SMITTYBILT Gen2 XRC and X20 Winches

Drr... Thank you for the post... What was the background on it? Brand new? How many times did you use it before hand?

 

It wasn't brand new, I had used it a handful of times before, a couple of hard pulls but nothing it couldn't handle. Maybe that's another good thing to remember to do with these (or any) winches: preventative maintenance checks and service (PMCS). Check the drum anchor when you respool the wire (which should be done after any hard pulls), clean/tighten electrical connections, etc.

I never changed the grease out in my XRC, which probably shortened its lifespan. Personally I don't think anyone should have to immediately start doing services on a brand new winch (even a $300 one), but apparently I was wrong. Regardless, the whole situation has given me a wariness of Smittybilt products (or chinese products in general).

 

Thanks for the input! I just feel that with proper maintance it can help but I cant justify sending x3 the amount for a winch I may use once in a while since ill be going to medical school soon... plus I have other recovery items that can help with the winch.. ie ARB snatch straps snatch block and ordered maxxtraxs...

 

There's nothing wrong with starting out with a less expensive option, and upgrading when/if you feel you need to. I highly recommend a come-along as well - a hi-lift jack can be used for this purpose with the right hardware. Or just find a buddy you can convince to buy a bunch of fancy recovery equipment - I think that's my new strategy.

 

DRR... I think im that guy with all the fancy recovery gear...

I got the ARB premium recovery bag thing for a steal and the hi jack (black friday!) haha

I just wish like every other tw member i can wheel more and use this stuff to its potential...

 

That's some nice gear you got there, Crazy. I have that compressor for my locker, it is pretty awesome. I don't know if there's much wheeling to do in Florida, but there's plenty of places to put all that stuff to use around here, let me know if you're up this way and we'll hit some trails.

 

Im from cali moved down here for school. trust me im missing cali for that reason!

I had all that shipped from cali just in case i head up to Tennessee to visit friends that way. But yeah maybe next year ill do a east coast wheeling trip up the the New England area...

 

I have used my X20 4 times now. Two of the times I used a snatch block to winch my truck and another truck completely sideways. I have had zero issues and I love the wireless remote. I hope the winch continues to perform the way it has.

 

bump
did my research and then found this post.
I have planned to get the smittybilt x20 10k synthetic over the xrc9.5 synthetic
I have chosen this because of several key elements

1. the x20 has 2 more years of electronic warranty
2. not not get another 500lb and better water resistance for $100
3. wireless is bad ass and you can use a wire if it fails. so u win both ways

my only questions that I would love help with is wiring
i am seeing guys run the solenoids to their engine bay.

I like this idea because it keep it dry.
but how much wire are you guys preordering?
the link that was posted to order it from ebay was expensive, if you could post the lengths and size and some closer pics of wiring setup that would be awesome

 

I just did a remote install of my 10K X2O with synthetic rope in a 2010 Tacoma, mounted in my Relentless bumper, with the solenoid installed under the hood, just behind the fuse box. Smittybilt gives you 25sq/mm power wire (this equates to thicker than 4 AWG but less than 2 AWG (close to ~3 AWG if that was a thing) as the stock provided wire in lengths from one foot (specifically (3) one foot lengths) to 6 feet (specifically (2) 6 foot lengths). One of the 6 foot lengths (red) is on the solenoid intended to go to battery power and one is packed loose (black), which intended as from winch to black battery post.

You will need 2 NEW wires of 2 AWG (4 AWG is too thin as it is thinner than stock), 105C-125C rated jacket material (not 85C rated indoor rated wire with nylon coating). You will reuse both of the provided 6 foot lengths. Lengths of new wires will be (1) 6 foot and (1) 4 foot 8 inches to 5 foot. The new wires need ring connections at both ends. You will wire the solenoid to winch as per the instructions , but with the following changes.

You will swap around every wire on the solenoid unit except the small thin wire so remove the cover.

Only swap one wire set at a time, take a photo to remember what wire was wired where before moving.

You will need longer wires for all the short ones from the winch to the controller.

