New Apex 12K Harbor Freight winch Install

[DirtyD]

Yeah, stupid question, had my model numbers confused and was thinking of the Smittybilt....

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[NateSamJT20]

Got mine installed!

 

[WXman]

Got mine installed!

Bonus points for the Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane in the background.

 

[Kev Mojito]

No removal required. There is room between the battery and fender to lay the solenoid on its side and wire all the cables from the winch to the battery. The space between the fender and battery is carpeted and stays dry.

Compared to the external winch mounted Apex solenoid cover this is a much better place for the wiring. The cover that sits on top of the winch really isn’t weather proof.

I also have the wired remote cable running from the engine bay into the cab if I ever need to use it too.

Great write up !!

Any chance you could post picture of your in cab cable connection and the solenoid mounting under the hood.
Getting ready to do mine soon.

 

[Slapping_Rabbits]

damn that looks awesome! when i get a steel front bumper i'm going to get one of these. I saw they had a 30% off coupon yesterday too! Thanks for all the good photos!

 

[Hootbro]

damn that looks awesome! when i get a steel front bumper i'm going to get one of these. I saw they had a 30% off coupon yesterday too! Thanks for all the good photos!

30% off coupon was only for items priced $10 and below. Also, their regular 20% coupon usually has an exclusion for their Badland winches. That being said, they regularly discount them enough to almost constantly be on sale with or without a direct coupon most times.

 

[MobileHomeboy]

I just installed the Apex 12k. Does anyone know if the provided battery disconnect is required? I straight wired it to my battery. Will that slowly kill it? Can I wire to one of the AUX switches?

 

[20HBPJT]

Ladies and gentleman it is back on sale!

 

[Kev Mojito]

Finished up the remote wiring today.

Have the power switch and solenoid next to the battery. The wireless controller under the driver side cowl and the wire connector / wireless switch under driver side dash.

 

[eaglerugby04]

Finished up the remote wiring today.

Have the power switch and solenoid next to the battery. The wireless controller under the driver side cowl and the wire connector / wireless switch under driver side dash.

Love that setup. I hate the look of the solenoid on top of the winch. The plug being inside is just genius.

Question, where did you get the wire you used for the relocation? is it 4 awg marine grade? I am looking to relocate on my half installed Smitty built and the wires are to short to do anything. Kind of overwhelmed when I did my initial search of all the connectors and eveything.

 

[Kev Mojito]

I just followed what Sorbs did. I went with the Harbor Freight 6 Ft. Inverter Cable Set - SKU #63747, #2 AWG = $30.00 with 20% off coupon.
What he did not show was the locations of where he mounted the solenoid, connector and wireless switch. I made my best guess of what he did.

From my findings, the power leads only need to be 5 feet long. I have a loop under the air box to hide the extra foot or so. The switch bracket came from Rock Slider Engineering, just modified for the extra hole mount.
Then finished up with a MZS winch shackle from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/MZS-Winch-Sh...00lb+Black&qid=1586101004&s=automotive&sr=1-1

 

[eaglerugby04]

I just followed what Sorbs did. I went with the Harbor Freight 6 Ft. Inverter Cable Set - SKU #63747, #2 AWG = $30.00 with 20% off coupon.
What he did not show was the locations of where he mounted the solenoid, connector and wireless switch. I made my best guess of what he did.

From my findings, the power leads only need to be 5 feet long. I have a loop under the air box to hide the extra foot or so. The switch bracket came from Rock Slider Engineering, just modified for the extra hole mount.
Then finished up with a MZS winch shackle from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/MZS-Winch-Shackle-Mount-Rubber/dp/B0823R8D5C/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=MZS+Winch+Shackle+Mount+with+Pin+&+Rubber+Guard+-+Universal+Fit+20,000lb+Black&qid=1586101004&s=automotive&sr=1-1

Thanks for sharing. Going to be ordering some wiring tomorrow to finish the job finally on mine. I really love the look of the solenoid relocated here.

 

[Sorbs]

I just followed what Sorbs did. I went with the Harbor Freight 6 Ft. Inverter Cable Set - SKU #63747, #2 AWG = $30.00 with 20% off coupon.
What he did not show was the locations of where he mounted the solenoid, connector and wireless switch. I made my best guess of what he did.

From my findings, the power leads only need to be 5 feet long. I have a loop under the air box to hide the extra foot or so. The switch bracket came from Rock Slider Engineering, just modified for the extra hole mount.
Then finished up with a MZS winch shackle from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/MZS-Winch-Shackle-Mount-Rubber/dp/B0823R8D5C/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=MZS+Winch+Shackle+Mount+with+Pin+&+Rubber+Guard+-+Universal+Fit+20,000lb+Black&qid=1586101004&s=automotive&sr=1-1

I didn’t use the rotary switch but you put it where I wired everything together next to the battery. Great job!

 

[Kitfoxbill]

My Apex mounting. Rubicon steel bumper. Warn winch plate.
i moved the positive cable from the back to the side so it wouldn’t rub on the grille. I also had to cut down the engagement handle so not too rub on bumper.

 

[Slapping_Rabbits]

Hey that looks good. I have a question. Wnt do these have to be modified, sometimes heavily, just to fit? Shouldn't this be somewhat standardized? I mean putting a winch in is pretty standard stuff right? Im new at all this so forgive my ignorance.

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