M1165A1
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Finally completed my winch installation, the wiring.
The hardest part was deciding where to hook in to tap power. Two obvious choices: under the vehicle on the starter, or back in the battery compartment under the commander's seat.
I opted to run the positive lead back to the 24V post on the second battery. Doing so allowed me to install a Flaming River 500A disconnect switch, meaning the winch wiring has no power unless I am using the winch. That seemed like a prudent safety precaution.
The winch (Sherpa Steed 17K model in 24V) comes supplied with a control box that mounts on the back of the winch itself. I attached the control box and ran the power and ground wiring along the right frame rail, up and over and down via the radiator compartment. Ground went to the ground on the starter.
Note that Sherpa supplies the winch with 25mm2 wiring, equivalent to 4 AWG, and the wires are nowhere near long enough to work on a HMMWV given the distance to the battery. So I upgraded the 25mm2 to 2 AWG (32mm2) tinned marine wire by Ancor. It kind of fit into the control box with a little persuasion and seems very nice high quality stuff.
Sealed all the connections and also the control box wire entrances with some healthy globs of RTV 734.
For control, I splurged on the wireless controller. An old license plate frame laying around the garage provided a mounting plate to some existing holes on the frame extension. At some point I will have to trim off the extra 3" on the plate holder with a grinder.
Remote for the unit, which allows you to be mobile while winching and also stay safely out of the winch danger zone:
I tested it by winching HMMWV #2 across the driveway using HMMWV #1 as an anchor. It was a lot of fun.
One last thing to do tomorrow after I change the oil on my SUV: I need to take some of the used oil and soak the winch cable to prevent rust over the winter.
The hardest part was deciding where to hook in to tap power. Two obvious choices: under the vehicle on the starter, or back in the battery compartment under the commander's seat.
I opted to run the positive lead back to the 24V post on the second battery. Doing so allowed me to install a Flaming River 500A disconnect switch, meaning the winch wiring has no power unless I am using the winch. That seemed like a prudent safety precaution.
The winch (Sherpa Steed 17K model in 24V) comes supplied with a control box that mounts on the back of the winch itself. I attached the control box and ran the power and ground wiring along the right frame rail, up and over and down via the radiator compartment. Ground went to the ground on the starter.
Note that Sherpa supplies the winch with 25mm2 wiring, equivalent to 4 AWG, and the wires are nowhere near long enough to work on a HMMWV given the distance to the battery. So I upgraded the 25mm2 to 2 AWG (32mm2) tinned marine wire by Ancor. It kind of fit into the control box with a little persuasion and seems very nice high quality stuff.
Sealed all the connections and also the control box wire entrances with some healthy globs of RTV 734.
For control, I splurged on the wireless controller. An old license plate frame laying around the garage provided a mounting plate to some existing holes on the frame extension. At some point I will have to trim off the extra 3" on the plate holder with a grinder.
Remote for the unit, which allows you to be mobile while winching and also stay safely out of the winch danger zone:
I tested it by winching HMMWV #2 across the driveway using HMMWV #1 as an anchor. It was a lot of fun.
One last thing to do tomorrow after I change the oil on my SUV: I need to take some of the used oil and soak the winch cable to prevent rust over the winter.