The unit comes with 2 wires to go from solenoid to battery that are 6 ft long, these will be removed and reused as long cables from solenoid to winch. Which one is used where does not matter. Swapping the lettered stickers makes things easier later.

One of the short wires will be removed and go from the solenoid to the battery power (red) instead of from the solenoid to the winch. Two short wires will be thrown away. Pull all the protective jackets from solenoid side of the short wires you are throwing away, it is heat / abrasion proof rubberized cover and the new wires can reuse these on the solenoid side. The easiest start is to simply swap the short red and long red cables.

Be aware the factory manual contains pics of both new and older model winches and that can be confusing as far as what wires are in what order on the diagrams. Be sure to look at the pics/diagrams to see which wires are what, ensure the picture of a solenoid with wires coming out you see in the instruction manual is of YOUR model winch, refer to your pics showing which letters/colors are attached to which posts on the solenoid with cover off, and only swap one set at a time. Again, swapping the lettered stickers helps later on.

The small thin wire for the grounding of the solenoid goes to a common ground and to the battery or just straight to the battery (black). It does not go to the winch as in the diagram as it is just ground and now close to battery and not the winch. As you can see by looking at the instructions, it goes with another wire from the winch to the black battery connection so the end it is attached to (winch or battery) does not matter. It stays in the same spot on the solenoid side.

The new winch to ground wire (black)needs to be replaced with your shorter new wire (5' length), the longer new wire (6' length) will be used as a winch to solenoid wire, along with the two reused long wires. Don't forget to swap the rubber boots over from the short wires to the long ones for the winch side connections and have them placed according to color on the appropriate cables.

The wires will run from the winch, behind it, to the driver side head light and pass though the hole provided that already has wires running through it. The 5' winch to (black) battery terminal will stop there. The other three wires (6' long) run to the winch solenoid, thus the required 6 feet.

In my case, I did not want to wait for custom wires or shipping and was in a hurry. I went to Autozone and made two new wires from parts I bought there. I bought 2 Duralast Gold Battery cables GT272B ($19.95) and GT256B ($18.49). These were field expedients to make my own wires. They are 2 AWG battery cables, multi-stranded copper core, with one end with ring connection and the other a standard battery terminal, 72" and 56" lengths respectively. They are low strand count, multi-strand copper wire. They are slightly thicker copper than the factory Smittybilt cables, but of a lower strand count (about half factory), so less flexible. They have a thicker, more abrasion resistant jacket than the factory cables but are 105C rated instead of 125C of the factory Smittybilt cables. They are essentially the same for all intents and purposes. You will cut off the battery cable end, strip back a half inch of insulation and insert it into a 2 gauge copper 5/16" ring terminal. I bought Doorman 86177 (2) pack for $3.50. This is an all copper 5/16" ring terminal with an open end for 2 AWG wire at Autozone. Push the connector over the wire till it sits just over the jacket, then hammer it flat on the concrete with much aggression, to ensure a solid connection, or use a larger crimper if you have that luxury. 1/2" shrink wrap will JUST fit over the ring terminal and wire after the fact, as will the rubberized ends from the solenoid side of the short factory wires you are throwing away.

Shrink wrap the ends near the terminal and slide the rubber boots on the appropriate ends.

Once you wire up the winch and solenoid, you will need to zip tie the wires to the metal supports to prevent them from touching the radiator. 3 zip ties should suffice.

Optional is 3/8" split wire conduit (20 feet) to aid in abrasion resistance and dielectric grease on the connections on both ends for corrosion resistance. Also you can cut the wires to the red wired/wireless switch on the solenoid and reroute the wires to a new switch inside the cab. This allows you to pull out the wireless remote, flip the switch to wireless and not have to open the hood if you want to use the winch wirelessly.

$42.50 for my new wires to remote mount was not bad for full in store prices.

 

Installing the control box on my XRC. What do they want you to screw into to secure the back of the controller? They're threads on the bracket of the controller, but just putting screws in that won't secure it at all.
The Instructions blow. Has anyone mounted this over the cable yet?