Opinions and install info - Harbor Freight 12k Winch w/ 98-02 ARB Bumper 3413050 (3 Viewers)

[Mike NXP]

@MountaineerLC OK cool thanks for the tips, Yeah I suppose mine will end up being by the battery there as well . Let me know if you come up with a different option for mounting.
>> Did you ground it to the battery as well? Do you think it's OK to just ground it to the chassis if needed ?

OK I'm pretty committed to this now so will continue to list how-to info moving forward

1 - See previous posts on dealing with rusty bolts, removing bumper and getting to the point of mounting the winch
2 - I cleaned up and touch up painted the winch mounting platform. It fits nicely and appears to have a bolt pattern that will match this bumper.
3 - Hose down and clean out all the mud and junk packed into the nooks of the vehicle and bumper.
4- Anti-seize on all of the bumper bolts... Good idea? IDK but if I ever need to get this off again it may be worth it.

Mounting control box

• The only option I can see fit is to pop a few holes in the bumper and mount the control box mounting bracket to the bumper
  >> The problem with this is the rear portion will contact the grille. I suspect I will have to cut some of the grill to allow for the bolt heads to fit . Pictures in previous posts. Will know more once I get the bumper back on
  
  
• This was kind of a pain, the cross bars don't allow for the drill to go in straight. The front of the bumper is also rounded out so you don't have much room to spare. At first, I had it pushed one way so I have room to sneak my hand down in and release the clutch if needed. After thinking about it, that may put too much straight on the cables so I centered it and went for it.
  
  
• Drill it, file it down, paint it black. Waiting for paint to dry, resting my back, and will report back later for the next steps. I think the worst is behind me but hopefully the wiring goes OK. Previous post by mountaineerLC is inspiring since they seem to have made it work.
  
  
  >Also measuring hub to fender distance, gained about 1/2"-3/4" back after removing the bumper. After reinstall and adding winch, I suspect I'll need to adjust the bars a bit.

 

[MountaineerLC]

@Mike NXP I ran the ground to the negative battery terminal.

Your mounting solution looks good. I’ve seen some guys on Jeep forums drill a hole in the side of the control box to run the large cable out of instead of the back. This might help you not have to trim your grill.

 

[Mike NXP]

@Mike NXP I ran the ground to the negative battery terminal.

Your mounting solution looks good. I’ve seen some guys on Jeep forums drill a hole in the side of the control box to run the large cable out of instead of the back. This might help you not have to trim your grill.

Ah, interesting idea. I may have to go that route . I think I can make it work but I also don't want to flex / bend the cable too much. Then again it's a pretty thick cable so probably fine.....Thanks for the tip on alternatives

 

[Mike NXP]

Any opinions out there if these are worth the money?
>>SLEE – Short OE Replacement Billet Battery Terminals – Set

I already have a battery tender and accessory power cable installed to the OE terminal. I see the pic a few posts back with the OE setup + a few connections which seems fine, but it would be nice to have a proper terminal that can support a few connections, is that what the part on Slee website is all about?

 

[MechE30]

From an engineering side, lock washers (split washers) are useless. Space and Automotive industries have been slowly phasing them out after NASA’s research showed no benefit over a properly torqued bolt.
But, for our use case here, it’s up to you, you’re not going to hurt anything using them.

 

[Mike NXP]

Control box is successfully mounted, moving on.

Mounting Winch

• The supplied bolts are M10x1.5 - 30mm long. This is a bit too short to make it through the mounting platform into the winch. See below
  >> I imagine I should try to get a bolt that goes all the way through the nut???
  
  
• Ace hardware had 40mm long bolts, these are too long and contact the winch housing. Doh! I suspect I need to chase down some M10x1.5 - 35mm Grade 8 or better bolts. IDK where to find those.
  
  At a stand still until I can find the proper hardware.

 

[Bisho]

Control box is successfully mounted, moving on.

