Smittybilt X20 10K install

Ive had cables short out from rubbing behind the dash in a Dodge Ram PU before, it was not drivable afterwards until it was repaired. A battery kill switch would have stopped it. I see you also put a circuit breaker/switch on your main to the truck. Good idea!

 

That makes sense. Although I've owned a few different winches over the years and have never had a controller fail and I'm not a big fan of wireless controllers. As a matter of fact I got the wireless controller from Badlands and returned it as it didn't want to stop when hitting the stop button and they recommended leaving it disconnected when not in use, why have one then if you have to get out to plug it in might as well just use a hard wired one.

Good point I didn't think about the accident angle. I always thought people did it so some jackbag didn't pull the cable over the cab and connect it to the rear bumper and jam something into the controller plug causing the winch to wind in crushing the cab.

 

So much detail, it’s almost as if you thought about... hmmm...

 

One will never know.

 

The switch on the side of control box only turns off the wireless signal for the controller. It does not kill power to the winch.

 

Are you talking about the little black switch on the solenoid? That's only to turn wireless on or off, not the winch itself from what I remember installing Joes winch. You can kinda see in this pic how it says "wireless" on the left of the switch.

 

Yup. That is correct. I guess I need to find a cutoff switch now.

 

I wanted that winch but I wanted synthetic rope vs cable so I got the XRC 9500

 

They make it with cable (#97510) and synthetic (#98510)

 

Yeah I know but it was cheaper for me get the 9500 with 4wheelparts warranty Vs the x20 I couldn’t buy the winch plus warranty so I went with the XRC

 

Be sure to look at the continuous load rating of the switch, otherwise it may overheat or cause a lot of resistance for the winch if the rating is too low. I bought one of these rated for 600amps continuous or 900 amps intermittent load (@32v max).

Not cheap, but dependable if you are mounting it where there may be water or even road salt spray on it up in the front of your truck.

$66 Blue Sea Systems 3000 HD-Series Heavy Duty On-Off Battery Switch Grey

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000MMDLB6

 

Thought about getting that one but tons of people use the red one with zero issues.

 

Its probably rated high enough for your winch- and besides, how long do you run it? A few seconds at most so its not a big deal.

I like your circuit breaker - what rating did you get? The pic looks like 150amps, correct? I put the same brand (30amps) on my trailer, thinking of doing the same for my truck like yours, such a good idea.

 

It’s a 100 amp circuit breaker

 

Has it ever kicked off while starting? If not, sounds like a good one to use. I hate wire harness fires, especially when you cant do anything to stop them. You have a solution to that.

 

Never. It is not hooked up in any way to the starter. The only thing it protects is my blue sea fuse panel. It’s nice to be able to cut all power to the fuse panel

 

Anthony- what did you mount your Blue Seas switch to? Mine’s not too secure.

 

I made a custom mount out of some scrap metal and it is bolted with one bolt that is for th radiator. It’s actually very secure!

 

Sounds good! Im probably paranoid, but will be adding a plastic bottom (scrap piece of lexan) as insulation insurance in the event one of the nuts get loose and drops down with one of the hot cables to prevent them from accidentally touching the grounded metal base.

 

Yesterday I installed this in a Warn hidden winch bumper, everything went well.

The winch has a red off/on power switch on the top, so you can just keep it off when not using it.

Correct me if I’m wrong