Rear winch, anyone?

[jonsolbe]

REX is getting a custom made rear winch bumper.

There are two options for electrical power:
A) use the two battiers under the hood, through a fused switch and cable along the frame to the rear. How do I know how much power (amps, volts, or whatever) I'll loose with 10 feet of cable? What sized battery cable do I need from the engine bay to the rear? Also, I'm assuming I could get by with just one cable and then ground the winch to the frame, right?

B) Put an auxillary mounted battery in the rear of the jeep which charges from the main continuously and is closer to the rear winch when needed. I'm not sure, however, how the alternator would handle charging something so far away.

Also, does anyone have pictures of a homemade rear winch bumper I can copy? I can't be the only person in the world to have done this before to a TJ.

As always, thanks, and greetings from Afghanistan, 40 miles from the Iranian border!

Jon

 

[82cj7son]

Im assuming your military when I say this but thanks for your service! Also voltage drop and all the jazz will depend on what gauge wire you end up using for this application. there are formulas online that can tell you exact numbers. good luck with it and keep us updated on your progress

 

[82cj7son]

Ok so I re-read your post and realized I didn't help you at all. my advice is don't add another battery. it would be a lot easier to just run a 4 gauge wire to the rear. you should be able to ground to the frame. also I can't quite remember but I think there is one more wire. hope this helps more than my last post

 

[superj]

i believe its called a wire gauge table. when you first look at it its going to seem confusing but they are very easy to read

 

[82cj7son]

i believe its called a wire gauge table. when you first look at it its going to seem confusing but they are very easy to read

that's probably simpler. as someone who wanted to be an engineer I'm used to using formulas to figure stuff out!

 

[TLCJ5]

I set up a rcvr & plug for using a winch on the rear of my CJ5. I don't remember the gauge wire I used,but go at least as large as the aforementioned chart suggests. I used a relay under the hood to switch the power to the rear.That way a smaller amperage switch can be used. The plugs I used were quick connect plugs like they use on electric forklifts for charging etc...I grounded to the rear of the frame & it works fine,but using wire to the battery would probably be better electricly(less restance).
Good luck & let us know what you decide to do.

 

[jps4jeep]

one battery should be fine as long as you are not using both winches at the same time. My preference for a rear winch is something with a removable selonoid lime the warm M8000, mount the winch up under the rear on a cross member, then run the wires to the selonoid to the inside the jeep (I like behind the seats) then run some new cable up to the battery.

 

[jonsolbe]

Johnny, I love that idea about mounting under the rear cross member. What about changing it from "freespool" to "winch" modes? I suppose this necessitates crawling up the rear?

Tom, I've heard of people using solenoids for this sort of wiring. I guess this just alows you to prevent the "powered" wire from being hot all the time, right?

 

[jps4jeep]

The one I recently did we simply cut a hole in the rear floor for the top of the winch to pop up through. I would not let the winch be below the bottom of the frame rail unless the winch is directly over the rear axle.

In the case where you do not wan tto the hole in the floor, yes, you have to reach up under and switch from free spool to engaged. I have not done it, but I have see some comp buggies that use a rod to switch between the two for speedy line pulls. Significant modifications to do this, may not be work it in the end.

 

[jonsolbe]

I've done some reading online and several people have mentioned that the rear crossmember on a tj is very, very weak, and they've even recommenced removing the gas tank and cutting out the rear cross member, to replace it with something beefier. A properly designed bumper, cantilevered to the frame, should be enough, wouldn't you think?

Why did you guys go to all the hastle to mount it inside the frame? Was it just to keep maximum departure angle? Why not just hang it off the rear of a custom bumper, beefed and trussed up and such?

Thanks

 

[TLCJ5]

Yes,the relay gives you the ability to cut power to the winch without using a switch that can handle the high amperage that the winch draws.

 

[jps4jeep]

clearify.. I have never used a stock cross member to mount a winch, I was refering to building everything yourself.

Yes, the gas tank would need to be relocated, I suggest a RCI 2161a fuel cell (look for my build thread, I detailed a install)

The rear most cross member will also need to be cut out and completely rebuilt with tube stock, the winch line, 99% of the time is attached to the rear axle for suck down purposes, but can be disconnected from the axle and routed through a hole in the rear cross member for pulls.

having it up under the vehicle really is ideal,
1. as mentioned departure angle, hanging off the back, it is bound to get beat to crap.
2. better integration into the frame; the load can be distributed over more space
3. double duty as a suck down winch (as mentioned)
4. purely looks PIMP