Openroad winch - cable impacting grille

[DCPHOENIX]

I’ve got an Arcus bumper on. Cannot for the life of me get the box to fit on top of the winch. Winch won’t sit flush against the winch plate when it’s turned the correct way.

Ended up turning the box around and I hate how it looks.
Anyone got any ideas?

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['22JTRD]

Can you take the wires out the side and plug the OEM holes?

Flip it back around so the plugs are on the grill side.

I'm an electrician and and thinking about weatherproof box closures.

 

[fishburger]

I’ve seen bumper spacers that some people use to solve this issue. It’s pretty much a solid piece of metal that has the mounting holes already drilled in it and it sits between the bumper and frame to push it out a bit.

 

[The Welsh Griffin]

Can you relocate that box inside the grill somewhere? Not sure of how that setup works.

 

[DCPHOENIX]

I’ll be honest I thought winches were just a plug and play type setup. Shouldn’t known better

 

[Dougstdig]

You may be able to take the control box apart to see how the cables are routed. Don’t be afraid to use a step bit and a grommet to shoot them out the side.

 

[whiteglad]

I had a similar situation with my earlier model 12k Badlands winch. The box has 4 fat cables coming out and hit the grille. It attaches to two cross rails of the winch with metal brackets that look like heavy staples that are partly bent so the back hooks around one rod and the front has a screw to get the bracket tight. Once the Arcus stamped bumper cover is attached, the screws are hidden. I modified these two brackets by trimming off some of the rounded end so it is easier to snap it over the rail, and also re-drilled a hole in each that is 1.5" away from the original hole. Similarly, I drilled two new holes in the floor of the box so it ends up being moved that 1.5" away from the grille when the brackets are attached to the cross rails of the winch. The solenoid box now clears the grille with the cables coming out the back, and it does not protrude past the front of the bumper.

 

[Jaxmax]

Is that box square, could you turn it 90 degrees? almost looks square in picture.....Jack

 

[Mike-len]

I’ve got an Arcus bumper on. Cannot for the life of me get the box to fit on top of the winch. Winch won’t sit flush against the winch plate when it’s turned the correct way.

Ended up turning the box around and I hate how it looks.
Anyone got any ideas?

Did you ever resolve this issue? I recently installed the same winch and bumper, and I’m very disappointed at how the wires are crammmed up against the grill. There’s no returning the winch or bumper at this point.

 

[Timoleon]

On mine, I used the Warn Winch plate and the OEM steel bumper mounting the Openroad winch. I had to mount it with the cables facing forward too for the same reason. I noticed that there was some places (where the grommets for the cables come together) and I sealed these with RTV to keep the water from working into the box.

I can live with it this way. I just do periodic inspections of the box and cable connectors.

 

[DCPHOENIX]

Did you ever resolve this issue? I recently installed the same winch and bumper, and I’m very disappointed at how the wires are crammmed up against the grill. There’s no returning the winch or bumper at this point.

I did resolve it. I sold the winch and went and bought a harbor freight one!

I do believe that the Arcus bumper is very close to the grill. The way the badlands sits, the cable comes out the back and is HARD against the grill. A few people drill through the side of the box and reroute it but I’m fine with how it is.

The open road looks Pretty bad with all the cables on show. I’d run it on dedicated crawler but now a road vehicle

 

[Mike-len]

I did resolve it. I sold the winch and went and bought a harbor freight one!

I do believe that the Arcus bumper is very close to the grill. The way the badlands sits, the cable comes out the back and is HARD against the grill. A few people drill through the side of the box and reroute it but I’m fine with how it is.

The open road looks Pretty bad with all the cables on show. I’d run it on dedicated crawler but now a road vehicle

That definitely would be the route I’d take. I’m not taking that Arcus bumper off anytime soon. That thing was a pain in the butt to install. I bought the open road winch because of Matt’s recommendation on the YouTube channel Ozark Overland Adventures, but mine definitely is different than his. In his latest video, the synthetic rope actually broke. I’m just going to have to deal with it for now because I have too many other mods to do at this point.

 

[DCPHOENIX]

That definitely would be the route I’d take. I’m not taking that Arcus bumper off anytime soon. That thing was a pain in the butt to install. I bought the open road winch because of Matt’s recommendation on the YouTube channel Ozark Overland Adventures, but mine definitely is different than his. In his latest video, the synthetic rope actually broke. I’m just going to have to deal with it for now because I have too many other mods to do at this point.

That’s where I first saw it too. Honestly I should have just gone the harbor freight from the start.
Agree with you on taking the bumper on and off. I was lucky to have help the first time it went on. Not so lucky the second time. My garage was rated R

 

[Mike-len]

That’s where I first saw it too. Honestly I should have just gone the harbor freight from the start.
Agree with you on taking the bumper on and off. I was lucky to have help the first time it went on. Not so lucky the second time. My garage was rated R

Haha! Yes. I installed that thing alone. It’s a good thing nobody was home and I don’t have any glass windows in my garage. Tools were flying all over the place.

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