Warn Zeon Winch install tips

[Saejin]

Just wanted to share my experience and help others from making the same mistakes I did and also let them know some tips on making it easier.

First of all there’s a great video here posted by a user who goes through step by step in the install. I watched it a few times and it helped me out a ton.

- get a torque wrench...you’ll need to torque some bolts down, especially the bumper bolts and the bolts holding the winch to the winch plate.
- warn’s Winch Plate is a good piece of work, but it’s a bit more complicated than other since it has multiple pieces. Just keep all bolts loose until you fit everything back together...use the zip ties to hold the plate in place since the bolts won’t be tightened yet
- you’ll need to mount part of the winch plate to the brackets that the front skid plate mounts too. These mounting bolts are soft, so don’t over tighten them. I did on one side and probably stripped out one of them. I’m not too worried as this only holds the skid plate and not the winch. It’s just used to position the winch plate. The bulk of the pull from the winch will be where it bolts to the bumper/frame bolts.
- your front skid plate won’t fit after you install the winch plate. It’s about a 1/4 inch off on the rear bolts. You’ll have to drill new holes where the two rear mounting points are.
- the Zeon is a tight fit. You’ll have to lean it to one side and slip it in. If you don’t you’ll scratch it trying to get it in...trust me.
- make sure you have the JL ready Zeon or install the 90 degree clutch before starting. If not you’ll have to disassemble everything again to install the new clutch kit. You can use 1/4 spacers and probably get by, but warn will send you a new clutch kit for free.
- clutch kit was easy to install even though I did it wrong. The gears came loose on mine, but I was able to get it all back together. Again there’s a great video posted here somewhere on how to do it.
- the opening on the rubicon bumper where the fairlead goes is kinda small. Almost to the point I think the rope will rub on it depending on angle of recovery. This is something I’ll be looking at when I put it to use. If it does rub I’ll probably cut the opening up a bit more. I only want the winch rope touching the fairlead.
- you can’t use the Aux buttons to turn the winch on and off. However you can buy a warn power interrupt kit and use the aux switches to cut the power to the winch so it’s not always receiving power from the battery. It’s an added safety measure. I may get one and add it.
- when pulling the bumper off rotate it up and down and pull it off...not side to side...it doesn’t come off easily if you pull the right side out further than the left and vice versa.

Good luck.

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[dgriffin1671]

Did you go with a 10S or 12S? Part number? What is the 90 degree clutch kit? Something extra you need before install?

 

[UNC Rubicon]

What is the 90 degree clutch kit? Something extra you need before install?

It makes the clutch engage or freespool with a 90 degree turn as opposed to a 180 degree turn.

 

[dgriffin1671]

Ahh, I see. Thanks

 

[Saejin]

I went with a 10s. The older ones you had to turn the clutch handle 180 degrees to engage free spool.
On the JL bumper it will hit the opening since the winch sits so low. You need to install the 90 gmdegree handle so it won’t turn all the way to engage freespool. Easy install. I even did it wrong and it was still easy. There’s a step by step posting on how to do it.

 

[sigsegv]

This is a great list! Thanks!

- your front skid plate won’t fit after you install the winch plate. It’s about a 1/4 inch off on the rear bolts. You’ll have to drill new holes where the two rear mounting points are.

I actually got mine to fit. I installed the two rear bolts first (loosely) and then managed to get the front in. I did screw up the front passenger side bolt - it stripped halfway in, maybe it was cross threaded. The other 4 bolts in the front went in securely.

I can not, for the life of me, figure out how I'm going to get the driver's side top inner bumper bolt secured. The flange on the nut is too big to fit past the winch. I am going to have to order a low profile nut or something... Hopefully 7 well tightened bumper bolts is enough for now.

 

[sigsegv]

- the opening on the rubicon bumper where the fairlead goes is kinda small. Almost to the point I think the rope will rub on it depending on angle of recovery. This is something I’ll be looking at when I put it to use. If it does rub I’ll probably cut the opening up a bit more. I only want the winch rope touching the fairlead.

This is another great point. When I first tightened my fairlead down I could tell that the rope would rub on the bottom of the bumper opening. I loosened it and tightened it down again as far up as it would fit, and I don't think can rub down there anymore. The right hand side of the opening is a bit close though, since the winch drum extends past the fairlead I think it may rub there.

Here's a crappy pic of my install:

I went with a Zeon 10s Platinum because I wanted peace of mind. I live in Seattle which is currently overrun by homeless meth addicts that will steal (or at less mess with) anything that's interesting looking and not bolted down. The lack of clutch lever and depth inside the bumper means the winch is pretty much impervious to meth heads, at least to their broad daylight antics.

I pity someone that attempts to steal the whole winch... They'll probably smash every car window in frustration trying to get those damn bumper bolts out unless they rolled up with a well stocked tool chest.

 

[Saejin]

Somehow I was able to get all 8 bumper bolts back on with my socket wrench. I thought the flange was going to hit the winch and not go, but I kept on turning and eventually it went all the way down.

I did cross thread a skid plate bolt, one of the rears, trying to put it back together without drilling out a larger opening so I had to pop off the welded nut and just used a new bolt and nut.

 

[Saejin]

About the clutch. I have the same concern that someone will come by, turn the clutch, and then cut the rope taking my flatlink. I tried to clock the winch clockwise so the clutch would be rotated and hidden in the rear, but the clearance with the grill was an issue.

Clocking the winch if you dont know allows you to remove the end cap on the motor side and rotate it either direction to suit your needs. It’s prett cool and didn’t realize you could do this until I saw some YouTube videos.

