Which winch?

[JB]

I am finally getting some bumpers built for the Donkey, so I need a good winch. I am looking in the 9500-12500 range. I do not really want to pay Warn prices. $800 range would be nice. What is the Cliff Notes version of the T-Max thread on POR? 4WPW lists the TMAX 12500 for around $850. Harbor Freight sells Chicago brand I think, and they are super cheap, but I do not know if I would trust it. (might be good enough for the trailer though)

It of course will not get used much:D, but IF I do need it, I want to to work and not burn up solenoids or motors.

Experiences? Thoughts?

[FJAggie07]

DO NOT BUY A CHICAGO WINCH FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD!!!! :D


http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200319537_200319537

For $100 more you can have yourself a nice winch that wont burn up. Might not be the fastest in the world but strong enough for sure.

[tigweld]

don't waste your money find a used warn. even a broken warn in need of repair is a better start than the t-max, chicago, blackmountain, and even the milemarker elec. which are all the same pile of shiat just rebadged.

[Eckert]

Tmaxx is also rebadged as a gorilla on ebay.

[BMFScout]

Used warn, you know JB is going to use and abuse whatever you get. Just take your time and buy a good one the first time.

[Doug Krebs]

warn 8274 if it will fit

[robertf03]

9000i from a meth head

when the biggest joos on the board are telling you to go warn over t-max, thats something

[JB]

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/tls/874293585.html

[texasxj]

fyi, I was talking to 'ol Carl at Gooseneck trailer the other day and they carry or can get Warn stuff. I didnt price anything though.

[robertf03]

thats a pretty good deal.

[agjohn02]

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/tls/874293585.html

decent price

call jeremy at 4wpw and see if he's got any blems. scott hooked me up with a good deal on a winch through him.

[FJAggie07]

That's the same winch I use, expensive but damn it is fast and powerful.

[Graystroke]

you could sell the tray for $75 and keep the winch

[JB]

I emailed to see if he still has it.

[JB]

Is there some sort of bracket that secures the soleniod housing to the winch itself? see pic

I think I am going to get this, mount it permanently on the front of Bronco, then use the cradle and some more cables and a cheap 8k winch to use for multimounting between the back of the truck, Bronco back bumper, and trailer.

[AggieTJ2007]

usually there is a bracket to mount the solinoids to the winch but it is pretty much just a piece of angle that bolts on the side and mounts the solinoids above the drum

[bcolman]

you can also use big hose clamps, thats what i have and it works great

[JB]

Picked it up today. I am having the bumpers built in the next couple weeks and the winch will be permanently mounted in a front bumper, and the multi mount will get a cheapo 8000 to use on the back of the F150/Bronco/ and trailer.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/684342/fullsize/pic_0024.jpg

I did not think abotu how much battery cable would be. $200 for 20' of positve/negative and a quick connector!!! I am just going to make some or get Kyle to.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Del City has quick connectors for not too bad of a price. I don't know how good of a ground you have from the battery to the frame or how far the battery is from the winch, but you may be able to save your self some footage by tieing the ground to the frame if you are looking to save some skrilla.

Where did you get that price for cable at?

[DRAGOONRANCH]

http://www.delcity.net/delcity/servlet/catalog?parentid=185187&page=1

2/0 welding cable 25'-$107

http://www.delcity.net/delcity/servlet/catalog?parentid=1043&childid=104643&page=1&tabset=1

quick connector 2x$7.91 ($15.82)

http://www.delcity.net/delcity/servlet/catalog?parentid=1042&childid=104543&page=1&tabset=1

terminal 4x $3.13 ($12.52)

[JB]

Del City has quick connectors for not too bad of a price. I don't know how good of a ground you have from the battery to the frame or how far the battery is from the winch, but you may be able to save your self some footage by tieing the ground to the frame if you are looking to save some skrilla.

Where did you get that price for cable at?

That was at TSC, Champion brand.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Was it the welding wire I take it?

I just ended up buying a 100' spool of it a while back. I was amazed at how much of it has been used up so far.

[JB]

So I needed a 3rd winch:D This one is a backup and is on the cradle that the 9500XP came on. It will be used between the rear of Bronco, rear of truck, and on the trailer once I get a hitch welded onto it. It is a 8000k Smittybuilt I got from 4WPW for $299! Not expecting the high quality of Warn, but I think it will do for pulling dead Broncos on the trailer, or for emergency extractions of the F150 in Colorado.

Kyle can get me the cable for the quick connects for $1.75ish/ft. Is there anything special about what type of quick connects to use? Napa has 2 different kinds, almost identical, but different colors. ONe is rated for like 175 amps and the other for 300 I think. I do not understand why it matters since the plastic connecter really is not doing much but keeping the cables together.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

the difference is going to be in the size of the metal connectors inside (i think). I have a mess of the red connectors from del city at the house that one day will get put on everything where I might hook a winch up. I can't remember off the top of my head what the rating is.

[JB]

OK, apparently color does not matter, but only like colors will connect. Del city has 50, 175, and 350 amp. I assume a winch under full draw will pull closer to 350 if not more. The connectors I bought yesterday are only rated for 175

[JB]

I might need to rethink this a little. I was planning on running 2ga all the way to the back of my truck, figure 15-20'. Do I need to go with bigger cable? 0ga? 1o?

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Are you going to install batteries on the trailer or run a jumper to the connection on the bumper of the truck?

