Getting ready do same thing on 144 4x4..scouts on the floor in garage..defintely want steel cable..bought badland apex last yr n winch mounted in rear connected extra car battery use for that one instance but now contemplating if should put it in bumper or buy steel warn or even syntheic apex instead as would be lighter in bumper and could use steel one already have in rear..syntheic warn is like $500 more steel warn only couple hundred more but i personally like the name apex but seen vids of all failing..extra tips on bumper install be great as im goin in solo like you!!!great vid tho thank you
Thanks, I would regardless of the winch brand you choose get synthetic rope, you wont be sorry, steel cable is cheaper but it has its own challenges if it fails it will in a bad way unlike with synthetic line that just snaps and falls the potential energy in a steel cable Under tension can hurt you, i have not heard anything bad about apex winches, they are a great cost effective competitor and I wouldn’t be scared off by reviews, warn has their issues to. As to bumper advice, take your time with the cut out on the bumper you can make it look good or like a hack, as to the install its really pretty simple, make a platform out of 2x4 to use with your floor jack to hold the bumper level and its will save you some heart ache. Good luck
It is not necessary the manual states to make a direct connection to the battery or in this case the power post, but you can just need to size it appropriately to the winch amp draw
I ordered 10’ of red and black each to make sure i had plenty so it could be tucked nicely, made my own ends so that helps worked out perfectly I think the way i routed everything it took about 9 for both legs
A rear mounted winch in a hitch tray is a great addition, but the trouble is you have to find a place to put it and with space at a premium, with a good winch up front, its probably abit overkill, you could always have a mount rigged up to fit in the spare tire area that bolts to the frame and mount a rear winch there and have it come through the bumper, that would be cool, still not sure if the return on investment is there.
I probably wouldnt use the connection on the starter to pull power from, while you are correct it is a large gage wire and is only used to start the vehicle, I would be hesitant to connect anything to it. I guess in my mind the starter is what gets the motor running and I would not want to do anything that may have an adverse impact to it. The power feed coming to your starter connects to a solenoid and when the solenoid is opened by a trigger wire, your key switch, it opens the current path from the battery to the starter motor, the starters are just pretty important and can be very expensive, its much safer to run a cable to the battery or create a remote battery post like i did. Just my thoughts
Most winches want you to go directly to the battery un fused as they can pull huge loads at first or when under strain, they do recommend a cut off switch to be able to cut power to the winch incase of a winch related issue. My experience for what it is, i have had winches on my trucks for the last 30 years many different brands and capacities and I have never had a wire failure do to current overload, I have lost solenoids and over heated motors but never burned up a wire. I think adding fuse protection would be more of a hinderance than a benefit, but there is logic for the cut off switch you just will need one rated to 500amps
I think you are good without a fuse setup, the manufacturers do not recommend one or even show it as an option in their wiring diagrams, a cut off switch does have its benefits though!
Thank you.
Thanks for checking out the video and the channel
What size power port did you use? I need to wire up same winch in my Sprinter.
@VMITazman it was a 3/8 post sized power post from blue sea
Getting ready do same thing on 144 4x4..scouts on the floor in garage..defintely want steel cable..bought badland apex last yr n winch mounted in rear connected extra car battery use for that one instance but now contemplating if should put it in bumper or buy steel warn or even syntheic apex instead as would be lighter in bumper and could use steel one already have in rear..syntheic warn is like $500 more steel warn only couple hundred more but i personally like the name apex but seen vids of all failing..extra tips on bumper install be great as im goin in solo like you!!!great vid tho thank you
Thanks, I would regardless of the winch brand you choose get synthetic rope, you wont be sorry, steel cable is cheaper but it has its own challenges if it fails it will in a bad way unlike with synthetic line that just snaps and falls the potential energy in a steel cable
Under tension can hurt you, i have not heard anything bad about apex winches, they are a great cost effective competitor and I wouldn’t be scared off by reviews, warn has their issues to. As to bumper advice, take your time with the cut out on the bumper you can make it look good or like a hack, as to the install its really pretty simple, make a platform out of 2x4 to use with your floor jack to hold the bumper level and its will save you some heart ache. Good luck
About to do the same to mine. Question, did you fuse that hot line coming off the wench going to the power post? Or is that not necessary? Thanks!
It is not necessary the manual states to make a direct connection to the battery or in this case the power post, but you can just need to size it appropriately to the winch amp draw
How many feet of cable did you order?
I ordered 10’ of red and black each to make sure i had plenty so it could be tucked nicely, made my own ends so that helps worked out perfectly I think the way i routed everything it took about 9 for both legs
Hitch mounted in rear'
A rear mounted winch in a hitch tray is a great addition, but the trouble is you have to find a place to put it and with space at a premium, with a good winch up front, its probably abit overkill, you could always have a mount rigged up to fit in the spare tire area that bolts to the frame and mount a rear winch there and have it come through the bumper, that would be cool, still not sure if the return on investment is there.
Someone told me the starter was a good hook up, because it’s a huge feed cable, and not used during running of your van.
I probably wouldnt use the connection on the starter to pull power from, while you are correct it is a large gage wire and is only used to start the vehicle, I would be hesitant to connect anything to it. I guess in my mind the starter is what gets the motor running and I would not want to do anything that may have an adverse impact to it. The power feed coming to your starter connects to a solenoid and when the solenoid is opened by a trigger wire, your key switch, it opens the current path from the battery to the starter motor, the starters are just pretty important and can be very expensive, its much safer to run a cable to the battery or create a remote battery post like i did. Just my thoughts
About to do the same to mine. Question, did you fuse that hot line coming off the wench going to the power post? Or is that not necessary? Thanks!
About to do the same to mine. Question, did you fuse that hot line coming off the wench going to the power post? Or is that not necessary? Thanks!
Most winches want you to go directly to the battery un fused as they can pull huge loads at first or when under strain, they do recommend a cut off switch to be able to cut power to the winch incase of a winch related issue. My experience for what it is, i have had winches on my trucks for the last 30 years many different brands and capacities and I have never had a wire failure do to current overload, I have lost solenoids and over heated motors but never burned up a wire. I think adding fuse protection would be more of a hinderance than a benefit, but there is logic for the cut off switch you just will need one rated to 500amps
About to do the same to mine. Question, did you fuse that hot line coming off the wench going to the power post? Or is that not necessary? Thanks!
I think you are good without a fuse setup, the manufacturers do not recommend one or even show it as an option in their wiring diagrams, a cut off switch does have its benefits though!