Dirty Harry

Hi all. 1st post here. Recently bought a low-mile extra-clean 2000 Cherkoee Sport. It's my first Cherokee, but I'm not new to Jeeps, as I'm also s-l-o-w-l-y rebuilding a 1985 CJ-7 from the frame up. I'm currently getting ready to install a Summit (T-Max) winch on an ARB bumper.

The winch mounting set-up for the ARB is a perfect match-up, if you have a Warn, but I don't. Since this means that the whole install will require customizing the mounts and such to get a solid fitment, I thought about just taking the project one step further and mounting the winch's control box inside the engine bay (in front of my AFO air intake box), instead of on the bumper itself. I'd rather it be off the bumper and inside out of the elements. I figured it would help the control unit last longer if it weren't constantly getting rained on, snowed on, iced up, and covered in dust & mud. The absence of the unit on the front bumper would also increase the air flow into the radiator (a concern mentioned in the ARB install instructions), and just clean up the appearance in general.

I know I'll have to swap some (and customize other) wiring in order to make the box-to-winch & box-to-battery hook-ups work in the new location. My question is: does this move represent any logistic or safety problems for myself, the winch and my Jeep? I've never owned a winch before, so I'm a total n00b regarding the good & bad on them.

I actually considered even mounting the box inside the cab itself. But again, I don't know "the rules" about winching. Is running the winch with the hood popped or while sitting in the vehicle a 'no-no'? Sorry if these questions sound dumb, but please remember, I'm popping my winching cherry this weekend with this project. :-)

COSXJFAN

I would put it under the hood, not in the cab. You want to keep the length of the wires to a minimum, due to the electric load on the wires. I know that if the wires are going to be much longer than they are you will need to up the gauge of the wire, so not to lose any power over the long distance. I'm not sure of the specifics, but there is some concerns when lengthening wires, especially ones that carry a lot of power. Maybe someone else would have more insight on this than I do. Good luck, keep us posted on your progress!!

xj4life2

The winch mounting set-up for the ARB is a perfect match-up, if you have a Warn, but I don't. Since this means that the whole install will require customizing the mounts and such to get a solid fitment,

Actually The t-max and the warn have the same mounting set and the T-max is made in Australia as is ARB so it should bolt doen fine as for the box under the hood is cool but I have never worried about it and have had no issues at all, rain hail snow sleet mud ect ect never a failure yet. If you have to or want to move the box somewhere easy to get to under the hood is best , you can also get a kit to hard wire in cab controls. Good luck !!!

BlueXJ

As others have said under hood would be best if you want to move it. I had mine on my pick-up under the hood. I used old Welding leads to move the control box under there. It worked fine. The in cab part that xj4life mentioned is something I always meant to do, but never did.HTH
Good Luck

Dirty Harry

Thanks for the replies. I have room in a couple of spots, so I'll go for the under-the-hood move.

BlueXJ

Do a write up so we can all see and maybe move our control boxes too.

Dirty Harry

I had a LOT of things panned for this weekend, but I'm catching the rain from the Hurricane(s) like there's no tomorrow, then some family probs crept in. The mods will get done. I will shoot pix for all to see. Just be patient, as it could be a few more days. I need to take measurements of how long the replacement elec cables must be, then head into town and get 'em. Also will have to figure out how to rigidly secure control box, then fab mount(s) for it. :-(

muddeprived

My buddy had the control box in the engine bay but moved the connectors for the winch controller to the grill. He drilled a small hole in the grill under the light with a flip cover so when he needs to use it, he plugs the controller in that port and it's ready to winch. he was gonna go with interior dash controls but never got around to it since the grill-mounted controller setup worked very well.

Dirty Harry

Sounds interesting... could you by any change snag some pics of this set-up??

muddeprived

These are the only pictures i have that shows what i'm talking about:

You can see below the passenger headlight, there's the control port with flip open cover. It's the same one that comes on the winch solenoid box.


This is what he moved to the front fender below the light but left the box inside the engine bay:

Dirty Harry

Many thanks! I will take a look at mine and see what I can do.

Dirty Harry

Winch control box relocation is slowly moving forward. Going into town this afternoon to have three new heavy wires made to replace the now-too short jobs that the box came with. New units need to be twice as long. The stock positive & negative wires appear to be long enough, but I need to double check my measuring. I had to cut the thin ground wire in two; will join it with a longer section in between and seal that patch-in piece with hot shrink tubing.

The small hook-up for the remote is less robust than the one Muddeprived's buddy has on his Wrangler, so it will likely prove to be a PITA moving it, but I found a good spot. I'm going to lay in a 8"x16" section of black HDPE (plastic) to cover the holes on the top of the middle section of the ARB bumper main body, between the uprights. This is where pre-existing cut-outs are: a rectangular cut out where Warn winch solenoid box mounts pass through, and a 2" hole where the Warn spool release handle passes through. I'll have to drill holes to secure the plastic cover and I'll probably go ahead and secure it with some gasket goo as well.

There's enough room in front of my Air Force One intake box to mount the T-Max solenoid. I'll have to fabricate some brackets to secure it and cover the hole in the cover where I removed the remote plug. I also need to extend these rather thin wires to reach to the bumper. Better go ahead and cover them all with those wiring looms to help keep dirt & dust out, along with the 3 heavy-gage wires. I'd better slather all connections with silicone goop while I'm at it. Jeez, am I forgetting anything???

Hmmm... This is going to be challenging.

I'll try and document with pics, but I make no promises. I'm far more concerned with getting the move done properly than I am about taking lots of lovely photos. However... if successful, I'll post them and put together a step-by-step write-up for anyone else who might be crazy enough to attempt this insane task.