[RCcola55]

1/0

[JB]

Are you going to install batteries on the trailer or run a jumper to the connection on the bumper of the truck?

an 8' or so jumper cable is the plan

[DRAGOONRANCH]

ok, then I concur on the 1/0. Should be enough to pull that distance and then some. If you plan on cutting corners and not running the ground all the way back to the battery, then make sure you make a good jumper between the battery and the frame. It will smoke the little braided stainless cable that is between a lot of them.

[Sharpe]

Deffinately get everything from Del City. Welding cable from Del City is half the price and much finer stranded than battery cable from napa.

I also vote 1/0, its what I ran on Pigpen.

[Reckless]

I have a plug on the back of my truck for the same reasons your wanting John. I used brand new 2/0 , bout 40ft, from a welding shop that i got for free

[JB]

The winch I bought had a broken clutch lever that I found out after I had it already bolted down. It also kept shorting out my truck because the power terminal on the motor was touching the carrier. I exchanged it for a new one, cut down the postive terminal, got it all put back togther. I ran 1/0 cable from the battery, but just grounded the negative to a bolt for the hitch.

It is about as fast as my XD9000 but not close to as fast as the 9500XP on teh Bronco

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Do you have a good ground from the frame back to the battery?

Looks good back there though.

[JB]

Why does the ground for the winch need to go through the battery? The battery is grounded to the frame, and the winch is grounded to the frame.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

I have heard of reports of winches that were overheating since the ground wire was not big enough to carry the current back through the battery.

[Reckless]

Plus the cable that goes to the battery to the frame probably isnt big enough to handle the load either.

[Sharpe]

I have heard of reports of winches that were overheating since the ground wire was not big enough to carry the current back through the battery.


Plus the cable that goes to the battery to the frame probably isnt big enough to handle the load either.

Is there an echo?

[Reckless]

must of not caught that one

[JB]

I am running 1/0 cable from the connection at the bumper to a bolt on the frame, maybe 2-3'. How is that worse than running the cable 20' to the battery, then the battery has to ground a couple feet to the frame through a cable that is more than likely less than 1/0??? Am I confused?

[Doug Krebs]

When I talked to Warn I believe their reason is so there is a definite good connection. They are worried about corrosion, connections coming loose, etc...

[Seth]

Yes, a little. You are grounding to negative terminal, not the frame. The frame is just a common conductor of sorts. So as the winch tries to ground, it is trying to get back to the negative terminal of the battery, through the frame. So while the multiple ground straps, etc are most likely sufficient, especially on a new truck like yours, running a large guage ground direct from battery to frame assures that you will not overload any other lighter ground strap. I feel like I am being redundant, but basically just realize that you are grounding to battery, not frame.

Problems usually happen when people have rigs that are old, rusted, or could have had ground straps cut out/not reconnected/stretched from body lifts, etc. Take all that as you will.

Stereo systems that I have worked with that pushed the 100 amp range usually rana second battery with a dedicated line. Winches if I am not mistaken can exceed that pretty easily since they are very peaky consumers.

[JB]

Ok, well my front winch is grounded to a common ground on the inner fender. It has had a couple hard pulls in its day, with the only issue being that the lights will dim, but I would think that has more to do with alternator output.

WIth the 1/0 cable being close to $3 a foot, I think I am going to keep the short ground for the hitch winch, but maybe I change up the front winch ground to go straight to the optima. I am not going to mess with the factory battery to ground cable.

As for the positive side, I used a side mount extender like the one in the pic below. Front winch is on the inside, rear winch power is on the outside held on by the supplied nut. Any better way to do this?

[AggieTJ2007]

Rumor has it that optima recommends that you do not connect the winch to the side terminals,

It voids the warranty If I remember right, something about the internal connection to the side terminals not being rated for a high enough continous capacity

[JB]

So then I have hooked everything up completely wrong :D

[DRAGOONRANCH]

So then I have hooked everything up completely wrong :D

yes... :rolleyes:

:flipoff2:

get military terminal clamps. they make it much easier to remove wiring and such when needed with out having to pull the terminal off each time (which really shouldn't be an issue with a newer truck like that, but i digress).

http://www.premierpowerwelder.com/terminals/terminals.html

I have found them cheaper, but this just gives you an idea of what to look for. Now, before you do anything else to screw up your new truck....

SEARCH noob!!!

[Reckless]

These are the cats ass of battery clamps. Had them on the CJ and were damn good.

[JB]

yes... :rolleyes:

:flipoff2:

Now, before you do anything else to screw up your new truck....

SEARCH noob!!!

Bah, its nearing 110k! :flipoff2:

[tigweld]

Rumor has it that optima recommends that you do not connect the winch to the side terminals,

It voids the warranty If I remember right, something about the internal connection to the side terminals not being rated for a high enough continous capacity

this is true I ripped the top off of on I had in my 68' and the side mounts were connected to the top posts by a tiny strip of metel molded into the top

[JB]

Those military terminals really wouldn't work with the ford wiring. The positive cable mounts via a stud and it would take some rigging to make it work and look good.

I am going to pull a Chadnutz here and ignore everyone's advice and keep it the way it is.:flipoff2:

[DRAGOONRANCH]

If you use an optima with BOTH side and top terminals, just run the winch cable to the top and leave the oem wiring alone...

Just cause you stop listening doesn't mean we stop tellin you how wrong you are. :flipoff2: