First Timer's Guide to Installing a Winch

First-Timer's Guide to Installing A Winch

FIRST-TIMER'S GUIDE TO INSTALLING A WINCH

A winch on the front of your 4WD gives you the confidence you need to go exploring, knowing that if you do get stuck, all you’ve got to do to get out is a quick winch recovery! It’s an amazing tool that every outdoor adventurer, 4WDer, tourer and camper needs, and the best part is you don’t have to pay someone to install your winch – it’s actually incredibly easy and requires nothing more than basic hand tools, and an hour or two on a lazy afternoon!

PARTS REQUIRED	Domin8r X or Domin8r Xtreme winch
TOOLS REQUIRED	Socket and spanner sets, phillips-head screwdriver, pliers
MATERIALS REQUIRED	Masking tape
TIME REQUIRED	2 hours

PROJECT OVERVIEW

STEP 1

Unbox your new winch, and remove all the components from the box. First step – unpackage everything and lay it out neatly. You’ll have the winch itself, the control box, the earth cable, wired/wireless controller, fairlead, winch hook and mounting bolts.

STEP 2

Make sure you’ve got good access to get your winch up into the bulbar. This will vary depending on your own setup, but it usually involves removing bash plates from beneath, or the grill from above.

STEP 3

Connect the control box to the winch by matching the colour-coded cables, and tighten them so the cabling is aligned in a way that lets the cabling sit as comfortably as possible. Add the long back earth cable and the small earth cable from the control box, and nip everything up.

STEP 4

Drop the four square nuts into the winch, and secure them from falling out with a bit of masking tape. Now, get a mate to help you drop the winch into place, and bolt it up into the bulbar, remembering to fit the fairlead as well.

STEP 5

Depending on your setup, you may need to rotate the gearbox so you’ve got easy access to the clutch. If so, take the gearbox off the end of the winch by undoing these bolts, sit the winch upright with the gearbox on the ground, pull the winch body up, rotate and drop it back down before doing the bolts up again.

STEP 6

Now it’s time to mount the control box. The typical way to mount it is in the middle of the bulbar, so simply drill and bolt it using the supplied flat plate and some nuts.

STEP 7

Run the power and earth cables up to your starter battery behind the headlight, and secure them with cable ties so they can’t move around. Then, refit your grill and bash plate, fit the winch hook and you’re good to go – it’s that easy!