How to install a winch on a jeep should be your first lookout as a jeep owner as most of them come without one. Jeep is the most preferred vehicle for off-roading. Jeep is the most reliable transportation to drive you through the roughest off-road tracks. Yes, other cars can be tried but only in urgency.
However, like all other vehicles, a jeep is not an invincible transport and is prone to go stranded, ditched, or stuck in a muddy hole. The need for winch comes given you often travel along off-road trails either for passion or profession.
With a little knowledge of the craft and going through your jeep's manual, you can install the winch on your own. That is what we are going to discuss here.
Pre-installation Tasks for Mounting Jeep Winch
Before you jump on the land of installing a winch on your jeep, you need to determine two things first. They include the installation place and the right winch matching your jeep.
Select the Right Winch for your jeep
The right winch is the one that can haul load equal to or more than what your vehicle weighs. The general rule thumb is that the winch capacity of your jeep should be at least 1.5 times the car weight.
You can go for more, and doing so will benefit you, but you can no way opt for one having capacity less than the mentioned. In short, the winch pulling capacity should be more than the weight of the jeep meant for pulling.
Suppose, if the weight of your jeep is 8000 lb, the pulling capacity of the winch should be at least 12000 lbs.
Check Our List of 10 best Jeep Winches to choose the right one. The PICKS MIGHT FILL YOUR purpose of use.
Choose The Right Installation Place
The best place to plant your winch is the frame of your jeep. Ensuring the winch placement on the frame amounts to ensuring the strongest and safest possible mount.
A well-installed bumper can also do the job if it is fitted in such a way the new bumper is the extension of the replaced bumper. The bumper in the frame is the perfect location to place the winch.
As most of the jeep bumpers do not mean to be made to install a winch on it, you must replace the default bumper with an after-market bumper ready to place a winch on the jeep. To your ease, the after-sale bumpers feature ready-made holes, and they are rock solid when installed properly by following the manufacturer's recommendation.
When you have a particular winch in mind, you must ensure the fact that the replacement winch should have the capacity to hold the target winch. If the pulling capacity of the bumper a winch is resting on is lesser than that of the winch, it will rip off at the rudimental use of the winch. Not to confine in capacity, better to go for quality winch also.
And one more thing, before starting the jeep winch install, you must ensure you have installed the bumper flawlessly, and the plate of the bumper can go with the target winch pulling capacity.
6 Steps To Install Your Jeep Winch
Once the installation location is made final and the target winch is available, it's time to act. Whether you have bought an after-sale bumper and installed it or the default bumper has the required space and needful, the model and construction of every winch may vary.
However, every manufacturer will devise the manual as per the peculiarities introduced by them. Now, let’s make the installation steps as easy as possible. With the following generalized steps and the instructions in the manual, you should enjoy using a winch on a jeep. Here you go:
Step 1:
Determine the right location to install the winch and make sure you have installed the bumper properly if it is an after-market one replacing the factory-made one.
Step 2:
Now, it’s time to make holes in the location you have decided to plant the winch. As for the right place, the winch will sit between the grill and the bumper. While drilling the holes, keep in mind that winch feet fit into those properly.
Step 3:
What is next? It's time now to place the winch tilting towards the holes on the plates of the bumper. Next up, you put the bolts, and before tightening them up, you have to make sure that the winch gets drawn towards the bumper. It must rest against the bumper. In the event that you miss ensuring this, you winch will pull off at the first turn you try it.
Step 4:
Now, it is time to tighten up the winch. Mind that winch is meant for pulling huge weight load and so entails heavy risks if not fitted properly.
Step 5:
We are almost done. Now, you release the clutch of the winch following the pulling out of the winch rope or cable around 3 inches or a bit more. It is urgent to fit the ferret and make sure that a bit of cable sticks out at the front. Make sure the ferret is installed right and bolted fine.
Step 6:
Now, the course will complete simply by installing hooks.
Post-installation Wiring
While wiring a winch on jeep varies too little to overwhelm you, you should have a glance at the manual. The manufacturer manual will tell you where you should put more focus if it has some peculiar wiring requirement. In this case, the wire goes on the jeep body earth.
But if the manufacturer has suggested otherwise, you must not disobey their recommendation. Applying some split loom to insulate the power wire will prove to be pretty useful.
Given the winch comes backed by higher amperage, the fuse is not mandatory here. As for fusing, the control box will do the job.
Finally, connect the negative and positive wires to the battery and you are ready to act.
EndNote
Mounting a winch on a jeep is not so complicated to opt for professional help. But of course, you must follow all the safety factors to avoid any loss of time and convenience.
Read Next: