Mounting a Winch in a Wrangler.

[GRUNT 111]

I recently mounted my winch back onto my Jeep. I am looking for ideas(and pictures) on how everyone ran their wiring for their winch. I have an auxiliary fuse box to which I will run the wiring. What I am looking for it how you routed the wiring from the control box to your power source. You see, previously I had just thrown the winch on and ran the cables as easily as I could. After pulling the winch off, I found that over time the wires rubbed through the paint on my grill. How did you all run your wiring? On a side note, I plan on ordering the bracket that allows myself to move the control box. Dan Kuefner has on that lays his box down so it does not hinder airflow across the radiator. Thank you for any feedback you may have!

[ob1jeeper 858]

Grunt Quote:  

On 11/24/2019 at 5:35 PM, GRUNT said:

I recently mounted my winch back onto my Jeep. I am looking for ideas(and pictures) on how everyone ran their wiring for their winch. I have an auxiliary fuse box to which I will run the wiring. What I am looking for it how you routed the wiring from the control box to your power source. You see, previously I had just thrown the winch on and ran the cables as easily as I could. After pulling the winch off, I found that over time the wires rubbed through the paint on my grill. How did you all run your wiring? On a side note, I plan on ordering the bracket that allows myself to move the control box. Dan Kuefner has on that lays his box down so it does not hinder airflow across the radiator. Thank you for any feedback you may have!

 

I made the mods to the bracketry, to move the control box on Ladybugs TJ to the pass side and level with the upper portion of the winch, when I modified the winch mount to move the winch down & forward, to help with improving the air-flow to the radiator.   Then routed the HD wiring through the grill, and later covered any areas where they might have come in contact with sharper edges, by slipping a short piece of heater hose on the potential contact areas, and securing them with tape & zip ties...   See attached pics

[GRUNT 111]

@ob1jeeper sir, any recommendations on how to connect the winch to the battery? Had her apart for so long, I can not remember if I ran the wiring straight to the battery or had to have something in between.

[ob1jeeper 858]

Just texted you some info.   In short:   A connection of the cables direct to the battery will work, just take care to add insulation to any areas that have sharp edges (like using the grill slots for routing).

An extra layer of safety to prevent battery melt-down thermal events, would be to add a *450 (or larger) amp circuit breaker between the winch positive cable and the positive post of the battery.
 

 

(*)  11/4/24:   Correction to poor proof-reading before original post...

 

Edited November 5, 2024 by ob1jeeper

[GRUNT 111]

Thanks for the excellent advice, sir. My father and I went out on a Sunday morning drive to NAPA and purchased 50A circuit breakers for both of our Jeeps. We were planning on some light father and son wrenching today, but the weather up here dropped and we started to get some freezing rain. The garage is quite cold now. May have to wait until tomorrow. 😜

[GRUNT 111]

May I pose an electrical question? I have seen some posts regarding winch wiring discuss using high amp fuses, solenoids, and circuit breakers to protect against melting the battery or winch fires, etc. My question is, if the max draw from the winch motor is 435 amps, would that trip circuit breakers, fuses, etc. that are of less amperage? I do not understand electrical wiring as much as I would like to. 

 

BATT—————C/B—————FUSE——————-Winch

 

Also, some people put a large amp fuses in their system to protect the battery. Is that need negated by the use of a circuit breaker or would it be another layer of protection?

 

I have found a manufactured winch isolating switch that we ordered for his 2008 JK due to a draw from his Bulldog winch that has historically killed his batteries.

BATT—————SWITCH——-——C/B——————-Winch

 

I am thinking I might like something like this in my system since it might sit for weeks at a time in the future.

BATT—————SWITCH—-———C/B—————FUSE——————-Winch

 

[ob1jeeper 858]

On 11/2/2024 at 8:35 PM, ob1jeeper said:

Just texted you some info.   In short:   A connection of the cables direct to the battery will work, just take care to add insulation to any areas that have sharp edges (like using the grill slots for routing).

An extra layer of safety to prevent battery melt-down thermal events, would be to add a 50 (or larger) amp circuit breaker between the winch positive cable and the positive post of the battery.

Oops...  My bad for not proofing my post.   That should have read a 450 amp or higher Circuit Breaker or fuse.    IF you choose this route, it needs to be installed between the hot (positive) cable for the winch, and the Batt positive post.

That said, very few folks use them, but instead make sure to inspect and add extra insulation and smooth any shape edges, wherever they occur during routing of the Winch positive cable.

Edited November 5, 2024 by ob1jeeper

[4x4tographer 3,668]

On 11/4/2024 at 7:27 PM, ob1jeeper said:

Oops...  My bad for not proofing my post.   That should have read a 450 amp or higher Circuit Breaker or fuse.    IF you choose this route, it needs to be installed between the hot (positive) cable for the winch, and the Batt positive post.

That said, very few folks use them, but instead make sure to inspect and add extra insulation and smooth any shape edges, wherever they occur during routing of the Winch positive cable.

 

Good advice - I might look in to adding one to my set-up.