In Cab winch Control

viper red cj-7

viper red cj-7

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Location
charlotte
Hey all,
I have a Warn 8000lb winch with the standard front plug in controller. I'd like to go with a in cab mounted control.
I'd like to move the black box that sits on the winch to under the hood somewhere- likely on top of passenger side fender.

My question is I'm assuming I'd have to totally rewire the plug?- or how did you guys do it?

Thanks for your time!

Brian
 
I left my solenoid box on the winch, replaced the stock remote plug with a 4 pin round trailer connector. I put the male trailer end on the winch remote after cutting the stock end off it.

Then I used a standard orange extension cord that I cut both ends off, I put matching trailer connectors on it with the female end under the dash. 95 percent of the time the extension is plugged into the winch and the remote is plugged into it, so I can use the remote while driving out in my shifting hand (manual transmission).

The other 5% of the time is if I'm out of the truck and need to self recover, or to respool the cable neatly, or if I'm letting a spotter winch while I drive. I unplug the extension and plug the remote directly into the winch using the new trailer connectors of course.
 
I forgot to add this in...I'm trying to move the solenoid box off the winch, due to putting a PS cooler behind the winch. The space there is super tight...however, you make good point of self recovery too. May be hard to do if I only have a in cab switch...

hmm..
 
I bought another controller and disassembled the switch, wired it into the solenoid box as so, and ran that one inside and mounted the switch in my console. I also added a master switch that disables that since my kids like pushing buttons.
Now I can flip the switch and run the winch inside, or I can use the remote outside if I need to.

The pic where I’m pointing is just the 2nd controller going in the back of the box, attached to the same corresponding wires as the plug on the box. This would work even if the box were relocated as you’d like to do.

One thing I do recommend is doing it in some way that still allows you to control the winch outside the Jeep if needed. That has been very handy.
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Moving the solenoid box is easy, you just need longer heavy cables to connect the box and winch motor. I moved the solenoid box under the hood with my smitty on the samurai and engo on the lj.

The smitty used a standard xlr microphone cable for the remote. I just plugged in the cable and cut the other end off and wired that to a momentary on-off-on switch for in and out.

The engo i don't really remember but I think i just wired straight to the solenoids. With both you could still plug in the remote if needed.

I did pretty much the same thing wiring wise with my current 9500ti but its a little more involved.
 
There are multiple ways your winch plug can be wired. Same for the solenoid.

@77GreenMachine has shown the foolproof sure way to do things easy.

If you want to give us a lil more details on your winch plug it should be easy to tell you what to wire where. Mainly how many pins it has. I know Warn has 3, 5 and 6 pins versions.

I don't like solenoid boxes and usually replace the whole pack with an Albright solenoid which makes wiring a breeze.
 
If you are going to put the solenoids under the hood, you can wire a "remote extension" that runs up to the grill/fender. That way you can use a standard remote without having to pop the hood.
 
This is the jam, you don’t want to pop the hood to use your winch. Relocate with an extension for the remote and put in cab controls. You can find the switches through Grainger. Covered power switch and a two pole momentary.

I am at a crossroad with mine. I am probably going to buy a panel from someone since I’m going to be wiring front and rear winches.

The trailer wiring kits are my go to for running the wires.
 
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