Winch question

RichP · Jun 10, 2008

Been looking at winches on the net, question I have is there are some with the relay box mounted on the winch like the smittybuilt and gorilla. Is it fairly straightforward to move that relay box under the hood into the engine bay ? Two reasons, one to get it out of the weather and two for looks and air flow.

Vince · Jun 10, 2008

It usually is straight forward for the non-integrated type. You will need some longer high current cables made to connect the motor to the solenoid(s) in the new location.

I did this on my wife's TJ.

Jerms · Jun 10, 2008

I did it for my warn M8000, You will have to buy or make your own battery leads from the relay box to the winch motor. The problem that i found with situation was that no one sold pre made cables in the right gauge. My main battery leads for the winch are 2 guage. All the premade cables i could find were 4 gauge. So i bought some bulk wire and some solder cable ends and made my own cable. I will see if i can post a few pics for you tonight.

Jerms

exlcdriver · Jun 10, 2008

Noticed that you have several Jeeps. My friend did that with both his XJ and his Grand. Depending on placement he melted cables with under hood heat on a long day on the trails in both Jeeps. On the grand he moved box outside. On the XJ high on right side I think on relay cover.

lobsterdmb · Jun 10, 2008

RichP said:
Been looking at winches on the net, question I have is there are some with the relay box mounted on the winch like the smittybuilt and gorilla. Is it fairly straightforward to move that relay box under the hood into the engine bay ? Two reasons, one to get it out of the weather and two for looks and air flow.

The smittybilt soleniod box may be mounted on top, but it doesn't have to be. I don't know about the gorilla. I just picked up a smittybilt 8k winch for use on my trailer and 2nd jeep (It is hitch mounted)

beakie · Jun 10, 2008

http://titanwinches.webs.com/
I got one of these last month (10k lbs). good winch getting popular around here.
talk to the guy, he's great to deal with and may be able to give you some more information, very knowledgable on the subject.
I plan on fabbing up some new wires to move my relay box under hood.

mecompco · Jun 10, 2008

I put my Ramsey solenoids under the hood, just behind the driver's side headlight, where the air intake used to be. I put the winch remote jack out thru the side of the fender.

mattyj · Jun 11, 2008

I mounted my warn m8000 solenoid behind the radiator support panel...

derrickdrew17 · Jun 11, 2008

hey mattyj you have any more pictures of your XJ? how you like those Creepy Crawlers? whats the spec on your cherokee?

RichP · Jun 11, 2008

You could get away with that where you live but out here in the NE one or two winters would destroy that box unless it was sealed very very well..

vetteboy · Jun 11, 2008

The Smittybilt one uses a rather small solenoid pack inside the large box, sort of like this one:

The easiest way to relocate it, is to swap the battery and winch leads. Mount the solenoid pack under the hood next to the battery and use the short leads to connect it to power (the leads that used to go from the box to the winch). Then use the longer battery leads to go down to the winch.

The plug it uses is the same as a standard XLR microphone cable. You can use a microphone extension cable (one male/one female end) and route the cable into the cab. That way you can either plug it in inside, or you can unplug the extension cable from the solenoid pack and plug the controller in right under the hood for outside use.

lobsterdmb · Jun 11, 2008

vetteboy said:
The Smittybilt one uses a rather small solenoid pack inside the large box, sort of like this one:

The easiest way to relocate it, is to swap the battery and winch leads. Mount the solenoid pack under the hood next to the battery and use the short leads to connect it to power (the leads that used to go from the box to the winch). Then use the longer battery leads to go down to the winch.

The plug it uses is the same as a standard XLR microphone cable. You can use a microphone extension cable (one male/one female end) and route the cable into the cab. That way you can either plug it in inside, or you can unplug the extension cable from the solenoid pack and plug the controller in right under the hood for outside use.

Actually, the plug is now different on the new series wound version of the smittybilt winch. It is now a t-max style plug.

On my Ramsey winch which is on my other jeep, I extended the wires from the solonoid to the winch using 2 gauge wire. I mounted the solonoid where the battery box used to be. I then wired a switch in the cab for the winch and extended the winch plug to the grill on the jeep.

Winch question

RichP

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Vince

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Jerms

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exlcdriver

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lobsterdmb

Just a Lobster Minion

beakie

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mecompco

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mattyj

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derrickdrew17

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RichP

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vetteboy

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lobsterdmb

Just a Lobster Minion

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