkin about doing this as well, but it would require the hood to be open during winching to let the remote wire out, anybody have any problems with that?

-Tim


Not really, you could make quick connects so that you could connect the remote control either in the cab or from outside with the hood shut. You could also wire in a switch in the dash or somewhere so you didn't need the remote when you were inside the jeep.
 
jeepdeepfreak said:
Wow...you didn't hear wrenches turning in the middle of the night??And the sound of one of the punks screaming when the bumper fell on his foot?

on the note of getting winches stolen, i have been thinking about anti-theft measures for mine. i am waiting on my JCR stage 2 front bumper and im not sure 100% on how the winch mounts up in there, but would it be unwise to tackweld the winch mounting bolts to the bumper? thats the only way i can think of to suprise the winch theives and perhaps stop them.

i was thinking of the front skidplate such as rustys to block off access to the bumper bolts to make it a huge PITA to steal the whole bumper....

thoughts?

-Tim
 
jeepdeepfreak said:
Wow...you didn't hear wrenches turning in the middle of the night??And the sound of one of the punks screaming when the bumper fell on his foot?

I live in a gated townhouse and have 5 Jeeps and only a 2 car garage so I didn't hear anything because my Jeep is more than a 100 yards away from my place. I was also gone for the weekend. It really sucks, but I got a Nate's4x4 winch bumper and will have it mounted shortly alone with my Warn M8000. I'm going to definately tack weld the bumper bolts, winch, rear bumper etc.

In order to mount the solenoid under the hood, do you need to buy longer winch wiring? I was thinking of just mounting it where my stock air box used to be.

Troy
 
I put mine behind the air box and next to master cylinder. I had to extend the cables to the winch and box. I then realized the problem with opening the hood to run the winch. It was a major pain to winch myself out and drive the Jeep at the same time with the hood open or part of the way open. I then took the box apart and moved the controller plug from the box to the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel. So now my box is under the hood, my controller plug-in is in the dash and I really like it that way. I can plug in the remote and work it from the drivers seat when needed or I can run the remote out the window and stand to the side and watch the cable and winch. In general it's just easier and quicker to use the winch. Below is a picture of the box before I moved the remote plug.

35211
 
jeepnuts311 said:
on the note of getting winches stolen, i have been thinking about anti-theft measures for mine. i am waiting on my JCR stage 2 front bumper and im not sure 100% on how the winch mounts up in there, but would it be unwise to tackweld the winch mounting bolts to the bumper? thats the only way i can think of to suprise the winch theives and perhaps stop them.

i was thinking of the front skidplate such as rustys to block off access to the bumper bolts to make it a huge PITA to steal the whole bumper....

thoughts?

-Tim

I used 3/4 inch pipe caps. Stick that over the head of the bolt and weld it to the bumper. If you need to get them off just hit it with an angle grinder or beat the off with a big assed hammer. nether of which can be done quietly.
 
keel5 said:
I used 3/4 inch pipe caps. Stick that over the head of the bolt and weld it to the bumper. If you need to get them off just hit it with an angle grinder or beat the off with a big assed hammer. nether of which can be done quietly.

good call, i like that idea.

-Tim
 
keel5 said:
I used 3/4 inch pipe caps. Stick that over the head of the bolt and weld it to the bumper. If you need to get them off just hit it with an angle grinder or beat the off with a big assed hammer. nether of which can be done quietly.


hmmm..I like that idea,also!!!
 
keel5 said:
I used 3/4 inch pipe caps. Stick that over the head of the bolt and weld it to the bumper. If you need to get them off just hit it with an angle grinder or beat the off with a big assed hammer. nether of which can be done quietly.

I'll have to look into that. That still might not be enough for me since the thiefs went to far as to steel my winch bumper as well. I rather weld up the bolts and if I need to get them off down the road just cut them with a cut off wheel or sawsall. I rather it take some tool that makes a lot of noise and sparks to take off the winch from the bumper and the bumper off from the Jeep than just a little pounding. The thiefs made it look like they owned the vehicle and were working on it so nobody questioned it.
 
it was those ballsy punks with the wrenches

but about the solenoid rewiring:
if and when you lengthen the wires make sure you increase the diameter. I have a friend who owns an electrical business and he suggested i go from 2 gauge to 2/0 due to amperage and voltage.
 
XJ_Vikings said:
it was those ballsy punks with the wrenches

but about the solenoid rewiring:
if and when you lengthen the wires make sure you increase the diameter. I have a friend who owns an electrical business and he suggested i go from 2 gauge to 2/0 due to amperage and voltage.

While not increasing the diameter...which is a good idea. Do you think I could join the left over of my older wires that the thiefs so generously left for me? I have quite a few feet and hopefully can join the old with the new and be able to mount the solenoid on the passenger side firewall. I had my ARB compressor mounted there when I had an ARB for my dana 30. Just a though or just mount it where I think I will for now where the stock air box used to be.
 
I've got mine mounted where the airbox used to be and haven't had any problems (had it this way for over a year now).At first I did the "pop the hood to plug in the remote" route but that got old real quick.My solution was to run the wiring from the solenoid to my center console and hooked up 3 switches- 1 toggle switch for power that also has a dash mounted flashing L.E.D. wired in to let me know when the winch is active, and 2 spring loaded, momentary, "push switches" for winch in and winch out.I mounted them so that when my hand rests on the center console the in and out switches are right at my finger tips.Works pretty good and not having to mess with plugging in a remote is nice.
 
planefixer said:
I've got mine mounted where the airbox used to be and haven't had any problems (had it this way for over a year now).At first I did the "pop the hood to plug in the remote" route but that got old real quick.My solution was to run the wiring from the solenoid to my center console and hooked up 3 switches- 1 toggle switch for power that also has a dash mounted flashing L.E.D. wired in to let me know when the winch is active, and 2 spring loaded, momentary, "push switches" for winch in and winch out.I mounted them so that when my hand rests on the center console the in and out switches are right at my finger tips.Works pretty good and not having to mess with plugging in a remote is nice.

Do you have some pics of this (switches) and how you mounted the solenoid pack in the air box location? It sounds awesome. :shocked:
 
planefixer said:
I've got mine mounted where the airbox used to be and haven't had any problems (had it this way for over a year now).At first I did the "pop the hood to plug in the remote" route but that got old real quick.My solution was to run the wiring from the solenoid to my center console and hooked up 3 switches- 1 toggle switch for power that also has a dash mounted flashing L.E.D. wired in to let me know when the winch is active, and 2 spring loaded, momentary, "push switches" for winch in and winch out.I mounted them so that when my hand rests on the center console the in and out switches are right at my finger tips.Works pretty good and not having to mess with plugging in a remote is nice.

perfect, ive been looking for the right (on)/off/(on) switch for about 6 months and i cant find anything the right size. I think im gonna scrap it and just get 2 (on)/off switches.

Yes thickening the wire is a good idea, but i just blew 70$ on 25' 2/0 wire so if you can piece together your new wire with that generously donated by the theifs i would say go for it, just be wary of how much your adding to its length.
 
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