Winch battery disconnect switch, to install it, or not to install it...

[Yogi]

I keep the hot wire disconnected until I'm ready to use. I use a wingnut to connect and disconnect. That's my switch, lol! Works great.

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[HooliganActual]

I totally agree with the sentiment about safety. As @ShadowsPapa called out, your real risk is having live full battery voltage at the bumper. Hit a deer just right and watch the truck burn

I run a similar set up to others using the Warn Isolator (on the left in foreground):

@JAsh1967 Before you spend money on the manual disconnect, ask yourself if you plan to add any accessories that would require switching, such as additional lights, an air compressor, etc. A Marine/RV disconnect would work absolutely fine, but as others have said, it can be a bit of a pain to have to pop the hood to actuate it. For a similar price to a good Marine grade disconnect, you could pick up the Warn Isolator; however, since you don't have aux switches on the dash you would need some switch box to activate the Warn Isolator solenoid. If you have future plans to add accessories, maybe you should start down that path now.

Lot's of good switch boxes out there. I use the Trigger 4Plus Controller on one of my JKUR's for the winch, light bar, rock lights and under hood lights. My JTR has the factory Aux Switches but I DO use a Trigger 4Plus Controller to run the house loads in the bed (left side of pic):

What I really like about these units (and others may be this way but I don't own "others"), is that there are 3 ways to activate an accessory that is connected to it:
1) Push the blue 1, 2, 3, 4 button on the front of the controller
2) Use the RF remote that comes with the Trigger Controller

3) Use the App on my smartphone:

Lots of options out there, but take a moment now and see if you can future proof some of your spending (i.e. avoid buying a disconnect now only to buy a solenoid isolator later). Food for thought.

Did the same.



I connected it to Aux 1. It was the first thing I connected to the Aux switches, so I chose it because it was easy to remember.

I struggled with remembering what was on each Aux Switch but @pixeldecals had a nice solution:

 

[JAsh1967]

@HooliganActual getting the winch was a bit of "future proofing" to avoid multiple install costs or myself and the wife trying to get the bumper off to put a winch on later. I like the idea of on-board air, partly because we'd also be using it to occasionally air up our camper tires if they get low, but the expense now of planning for something like that in the future prohibits doing it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I struggled with remembering what was on each Aux Switch but @pixeldecals had a nice solution:

Thanks for that.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I keep the hot wire disconnected until I'm ready to use. I use a wingnut to connect and disconnect. That's my switch, lol! Works great.

Fail-proof and cheap, too. (unless you opt for a platinum wing nut)

 

[sarguy1941]

FWIW I run the Badlands switch. Built an aluminum plate as others have done and its been flawless. It came with the winch so just used it.

 

[JUPITER GLADIATOR]

I just installed the Badland Apex in my Mojave but have not wired up the winch yet. I plan on using the supplied switch that came with the winch. In fact, I may look into making use of one of the unused winch tray brackets for mounting the switch!

 

[KevinM60]

I totally agree with the sentiment about safety. As @ShadowsPapa called out, your real risk is having live full battery voltage at the bumper. Hit a deer just right and watch the truck burn

I run a similar set up to others using the Warn Isolator (on the left in foreground):

I'm looking for one of those simple distribution blocks you have shown there.
I have it circled in the pic below.
Where did you get that one?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I'm looking for one of those simple distribution blocks you have shown there.
I have it circled in the pic below.
Where did you get that one?

Go to Menards or similar - I mounted mine on acrylic and made a cover for it with holes to allow access with a screwdriver if needed to add or remove wires.

 

[KevinM60]

Go to Menards or similar - I mounted mine on acrylic and made a cover for it with holes to allow access with a screwdriver if needed to add or remove wires.

Thanks. I'll check there. So far I've only looked on Amazon and didn't see anything I liked 100%.
I'm looking for a block that has a common ground wire for all of them so I can consolidate as much as possible.

 

[HooliganActual]

I'm looking for one of those simple distribution blocks you have shown there.
I have it circled in the pic below.
Where did you get that one?

What you have circled is called a terminal strip. That particular one is made by Blue Sea and you should be able to find it on Amazon.
Blue Sea 2406 Terminal Block 20 Ampere 6 Circuit 2406 https://a.co/d/bISrTBo

However, based on what you are describing that you want to do, you should be looking for a dual bus bar:
Blue Sea Systems 2701 Blue Sea Dual Bus 100 Ampere Common BusBars 5 x 8-32 Screw Terminal https://a.co/d/2tX3k2g

The difference between the two is that the dual bus bar allows you to hook all the positive leads together and all the negative leads together. A duel bus bar is great for something like rock lights, where you have, say, 6 positive lead and 6 negative leads. You can hook them all onto the appropriate side of the bus bar and then run a single positive and single negative lead off to your switch.

The terminal strip works best in the application I’ve shown where you have 4 discrete and different loads that you need to hook to their own discrete switch. The lug on one side of the strip is connected ONLY to the lug on the opposite side of the strip.