Mounting Winch

• The supplied bolts are M10x1.5 - 30mm long. This is a bit too short to make it through the mounting platform into the winch. See below
  >> I imagine I should try to get a bolt that goes all the way through the nut???
  
  
• Ace hardware had 40mm long bolts, these are too long and contact the winch housing. Doh! I suspect I need to chase down some M10x1.5 - 35mm Grade 8 or better bolts. IDK where to find those.
  
  At a stand still until I can find the proper hardware.

View attachment 3584154

You can cut down the bolts with a grinder and file the top threads, or you can add washers under the head of the bolt to effectively shorten it.

 

[Mike NXP]

You can cut down the bolts with a grinder and file the top threads, or you can add washers under the head of the bolt to effectively shorten it.

I lack any real tools so grinding down and making it still work can't happen. The added washer concept makes sense but to sit in the rear mounting holes , the front bolt head just barley makes it before contacting the subframe . Any more length and it won't fit unless I move it to the front mounting holes , but that may be my last option if I can't find the proper hardware

Just found these 35mm length at AutoZone which might be the ticket

https://www.autozone.com/nuts-bolts-and-washers/bolt/p/needa-parts-m10-1-5-x-35mm-bolt-3-piece/551635_0_0

 

[Trapper50cal]

Here's what I did for battery terminals, but I had to search the interwebs for those old-style slee terminal extension brackets as I believe they are now discontinued. I found a new unused set on TacomaWorld.com from a private seller.

Standard, "get-on-Amazon" Military terminals to go with those brackets.

 

[Mike NXP]

Winch is installed and bumper is back in place.

• M10x1.25 35mm from the Autozone linked above was what worked for mounting the winch.
• Don't forget to secure your ground cable and smaller ground that runs up to the control box. I ran the main ground behind the winch up through the frame and then in front of the battery, to avoid being anywhere near the fan. I'll run the positive the same way.
  
  
• The winch was able to fit on the furthest rear bolt pattern on the bumper. You have to thread the front bolts in almost all the way, then slide it back, mount the rear bolts, and use an open end wrench to finish the front bolts because of limited clearance..
• The control box bracket bolt heads push into the grille. Not enough to make me want to cut a chunk of the grille out though. It seems flexible enough and should be fine. The wire loom fits nicely and doesn't have much pressure on it.
  
  
• I've got all the main bolt nearly done but need some new hardware for the pinning part at the bottom of the bumper. On hold for now until I can torque it all down and wire it up. I bought those Slee terminals as well, seems like overpriced stuff but it does seem like a nice clean solution.
  
  
  Winch notes so far
• Quality seems much better than I excepted. Even all the cabling and hardware is well put together, shrink tubed, and all seemingly of good quality.
  
  
  
  

 

[geo5]

Now get out there and get stuck @Mike NXP , it’s mud season!

 

[MechE30]

Great job getting it done!

 

[Live to Ski]

Great job getting it done!

love it: Mikey posted 3/11...5pages of response in 7 days

 

[Mike NXP]

Right?? thanks for all the responses......Hopefully my install pics and info help someone else along the way. Although it seems like most folks have like the feet forward style bumper / winch mount

Anyway I'm not quite there yet. The last step is to finish securing the bumper and then hook up the electrical......Oh and praying it works while kicking myself for not somehow testing it before securing everything.

• I ordered these fancy terminal extension doodads from Slee so the wiring is a bit cleaner BUT I don't know how I feel about cutting and crimping on a new connector to adapt the factory wiring to these. It looks like they have a way to adapt the negative to a post style but the positive needs to be cut and crimped to like a normal eyelet style connector.
  
  Anyone have advice on crimping a new connection onto our factory positive cable? Usually I just smush a new connector on a with a vice grip, but thats usually for accessory wiring and stuff I don't care as much about.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Right?? thanks for all the responses......Hopefully my install pics and info help someone else along the way. Although it seems like most folks have like the feet forward style bumper / winch mount

Anyway I'm not quite there yet. The last step is to finish securing the bumper and then hook up the electrical......Oh and praying it works while kicking myself for not somehow testing it before securing everything.

