Where to Mount Winch Solenoid?

Hey guys,
Finally got my CBI T3 bumper. My winch, an xbull 1300 fits, but due to the center support bracket for the grill, the solenoid does not. Anyone with a winch and aftermarket bumper care to chime in? Looking for a safe spot to relocate it too where it won't interfere with the radiator, power steering cooler, etc.

 

I have put quite a few in the Cab in all makes of Trucks out of the weather and out of the way for the most.

It is an option there are plenty of places you can find under the hood with some looking.

 

Hmm could be a good option. Did you have to get custom brackets for them? Or is there a decent stock mounting point? Thanks man

 

I make the custom brackets if needed

Make the new cables if needed as well.

 

@Foster Imposter

You got any pictures of where we ended up putting yours? Unfortunately I didn't save any.

As for OP what we did is while we had the grill out to install the CBI bumper drilled into the lower and upper core support installed some nutserts and custom fabricated some brackets out of aluminum and stainless that I had.

If you're willing to extend the wires which can be expensive based off the cost of copper alone given the gauge you would need probably 2/0 you can put it nearly anywhere, a good place would be in the engine bay either behind the headlights if you've got space or up towards the fire wall behind the air filter box.

It's good looking bumper because of how snugly it fits and contours the front end and clears everything but the downside of that is there really is no space inside of it.

 

I've used this during an install before, it's a nice piece.

https://shop.tandemoffroad.com/coll...r-mount-3rd-gen-tacoma-winch-controller-mount

 

This is the best picture I could get without taking off the grill.
(Almost the same location as @EatSleepTacos).

I'll add that this seemingly made no difference in coolant temps even though it does partially block the radiator.

 

Hello,

I don't know if this is an option on your truck but this is what I came up with:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ux-panel-and-more.712981/page-3#post-26477405

 

My Smitty controller is currently zip tied to the center support, looks pretty Hoosier but didn’t come loose on 2000 mi road trip. Like to move it to the left side, several existing holes, it’ll take a new harness, kinda bugs me to block radiator. Used the passenger side space to mount ARB twin and air tank.

 

My setup: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-your-investment.619464/page-16#post-24477405

 

This is what I did. Uses factory threaded holes on top and a nut and bolt on one of the existing holes at the bottom. Required no modification to the provided smittibilt cables.

 

Nice. Thats the bracket I'd like to use. Link?

 

Its just a few pieces of 1" x 1/8" flat bar that I cut and welded up. If you don't have a welder the whole thing could easily be bolted with some flat head screws to join the 4 corners of the 1" bar.

 

I fabricated a bracket on the radiator support to which I mounted mine. Took more effort to attach that thing than doing the winch install!

 

I need to paint it black, but here's how I did mine. I had no additional slack in the cables, otherwise, I would have put it a bit higher. It's a simple, easy solution.