I’ve included a couple of Amazon links to get you pointed in the general direction. Since it looks like you are in SoCal, try looking at boat stores such as West Marine or RV part stores. They typically carry this stuff.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

What you have circled is called a terminal strip. That particular one is made by Blue Sea and you should be able to find it on Amazon.
Blue Sea 2406 Terminal Block 20 Ampere 6 Circuit 2406 https://a.co/d/bISrTBo

However, based on what you are describing that you want to do, you should be looking for a dual bus bar:
Blue Sea Systems 2701 Blue Sea Dual Bus 100 Ampere Common BusBars 5 x 8-32 Screw Terminal https://a.co/d/2tX3k2g

The difference between the two is that the dual bus bar allows you to hook all the positive leads together and all the negative leads together. A duel bus bar is great for something like rock lights, where you have, say, 6 positive lead and 6 negative leads. You can hook them all onto the appropriate side of the bus bar and then run a single positive and single negative lead off to your switch.

The terminal strip works best in the application I’ve shown where you have 4 discrete and different loads that you need to hook to their own discrete switch. The lug on one side of the strip is connected ONLY to the lug on the opposite side of the strip.

I’ve included a couple of Amazon links to get you pointed in the general direction. Since it looks like you are in SoCal, try looking at boat stores such as West Marine or RV part stores. They typically carry this stuff.

I tried to give 10 likes but each time I tried to add, it took away instead.........

EXCELLENT example of the use of a bus bar situation. It allows several grounds and several hot leads to all be controlled by the same switch.
My terminal block is perfect for the aux switches - one for each switch and a couple of extras for grounds (my crude brass ground jumper in the pic)
1-4 for the aux switches 1-4 and then the green wire goes to a ground stud under the terminal block so I can really easily attach a couple of grounds if needed without digging under my other stuff.

Anyway - good call on the buss bar for running several lights through a single power or switch source. Nice looking units, too.

This is the terminal strip I used - they come in 6, 8 and 10 positions, I believe........
https://www.menards.com/main/electr...nals-block/gtb-406/p-1444431020536-c-6447.htm

I have no real use for a bus bar - at this time. Always need to put that in there. Never say never. Heck, next month I might do something else goofy with my JT.

 

[KevinM60]

What you have circled is called a terminal strip. That particular one is made by Blue Sea and you should be able to find it on Amazon.
Blue Sea 2406 Terminal Block 20 Ampere 6 Circuit 2406 https://a.co/d/bISrTBo

However, based on what you are describing that you want to do, you should be looking for a dual bus bar:
Blue Sea Systems 2701 Blue Sea Dual Bus 100 Ampere Common BusBars 5 x 8-32 Screw Terminal https://a.co/d/2tX3k2g

The difference between the two is that the dual bus bar allows you to hook all the positive leads together and all the negative leads together. A duel bus bar is great for something like rock lights, where you have, say, 6 positive lead and 6 negative leads. You can hook them all onto the appropriate side of the bus bar and then run a single positive and single negative lead off to your switch.

The terminal strip works best in the application I’ve shown where you have 4 discrete and different loads that you need to hook to their own discrete switch. The lug on one side of the strip is connected ONLY to the lug on the opposite side of the strip.

I’ve included a couple of Amazon links to get you pointed in the general direction. Since it looks like you are in SoCal, try looking at boat stores such as West Marine or RV part stores. They typically carry this stuff.

I might run some of the lights together but what I'm thinking right now is separate positive leads with the ground wires running to a common local post that then runs to the chassis ground if that's possible.

 

[HooliganActual]

EXCELLENT example of the use of a bus bar situation. It allows several grounds and several hot leads to all be controlled by the same switch.
My terminal block is perfect for the aux switches - one for each switch and a couple of extras for grounds (my crude brass ground jumper in the pic)
1-4 for the aux switches 1-4 and then the green wire goes to a ground stud under the terminal block so I can really easily attach a couple of grounds if needed without digging under my other stuff.

Anyway - good call on the buss bar for running several lights through a single power or switch source. Nice looking units, too.

This is the terminal strip I used - they come in 6, 8 and 10 positions, I believe........
https://www.menards.com/main/electr...nals-block/gtb-406/p-1444431020536-c-6447.htm

I have no real use for a bus bar - at this time. Always need to put that in there. Never say never. Heck, next month I might do something else goofy with my JT.

For reference, my example was based in reality, lol. Here’s a pic of the dual bus bar running my rock lights which are connected to the Aux Switches through the previously pictured terminal strip:

 

[KevinM60]

What you have circled is called a terminal strip. That particular one is made by Blue Sea and you should be able to find it on Amazon.
Blue Sea 2406 Terminal Block 20 Ampere 6 Circuit 2406 https://a.co/d/bISrTBo

However, based on what you are describing that you want to do, you should be looking for a dual bus bar:
Blue Sea Systems 2701 Blue Sea Dual Bus 100 Ampere Common BusBars 5 x 8-32 Screw Terminal https://a.co/d/2tX3k2g

The difference between the two is that the dual bus bar allows you to hook all the positive leads together and all the negative leads together. A duel bus bar is great for something like rock lights, where you have, say, 6 positive lead and 6 negative leads. You can hook them all onto the appropriate side of the bus bar and then run a single positive and single negative lead off to your switch.

The terminal strip works best in the application I’ve shown where you have 4 discrete and different loads that you need to hook to their own discrete switch. The lug on one side of the strip is connected ONLY to the lug on the opposite side of the strip.

I’ve included a couple of Amazon links to get you pointed in the general direction. Since it looks like you are in SoCal, try looking at boat stores such as West Marine or RV part stores. They typically carry this stuff.

Here's another clean setup that looks pretty good.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-admin-warning-no-politics.23705/post-1245553

I'll look these options over and see what works best for me.
Thanks for the input.

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