POWERING YOUR REAR WINCH

Obviously, winches draw a lot of amps and the more amps you can supply them, the better they will work. The standard battery leads that come with a winch won’t be long enough and will not be thick enough to ensure you don’t suffer from voltage drop.

For one Domin8r X rear winch install, the cable length was over 5m from the start battery so heavy gauge 2/0 AWG cable was used to power it and overcome voltage drop. When running this cabling from the rear winch back to the battery, the trick is to hide it along the inside of your chassis rail (not within), insulate it and cable tie every 300mm and don’t forget a good inline fuse or circuit breaker close to the battery (more on that later…). That will protect your wiring and your other electrical components from any harm off-road.

WHAT BATTERY TO USE

It’s a common thought that you should always run your winch off your starter battery, because that is the first battery to get quick charge from your alternator after winching. After speaking with Josh, it is worth considering running your winch off your second battery, especially if you run a modern 4WD with a lot of electrics. Extended winching drains your battery faster than you can open your fridge when you get back to camp, as they draw a lot of amps. If you cook a battery because of too much winching, you want to be able to start your vehicle and no interfere with all those fancy electrics, especially the case if you own a modern 4WD. Because of that, it’s worth considering running your winch off your second battery.

KEEP IT SAFE

We all know that 12V winches draw a lot of power from your batteries, but if you look at the technical specs of most winches you’ll be alarmed to find they can draw as much as 400amp! Even if you know what you’re doing when it comes to soldering and generally making your wiring neat and safe, you really need to install an isolator switch. Many people often go for the standard red boat style switch, but they are only rated for 100amp. Make sure you have at least a 500amp isolation switch for your winch.