Looking for suggestion on my winch install

[Aquadude]

Good Sunday morning folks. I am looking for suggestions regarding my winch install. Installed a Warn winch yesterday and the cables coming out of the back are rubbing the front grill and are pretty tight up against it. Any suggestions to correct that or prevent damage to the paint? Thanks in advance.

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[red/green hawk]

I have a Smittybilt and the wires do the same. Have had it on for a year or so. Have not had any issues with it scratching the paint, or even scuffing it for that matter. And even if it did, I don't care it's hidden by the winch.

 

[Troybilt]

Same here. The winch and the grill are pretty much fixed items. They don't do much moving in order to scratch each other up.

 

[kevman65]

To the OP, you can relocate the control head to a remote location.
You will have to purchase the Warn kit to do so and it will involve running wires again.

I don't know if it's doable on the Warn, but on the Apex Badland the positive cable can be relocated coming out of the head.

 

[Mtpisgah]

I have a Warn EVO 10s and have the same issue. I removed the control box, rotated the wires as much as I could, dremeled the housing a bit, rotated a little more, and reinstalled. It still rubs but not as bad.
i considered a relocate but have not gotten around to it yet.
i need to recenter it. The winch is centered, but the box is not, so it looks funny. But again, I have not gotten around to it yet.

 

[Rubi-Zero]

It’s probably not going to do any damage to the paint, but something quick and simple if you feel like you must take precautions, I would suggest take a strip of 3M or Xpel clear paint protection film and apply it in that area where the wires touch the paint.

 

[Puch]

Good Sunday morning folks. I am looking for suggestions regarding my winch install. Installed a Warn winch yesterday and the cables coming out of the back are rubbing the front grill and are pretty tight up against it. Any suggestions to correct that or prevent damage to the paint? Thanks in advance.

I had the same problem with the Harbor freight winch that I bought. I ended up disassembling it and relocating the solenoid under the hood. The plug for the hand controls and the switch for the wireless controller was relocated to the knee panel inside the cab.

 

[Fundamental Jeepster]

Get a piece of insulation you use for pipe. The black foam insulation.

 

[mtudb24]

Get a piece of insulation you use for pipe. The black foam insulation.

Yes, this is better then conduit. Over time, conduit will chafe the insulation especially if dirt and grime get into the conduit..
I do wiring for a living, and with the type of current going through these cables, I would not cover in conduit unless I put full double wrap abrasion tape under the conduit.
This pipe insulation is the way I would go.
For one of my customers (think Big Green and Yellow equipment), we run Co-flex conduit which is 2 conduits in 1, so there is no "slit" and no way for dirt and grime to penetrate but we still fully tape our wires underneath it just for a "Bullet proof" harness routing.

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