• I ordered these fancy terminal extension doodads from Slee so the wiring is a bit cleaner BUT I don't know how I feel about cutting and crimping on a new connector to adapt the factory wiring to these. It looks like they have a way to adapt the negative to a post style but the positive needs to be cut and crimped to like a normal eyelet style connector.
  
  Anyone have advice on crimping a new connection onto our factory positive cable? Usually I just smush a new connector on a with a vice grip, but thats usually for accessory wiring and stuff I don't care as much about.

Not wanting to spend big on those new-fangled Slee terminals is exactly why I looked for the old-style brackets that augment military terminals. They rotate the mounting surface 90º for that little factory relay box that bolts directly to the positive side.

 

[Mike NXP]

Not wanting to spend big on those new-fangled Slee terminals is exactly why I looked for the old-style brackets that augment military terminals. They rotate the mounting surface 90º for that little factory relay box that bolts directly to the positive side.

s*** I forgot about that stupid little relay box, I don't know if the Slee one will work with that. I'm wondering how I would adapt the OEM connection to this. I need to look a bit closer at it later.


Looking at your picture above, it does seem like the OEM connection has a way to just put a bolt through it. Comparing it to the Slee install manual pic below, I think I should be able to just hook the factory setup right to this but IDK

***Edit, I just called Slee which was a lot easier. They said the OEM 100 series fusible link stays in place and can adapt to the part I shared earlier. The negative can either be cut and crimped with an eyelet style OR you can thread in a post style terminal adapter thingy and just keep the OEM . This is the option I'll go with for now until I can find someone with a crimping tool. ( or just say **** it and use some big vice grips and crimp on an eyelet)

 

[Trapper50cal]

I think it will work. Just rotate it 180º so that extended bit is on the other side (facing towards firewall)

 

[Trapper50cal]

***Edit, I just called Slee which was a lot easier. They said the OEM 100 series fusible link stays in place and can adapt to the part I shared earlier. The negative can either be cut and crimped with an eyelet style OR you can thread in a post style terminal adapter thingy and just keep the OEM . This is the option I'll go with for now until I can find someone with a crimping tool. ( or just say **** it and use some big vice grips and crimp on an eyelet)

Yeah, I think they designed those for maximum versatility.

 

[Mike NXP]

It's officially hooked up and thank the harbor freight gods because it's working.

Finalizing install and hooking up electrical.

• Remember to start all your bolts in the bumper and then get the pin bolt on the bottom in place. Adjust the spacing before torquing everything down. The lower bolt is a bitch on these bumpers and you get like 1/4 turn at a time.
  
  
• The wiring leading from the winch to the control box was good quality but I wish it had some more flex. OR if I mounted the control box a little off center the wires wouldn't bend so much. Either way it's OK, not too much pressure on them currently. I might want to put some conduit around them to protect from rubbing on frame.
  
  
• Power and ground run up through the hole next to transmission cooler. Round the front of the battery and hooked up from the rear. The ground cable didn't have any protective wrap so I snaked it through that black tubing stuff
  
  
• I really don't like the power shut off just floating around. I can zip tie and ghetto rig it up but man it would be sweet if someone could fabricate a bracket using the bolt hole shown below allowing the shut off to be mounted nicely next to the fuse box
  
  
  Otherwise it all seems good and works well so far. Next step will be to pull the line out and suck it back in under tension so it's ready to go.
  
  Oh and maybe a big black sticker to cover that stupid Badlands branding. Maybe I'll get a big red W to put over it =]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Maybe can fabricate a bracket up that would secure to this bolt hole and provide a mounting platform for the power cut off. Otherwise, there's not many options left in this area. I see some people drill and mount to there fuse back but that seems goofy.
  
  

 

[Trapper50cal]

Well Done!