Hi everyone! I just wanted to post this on here for anyone else that has purchased a Badland apex winch and is looking to relocate their control box. It took me quite awhile to figure something out and I just wanted to share what I did to help with anyone who is in the same predicament that I was in.
If you take a look at the control box for the Badlands winch you will find that it is big. Like similar footprint to your battery big. I initially cut into the valence below the grill hoping that the box would fit but unfortunately the transmission cooler did not allow me to slide my winch and bumper all the way in.
Assuming you only have the one battery you will need to relocate you windshield washer jug to the back of the engine bay. I purchased the Delta vehicle Systems kit, I think Slee has on as well. the control box will basically go into the area where the washer bottle was at. Now there is still some work to do. I basically cut the hell out of the control box with my grinder around the feet of the box. This allowed me to get it in flat ish on the inside of the passenger side fender. Using the existing threaded holes (one from the washer bottle and one probably for the other battery tray) I mounted the box there. I did need to tweak the bracket just a bit to get the right distance which is about 10 inches. Now the hardware I used doesnt look clean but as long as it sits tight I dont care lol. Essentially I needed some spacers to go in between the bracket and the inside of the fender. Me and my buddy found some random junk in his hardware drawer in his garage that got the job done.
Below is some photos of my make shift hardware and the actual mounting of the box
Once that was finally mounted the next step is of course getting it all wired up. The wires that come with the winch are like embarrassingly small. Its as if they think you're going to move the winch like a literal foot. I went to my local Oreillys and got a total of three five foot sections of 2ga wire and some terminal connectors. I also got some conduit for the wire as well. Once the terminals were crimped on the ends of the wires and the conduit was wrapped around each one I routed the wires from the control box down and under the frame rail, and then popping back out into my bumper to land them on the winch. With the three 2ga wires I did try running it behind the passenger side headlight but the coolant overflow would not sit down tight.
for the main power cable that one easily will run across the front of the rad behind the grill and to the battery. I will note the positive wire off the control box is just long enough to reach IF you don't use the disconnect switch. With the disconnect switch you will have plenty. The ground wire that comes with the winch is also plenty long to reach the ground lug on the winch.
If you take a look at the control box for the Badlands winch you will find that it is big. Like similar footprint to your battery big. I initially cut into the valence below the grill hoping that the box would fit but unfortunately the transmission cooler did not allow me to slide my winch and bumper all the way in.
Assuming you only have the one battery you will need to relocate you windshield washer jug to the back of the engine bay. I purchased the Delta vehicle Systems kit, I think Slee has on as well. the control box will basically go into the area where the washer bottle was at. Now there is still some work to do. I basically cut the hell out of the control box with my grinder around the feet of the box. This allowed me to get it in flat ish on the inside of the passenger side fender. Using the existing threaded holes (one from the washer bottle and one probably for the other battery tray) I mounted the box there. I did need to tweak the bracket just a bit to get the right distance which is about 10 inches. Now the hardware I used doesnt look clean but as long as it sits tight I dont care lol. Essentially I needed some spacers to go in between the bracket and the inside of the fender. Me and my buddy found some random junk in his hardware drawer in his garage that got the job done.
Below is some photos of my make shift hardware and the actual mounting of the box
Once that was finally mounted the next step is of course getting it all wired up. The wires that come with the winch are like embarrassingly small. Its as if they think you're going to move the winch like a literal foot. I went to my local Oreillys and got a total of three five foot sections of 2ga wire and some terminal connectors. I also got some conduit for the wire as well. Once the terminals were crimped on the ends of the wires and the conduit was wrapped around each one I routed the wires from the control box down and under the frame rail, and then popping back out into my bumper to land them on the winch. With the three 2ga wires I did try running it behind the passenger side headlight but the coolant overflow would not sit down tight.
for the main power cable that one easily will run across the front of the rad behind the grill and to the battery. I will note the positive wire off the control box is just long enough to reach IF you don't use the disconnect switch. With the disconnect switch you will have plenty. The ground wire that comes with the winch is also plenty long to reach the ground lug on the winch.
) should take a look at that and see if they can't shrink it. I'd bet anything that if you opened that box up, it's probably mostly empty and just there for aesthetic reasons.
