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Winch Wire Routing?

aham23

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Anyone got a better idea how to run, hide, secure these wires. The power and ground running to the battery sorta drop down all the time.

21 JLUR with aftermarket steal bumper and Warn 10s.

See pics.

E67810B9-185A-4E7B-8740-E8D630C52D5E.jpeg


4DCBBBF8-B640-4482-8BF5-786AD0521CD7.jpeg


B3195279-FE3A-4393-ACD2-9B7AE18BF9DC.jpeg
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KansasJL

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I used some snips and cut out a few of the plastic vents on the grill. I then ran the power wires up around the airbox to the battery. I wanted the wires up inside the frame rails and out of the way from any moving parts.
 
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aham23

aham23

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Looks great. So you don’t have the spool of wires either. Seems like the way to go but damn that grill is a pain to get out. Especially with the winch installed.
 

KansasJL

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It felt like putting a jigsaw puzzle together but it was worth it to me. I am super happy with it.
 

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JeepinJason33

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My ACE bumper was too close to the grill to have the wires go out the back. It also sat lower so I would have probably had to cut through the actual plastic vs the grill part. Cutting the grill sounds like a good option, but then you will have to unhook everything if you ever want to take the grill off for repair work.

I ended up cutting a hole in the top and wiring them out the side of the cover. Then wrapped all the wires with black electrical tape. This way the winch tucks right up next to the grill and all the wires are together wrapped up in the tape so it does not look as messy.
 
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aham23

aham23

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My ACE bumper was too close to the grill to have the wires go out the back. It also sat lower so I would have probably had to cut through the actual plastic vs the grill part. Cutting the grill sounds like a good option, but then you will have to unhook everything if you ever want to take the grill off for repair work.

I ended up cutting a hole in the top and wiring them out the side of the cover. Then wrapped all the wires with black electrical tape. This way the winch tucks right up next to the grill and all the wires are together wrapped up in the tape so it does not look as messy.
Would love a picture when you have time.
 

pitsqrd

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Here are a few pics of my Warn VR12 install and wiring with a RR Full Width HD bumper. The holes in the winch plate push the VR12 very close to the grill so I took the control box apart, loosened the cable attach points and "adjusted" the cables so they exited the back of the control box in a vertically stacked manner to reduce the space (essentially to the width of 1 cable) required to get them between the back of the winch and the grill.

3rd & 4th pic shows the routing of the + and - cables under the radiator, then in btwn the fender liner and the frame and up through a gap in front of the battery (5th pic)

Hope this helps

Winch wiring 1.jpg


Winch wiring 2.jpg


Winch wiring 3.jpg


Winch wiring 4.jpg


Winch wiring 5.jpg
 
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aham23

aham23

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Big help. Thanks guys.

I had mine installed by my shop and at first figured it was normal routing. But I hate it as is. I’ll likely clean it up myself.
 

JeepinJason33

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Would love a picture when you have time.
Not really proud of the work. I figured that I was going to put the nice Warn winch cover on it. I bought the cover and the cover looks great but will not fit the winch because the grill is pressed up against the back of it.

As you can see from the pics, I had zero other options and wanted to install it for a trip to Moab the next day. I plan on trying to figure out a way to make it look a bit better than electrical tape. I am very open to suggestions on cleaning this up.

The Positive wire and the ground are covered with wire loom so you don’t see the colors. I am happy with the wiring to the battery I took out the air box and ran the wire under the grill, above the frame rail, and then under the air box.
Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? E99074BB-7F83-47D5-BCEF-FED30E6CDE75
Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? 57567170-8E78-4F9B-91B0-FFA6592C88C1
Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? 875D212F-1447-4303-8577-48FEEC994589
Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? D1BC3C8E-DCA1-4491-A0C9-C087DEEBC0ED
 

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Fuel Fire Desire

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Where my winch sits, it’s cables exit the winch just at the bottom of the grille. I placed them behind the grille facia, and pulled them up through the gap between the headlight and fender, under the air box, and then into the main shutoff relay. Cables are all hidden except for the relay and battery area. Nothing exposed to get damaged.

uS8Ythbl.jpg


Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? mVU7ONal


Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? skEIkS8l


Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? RTpWESal




And no..........that is not a negative cable attached to the positive terminal. It’s another feed line to a 250 amp relay that feeds my accessory relay control center. The two pack of 1/0 gauge jumpers only came in red/ black.

Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? R5K2etvl
 

JeepinJason33

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Here are a few pics of my Warn VR12 install and wiring with a RR Full Width HD bumper. The holes in the winch plate push the VR12 very close to the grill so I took the control box apart, loosened the cable attach points and "adjusted" the cables so they exited the back of the control box in a vertically stacked manner to reduce the space (essentially to the width of 1 cable) required to get them between the back of the winch and the grill.

3rd & 4th pic shows the routing of the + and - cables under the radiator, then in btwn the fender liner and the frame and up through a gap in front of the battery (5th pic)

Hope this helps

Winch wiring 1.jpg


Winch wiring 2.jpg


Winch wiring 3.jpg


Winch wiring 4.jpg


Winch wiring 5.jpg
They took the easy route. I would not be happy with that either. Depending on where you live, those wires are really susceptible to getting caught on branches or pinched by rocks. Hard to tell from the picks but mine goes behind the grill and straight up to the right of the body mount.
This is looking at it from the bumper, it is adjacent to the frame rail and goes straight up. Nothing can snag it or allow it to get pinched.
Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? 01F72934-2E51-40DA-98B5-913537D84D0B

This is from the passenger side frame rail. For some reason the picture is turned sideways on here and I can’t rotate it. But you get the idea. It is behind the rail completely.
Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? D40E10FC-E5B1-4924-A50F-FA998CB70B52
 

bipock

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Where my winch sits, it’s cables exit the winch just at the bottom of the grille. I placed them behind the grille facia, and pulled them up through the gap between the headlight and fender, under the air box, and then into the main shutoff relay. Cables are all hidden except for the relay and battery area. Nothing exposed to get damaged.

Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? D40E10FC-E5B1-4924-A50F-FA998CB70B52


Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? D40E10FC-E5B1-4924-A50F-FA998CB70B52


Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? D40E10FC-E5B1-4924-A50F-FA998CB70B52


Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? D40E10FC-E5B1-4924-A50F-FA998CB70B52




And no..........that is not a negative cable attached to the positive terminal. It’s another feed line to a 250 amp relay that feeds my accessory relay control center. The two pack of 1/0 gauge jumpers only came in red/ black.

Jeep Wrangler JL Winch Wire Routing? D40E10FC-E5B1-4924-A50F-FA998CB70B52
How do you like that winch on that bumper? I just installed bumper this weekend and am looking for a winch for fill in the gapping hole sitting there.
 

Fuel Fire Desire

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How do you like that winch on that bumper? I just installed bumper this weekend and am looking for a winch for fill in the gapping hole sitting there.
It fits like a glove. Big PITA to mount the winch after the bumper is on though. The winch plate has an access hole under it to get to the mounting holes, but you need two elbows to easily reach them. It took a good hour to do just those 4 bolts with the loose nuts in the winch base. It would have been easier to use some kind of tape or tar to keep the nuts in place to help align them with the bolt coming up from the bottom since you can’t have hands on both at the same time. Definitely use Loc-tite on them so you don’t have to get in there again.
I also changed over to a closed loop thimble to keep the rope hanging out of the fair lead from getting degraded by the elements (I had to cut that length off after a couple years of sun and road salt), and to keep the hook hanging from the D-ring from rubbing through the powder coat on the bumper.
 

Cptbigdog

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What size expandable sleeping did you use for the positive and negative.
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