switching from manual winch to electric winch

[04whitetb]

i'm changeing my manual winch in favor of a electric winch on my boat trailer. the vehicle is a 2004 chev trailblazer. on the truck,where do i attatch the main wire that powers the winch and where's the best place to route the wire?

 

[dingbat]

Re: switching from manual winch to electric winch

The power wires need to go directly to the battery with a fuse at the battery connection. I had no problems routing the 2-4ga wires thru the frame on a 2001 Tahoe.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: switching from manual winch to electric winch

The power wires need to go directly to the battery with a fuse at the battery connection. I had no problems routing the 2-4ga wires thru the frame on a 2001 Tahoe.

power wires through the frame are tricky at best. I'm hoping you have a sufficient fuse within 18 inches of the battery? If the wires aren't well protected, they WILL eventually short out if run through the frame. The bumps in the road are enough to move the wire around, and eventually it will rub through. If its properly fused at the battery, not a problem. It might take 100k miles or more to rub through.

I've personally done stereo installs in that year trailblazer, there is a grommet on both the passenger and driver sides where you can run the wire inside the cabin. There is also a grommet in the rear that will drop out right above the hitch.

And don't run a ground to the battery, completely unnecessary. If you can't find a nice bolt connected to a solid piece of metal, drill a hole, clean the metal off, and put a bolt in yourself.

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: switching from manual winch to electric winch

I grounded mine to the trailer hitch.Get some good tie downs and run the wire along the frame.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: switching from manual winch to electric winch

And buy an electric winch that still can be hand cranked.

 

[Ray Teagarden]

Re: switching from manual winch to electric winch

Odds are running the winch power wire through the vehicle frame would take at least 100 years to wear through and short out, just leave it very loose (in loops) inside the frame.

I have at least 1000 miles on the power line inside my frame, still looks/works like new.

The typical winch power line is quite well insulated for just that reason. So unless you have jagged edges inside your frame, you have no problem. The inside of the frame on my Toyota Landcruiser is ?as smooth as a baby?s butt?.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: switching from manual winch to electric winch

Odds are running the winch power wire through the vehicle frame would take at least 100 years to wear through and short out, just leave it very loose (in loops) inside the frame.
So unless you have jagged edges inside your frame, you have no problem. The inside of the frame on my Toyota Landcruiser is ?as smooth as a baby?s butt?.

Haven't driven on gravel roads then? If you have a vehicle that has spent any time on gravel, there are going to be pieces of rock in the frame.

I've personally seen it happen. Rewired a late '90's motorhome recently for that exact same reason. The generator quit working out of the blue. There was a large 1/0 gauge wire between the genny and the house battery up front that wore through, right where the wire went through the frame. There was no fuse!!! Luckily, there was a solenoid that it was running through that melted itself internally before anything else could light up.

Either way, running a wire through the frame IS safe if you use a fuse. It might be a little easier than inside the vehicle, but also not as secure. Not using a fuse with either method is an easy way to burn a vehicle down to the ground. I've worked many years in car audio, i've lost count of how many vehicles I've seen that burnt because of someone not knowing how to install a stereo.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: switching from manual winch to electric winch

I didn't want to be bothered with running wiring for my electric winch. I took 20 feet of #10 speaker wire and put battery clips on one end with the winch plug on the other. I just pop the hood and connect up-- no fuss. Sure, it takes a little longer to hook up but on the other hand I never need worry about terminal corrosion and if I do have a problem, the wire and clips are easy to replace. At #10, the wires do get a little warm to the touch so sometime in the future I will probably step up in size.

 

[Shrike]

Re: switching from manual winch to electric winch

If you run it through the frame, run it inside heater hose. It will probably outlast the vehicle.