New Apex 12K Harbor Freight winch Install

[kevman65]

I haven't checked that part of the manual that comes with these - is it possibly "in the book"??
I read a lot of the other stuff that came with the winch, but never bothered looking at that part.
I ran mine out and used my neighbors big stationary generator to respool and wind it up tight (he needed it pulled off a cart and onto a concrete pad anyway, so I volunteered)
Mine was fine end to end but never looked at how it's secured on the spool.

Just looked through both books, no mention of line replacement.

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[kevman65]

Here you go, around the 00:50 mark you get a shot of one unspooled. It passes through the drum and has a set screw holding it.

 

[Newlife]

Installed a Rugged Ridge Arcus front bumper with the Badlands 12000 lb. winch. Man that winch used every bit of space up plus some.

I did what kitfoxbill did on the power cable plus 1/4" spacers on the frame horns to space the winch plate away from the grill and then put some 1/2" washers between the bumper skin and the winch plate, at that point everything cleared. And yes it was a pain getting a bolt thru all of those componets. But it was worth it as I am very happy with the outcome.

You didn’t happen to take a pic of the spacers locations did you? We ran into this issue late last night trying to put our winch in that we’ve had on a previous vehicle with the arcus and could not clear the grill at all.

 

[JTPatriot]

Here you go. Moved the power cable from the back to the side and put the spacers in place.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Here you go. Moved the power cable from the back to the side and put the spacers in place.

Mine wasn't as close as yours. I do wish I had used spacers between bumper and winch plate when bolting the bumper on, though.
Your winch looks to sit a whole lot closer to your grill than mine.
There's a good 1/4" or more clearance on mine after I tweaked the shape and clamped it.

 

[Tim]

Here you go. Moved the power cable from the back to the side and put the spacers in place.

Where did you get the spacers? I also moved my cables to come out the side but my winch is touching the grill when mounted in the Rugged Ridge HD bumper.

 

[JTPatriot]

Where did you get the spacers? I also moved my cables to come out the side but my winch is touching the grill when mounted in the Rugged Ridge HD bumper.

I made them, just cut and drilled them to match the frame horns.

 

[JTPatriot]

Mine wasn't as close as yours. I do wish I had used spacers between bumper and winch plate when bolting the bumper on, though.
Your winch looks to sit a whole lot closer to your grill than mine.
There's a good 1/4" or more clearance on mine after I tweaked the shape and clamped it.

Yeah, mine is close but it does not rub and with the reroute of the wire I was happy with the way it sat.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yeah, mine is close but it does not rub and with the reroute of the wire I was happy with the way it sat.

Heck yeah, I would be too. In your case the cable re-route was necessary - and it gave a nice clean appearance and does sit nicely.

 

[abe57]

I just bought a Duralast F496 starter solenoid and on the two large posts does it matter what side go's to the battery ? The only markings are on the two smaller connections "s" and that goes to the switch and a " I " goes to Ground. So in short does this have a specified IN or OUT on the to power "Battery" to unit "Winch". I do not think so just want back up on this ! TY

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I just bought a Duralast F496 starter solenoid and on the two large posts does it matter what side go's to the battery ? The only markings are on the two smaller connections "s" and that goes to the switch and a " I " goes to Ground. So in short does this have a specified IN or OUT on the to power "Battery" to unit "Winch". I do not think so just want back up on this ! TY

No, not really.
The S terminal is what you use to energize the solenoid, the I terminal you would ignore as that's what provides full system voltage to ignition while cranking.
Do not ground I terminal. Ignore it, it's for ignition feed for Ford and AMC vehicles 1980s and earlier. It becomes "hot" when the solenoid is engaged. It will "short" if connected to ground. These ground through the mounting bracket
(although some for TorqueFlite transmission use ground through a terminal on the back side which goes to the neutral safety switch. That sort will have a differently angled bracket, not a straight 90 bracket like the one you are using)

The other two - the large ones- are normally isolated.

Here is one installed in one of my cars - this is typical orientation but it won't matter for your use. .
Be careful when tightening the nut to hold the cable on, be sure you don't let the large studs on the side turn at all. There are flats on the heads inside and they need to make flat contact with the disk that the solenoid pulls down across the bolt heads inside. A few people have let those turn and you lose current-carrying capacity.

 

[abe57]

For the ground I was going by this Pic someone posted...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

For the ground I was going by this Pic someone posted...

I see - yeah, that's a different type of solenoid, not a Ford type automotive/truck starter solenoid. Odd that it grounds that way but on the other hand, it allows it to be mounted on a non-steel surface and do a direct ground.
For the part number you quoted, the I is definitely for ignition feed during cranking. Don't ground it.
You can do testing by mounting the solenoid, mount the solenoid to your choice of location, hook up only the S terminal to the switch of your choice, use a test light or meter and with the switch on, you should hear a click and the 'I' terminal should be hot. Might be good to stick a piece of rubber vacuum hose over it to keep it from connecting with anything else.
If you don't mount the solenoid to something steel and well grounded, run a ground wire from the mounting bracket to a good chassis ground. There's ground points near the battery already for you to use if needed.

 

[abe57]

I see - yeah, that's a different type of solenoid, not a Ford type automotive/truck starter solenoid. Odd that it grounds that way but on the other hand, it allows it to be mounted on a non-steel surface and do a direct ground.
For the part number you quoted, the I is definitely for ignition feed during cranking. Don't ground it.
You can do testing by mounting the solenoid, mount the solenoid to your choice of location, hook up only the S terminal to the switch of your choice, use a test light or meter and with the switch on, you should hear a click and the 'I' terminal should be hot. Might be good to stick a piece of rubber vacuum hose over it to keep it from connecting with anything else.
If you don't mount the solenoid to something steel and well grounded, run a ground wire from the mounting bracket to a good chassis ground. There's ground points near the battery already for you to use if needed.

Ty ..that is exactly what I did put a rubber hose and heat shrink over it !?

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

I've always been told that starter solenoids were a poor choice for circuits that are more continuous duty - is that still an issue when powering a winch?

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