Ok, finally getting around to documenting my superwinch ep9 install on an ARB front bumper. There are a few threads out there with some of this info but here's another perspective incase anyone is thinking of going the Superwinch route.
A few thoughts:
A few thoughts:
- I ordered the winch from Amazon, and shipping was pretty quick. They had by far the best price on the winch, by a few hundred bucks.
- The EP9 runs about the same cost as a m8000. Given the extra pulling capacity of the superwinch and the low current draw, I went this route, especially since I am not running dual batteries.
- Although the install wasn't that hard, its not a quick bolt-on affair. There are a handful of things that need to be done to get this to work on the ARB.
- Re-clock the free-spool nob such that it points upward to facilitate a foot-forward mounting. I chatted real quickly with one of the great folks at superwinch. I was a bit nervous at cracking open a new winch but it is very straight forward.
- Relocate the solenoid.
- Cut and crimp some new wires.
- Factor in the cost of a disconnect switch, extra wire, terminals, spacer, etc depending on your setup.
- Although the superwinch uses a standard mounting pattern for the fairlead, the included fairlead will NOT bolt up to the ARB. Its a bit too long lengthwise, so the upper mounts will not line up with the vertical rollers. I went with an offset Slee Hawse fairlead and just switched to synthetic rope at the same time. Otherwise you'll need to mod the bumper or get a warn or compatable fairlead.
- You'll need some sort of spacers to push the bumper back in towards the grill. A 9mm spacer only allowed a papers-thickness of space due to the length of the winch. I ended up using a slightly thicker spacer to ensure there was enough space in the event the bumper flexes slightly upon load.
- You'll need new hardware than what comes with the winch since you have to use spacers. Additionally, since the superwinch by default is a foot down design, they don't anticipate the extra thickness of the fairlead in the fasteners that are included. Here's a few rough measurements on the thickness of the components:
- Winch itself: 2-2.5 CM
- Bumper: 4mm
- Spacer: 9+ mm
- Slee Fairlead: 6mm
- Washer: 2mm
- The included cable is rated at 980kg wll. Depending on if you use a 4:1 or a 5:1 safety factor, this means the cable may break at between 8624lbs-10780lbs. Not cool IMO. Especially as this is the WLL with a new cable. A few drags, weathering, etc and it won't be that strong.
- See some of the links below, but reading through many pages on the internet, combined with the fairlead needing replacement, pushed me to synthetic rope.
- There are a number of vendors selling all manner of synthetic rope. The advantages and disadvantages have been discussed ad-nauseam, so I won't go into that here. Pick a vendor, and roll with it.
- I opted to go with dyneema sk78, or amsteel blue, in a 3/8 size. 80ft. I ordered this from westmarine. These guys were great to work with and the order shipped quickly.
- A side note; the included hook with the steel cable will NOT fit onto a 3/8" thimble.
- Installing the rope instead of steel takes a little time and modification of the rope. Winchline.com has a good writeup on how to do this. (See below).
- In retrospect I would have gotten a better thimble, maybe even one of the safety type thimbles.
- The two main wiring challenges are the relocation of the solenoid and, optionally, a cutoff switch.
- I wanted to keep the solenoid on the bumper, so I fabbed up a quick mounting plate. Used 16 gauge (1.5mm) plate to essentially rotate the mounting bracket 90 degrees. Pick your poison here as to how you relocate, but you really should do this to prevent a possible solenoid failure while winching.
- I also wanted a cutoff switch in the event of any sort of failure, human or mechanical. Since this was my primary intent and not for vandalism deterrence, I wanted to put the disconnect outside. Popping the hood during an emergency may take too long.
- Using a bluesea marine switch mounted on the DS inner side of the bumper seems to work. Not an ideal mounting location but it should work.
- The switch is large! However it is also rated to 350 Amps continuous. Conveniently this is what the ep9 pulls at full load.
- Beware some of the cheap battery disconnect switches! Most are not rated anywhere near what the winch can pull. It may function fine for quick pulls at lower amps, but may fail just when you are pushing things to the limits!
- The terminals on the switch are slightly larger than the terminals on the cables provided. You will have to slightly drill them out, along with cutting some other cable to install.
- The superwinch supplied cables don't really fit onto the stock toyota battery terminals. I have since purchased some of the military type terminals and it all fits together much better.
- I ordered the terminal boots from mcmaster carr. They were quite inexpensive. Just make sure its nice and warm out when you install and things go much easier.
- Pirate4x4.Com - Extreme Four Wheel Drive
- http://www.dyneema.com/en_US/public/dyneema/downloads/Comprehensive_factsheet_UHMWPE.pdf dyneema sk78
- End splicing winch rope (warning--lots of pics) - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board
- Pirate4x4.Com - Extreme Four Wheel Drive
- http://www.winchline.com/documents/Viking Truck Winchline Instructions v1.2.pdf