 

[WestKY]

Did you go with a 10S or 12S? Part number? What is the 90 degree clutch kit? Something extra you need before install?

Did you go with a 10S or 12S? Part number? What is the 90 degree clutch kit? Something extra you need before install?

Check this article out,newer Xeons are 90 degrees but here is information about it.
http://www.northridgenation.com/warn-zeon-180-to-90-shift-handle-conversion/

 

[Nutcracker]

What is the Warn Part # for the mounting plate? I cannot seem to find the plate or part #.

 

[FSchmitthammer]

Just wanted to share my experience and help others from making the same mistakes I did and also let them know some tips on making it easier.

First of all there’s a great video here posted by a user who goes through step by step in the install. I watched it a few times and it helped me out a ton.

- get a torque wrench...you’ll need to torque some bolts down, especially the bumper bolts and the bolts holding the winch to the winch plate.
- warn’s Winch Plate is a good piece of work, but it’s a bit more complicated than other since it has multiple pieces. Just keep all bolts loose until you fit everything back together...use the zip ties to hold the plate in place since the bolts won’t be tightened yet
- you’ll need to mount part of the winch plate to the brackets that the front skid plate mounts too. These mounting bolts are soft, so don’t over tighten them. I did on one side and probably stripped out one of them. I’m not too worried as this only holds the skid plate and not the winch. It’s just used to position the winch plate. The bulk of the pull from the winch will be where it bolts to the bumper/frame bolts.
- your front skid plate won’t fit after you install the winch plate. It’s about a 1/4 inch off on the rear bolts. You’ll have to drill new holes where the two rear mounting points are.
- the Zeon is a tight fit. You’ll have to lean it to one side and slip it in. If you don’t you’ll scratch it trying to get it in...trust me.
- make sure you have the JL ready Zeon or install the 90 degree clutch before starting. If not you’ll have to disassemble everything again to install the new clutch kit. You can use 1/4 spacers and probably get by, but warn will send you a new clutch kit for free.
- clutch kit was easy to install even though I did it wrong. The gears came loose on mine, but I was able to get it all back together. Again there’s a great video posted here somewhere on how to do it.
- the opening on the rubicon bumper where the fairlead goes is kinda small. Almost to the point I think the rope will rub on it depending on angle of recovery. This is something I’ll be looking at when I put it to use. If it does rub I’ll probably cut the opening up a bit more. I only want the winch rope touching the fairlead.
- you can’t use the Aux buttons to turn the winch on and off. However you can buy a warn power interrupt kit and use the aux switches to cut the power to the winch so it’s not always receiving power from the battery. It’s an added safety measure. I may get one and add it.
- when pulling the bumper off rotate it up and down and pull it off...not side to side...it doesn’t come off easily if you pull the right side out further than the left and vice versa.

Good luck.

Do I drill new holes in the skid plate or elongate the ones that are there?

 

[JMONEZ]

Just wanted to share my experience and help others from making the same mistakes I did and also let them know some tips on making it easier.

First of all there’s a great video here posted by a user who goes through step by step in the install. I watched it a few times and it helped me out a ton.

- get a torque wrench...you’ll need to torque some bolts down, especially the bumper bolts and the bolts holding the winch to the winch plate.
- warn’s Winch Plate is a good piece of work, but it’s a bit more complicated than other since it has multiple pieces. Just keep all bolts loose until you fit everything back together...use the zip ties to hold the plate in place since the bolts won’t be tightened yet
- you’ll need to mount part of the winch plate to the brackets that the front skid plate mounts too. These mounting bolts are soft, so don’t over tighten them. I did on one side and probably stripped out one of them. I’m not too worried as this only holds the skid plate and not the winch. It’s just used to position the winch plate. The bulk of the pull from the winch will be where it bolts to the bumper/frame bolts.
- your front skid plate won’t fit after you install the winch plate. It’s about a 1/4 inch off on the rear bolts. You’ll have to drill new holes where the two rear mounting points are.
- the Zeon is a tight fit. You’ll have to lean it to one side and slip it in. If you don’t you’ll scratch it trying to get it in...trust me.
- make sure you have the JL ready Zeon or install the 90 degree clutch before starting. If not you’ll have to disassemble everything again to install the new clutch kit. You can use 1/4 spacers and probably get by, but warn will send you a new clutch kit for free.
- clutch kit was easy to install even though I did it wrong. The gears came loose on mine, but I was able to get it all back together. Again there’s a great video posted here somewhere on how to do it.
- the opening on the rubicon bumper where the fairlead goes is kinda small. Almost to the point I think the rope will rub on it depending on angle of recovery. This is something I’ll be looking at when I put it to use. If it does rub I’ll probably cut the opening up a bit more. I only want the winch rope touching the fairlead.
- you can’t use the Aux buttons to turn the winch on and off. However you can buy a warn power interrupt kit and use the aux switches to cut the power to the winch so it’s not always receiving power from the battery. It’s an added safety measure. I may get one and add it.
- when pulling the bumper off rotate it up and down and pull it off...not side to side...it doesn’t come off easily if you pull the right side out further than the left and vice versa.

Good luck.

That’s good to know! I just installed a smittybilt x20 with the warn winch plate, all went really well and fairly simple, a bit of a struggle getting bumper back on, a few kicks and cuss words later and all was good. I did somehow manage to over tighten and spun one of rivnuts that holds bracket to the skid plate bracket, whoops! I’m hoping it’ll be ok?

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