winch recomendations for trailhunter?

[timetoeatpotatoes]

Hey all, just picked my truck up over the weekend and a winch is one of the first things I'm looking to figure out.

anyone have any recommended winch setups yet? Id like to try to keep the sensors working for dynamic cruise control.

What load rating? 10,000 lbs enough or should I bump it up?

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[Bcphoto3]

I just picked my TH up this weekend also.. I have ordered the CBIOffroad Covert front bumper.. Keeps sensors and fog lamps.. Putting in a Warn VR10S winch in..

 

[vberber]

I just picked my TH up this weekend also.. I have ordered the CBIOffroad Covert front bumper.. Keeps sensors and fog lamps.. Putting in a Warn VR10S winch in..

Can you share how you are wiring your wench on your hybrid?

 

[Franko Manini]

Can you share how you are wiring your wench on your hybrid?

I'm also very curious as to how this gets done.

 

[Bcphoto3]

As soon as Bumper and winch gets to installer and I’m able to go over and have them do the work.. I will take notes and video and stills of installation..

 

[StreeTaco]

I went with the RCI Pike bumper and a Warn 10s Platinum weench.. the Pike is the most attractive to me, cutting the bumper was pretty easy and straight forward. Wiring the winch was the fun part,, but I literally had fun doing it. Made my own harness from 2 Gauge copper welding cable and some expandable nylon loom, soldered some battery connections on, easy does it. Ran the wires from battery, thru grommet and then under the truck via top of the frame rail, and up the exterior firewall near brake pump. At this point direct connection to winch is possible but I opted to install a 500 amp relay between the battery and winch, it’s actuated by the Aux 3 button on dash. This will allow me to keep the power to the winch turned off until I need it, as well as deleting the chance of any parasitic draw that could drain the 12v battery. Also, the Platinum series winches from Warn feature a wireless free spool feature that eliminates the need to manually deactivate the free spool clutch.. no need for reaching thru bumper or raising the hood to turn the clutch lever.

 

[Ewok]

Can you post some pics of how you did your setup/wiring? Looking at doing this is near future.

 

[24Trailhunter]

I went with the RCI Pike bumper and a Warn 10s Platinum weench.. the Pike is the most attractive to me, cutting the bumper was pretty easy and straight forward. Wiring the winch was the fun part,, but I literally had fun doing it. Made my own harness from 2 Gauge copper welding cable and some expandable nylon loom, soldered some battery connections on, easy does it. Ran the wires from battery, thru grommet and then under the truck via top of the frame rail, and up the exterior firewall near brake pump. At this point direct connection to winch is possible but I opted to install a 500 amp relay between the battery and winch, it’s actuated by the Aux 3 button on dash. This will allow me to keep the power to the winch turned off until I need it, as well as deleting the chance of any parasitic draw that could drain the 12v battery. Also, the Platinum series winches from Warn feature a wireless free spool feature that eliminates the need to manually deactivate the free spool clutch.. no need for reaching thru bumper or raising the hood to turn the clutch lever.

Were you able to take pics of your install to share? I'm looking to do something very similar. Any instructions or videos or pictures would be a huge help!

 

[StreeTaco]

Were you able to take pics of your install to share? I'm looking to do something very similar. Any instructions or videos or pictures would be a huge help!

No, sorry I didn’t. You’re welcome to ask me questions.

 

[tacorancher]

I went with the RCI Pike bumper and a Warn 10s Platinum weench.. the Pike is the most attractive to me, cutting the bumper was pretty easy and straight forward. Wiring the winch was the fun part,, but I literally had fun doing it. Made my own harness from 2 Gauge copper welding cable and some expandable nylon loom, soldered some battery connections on, easy does it. Ran the wires from battery, thru grommet and then under the truck via top of the frame rail, and up the exterior firewall near brake pump. At this point direct connection to winch is possible but I opted to install a 500 amp relay between the battery and winch, it’s actuated by the Aux 3 button on dash. This will allow me to keep the power to the winch turned off until I need it, as well as deleting the chance of any parasitic draw that could drain the 12v battery. Also, the Platinum series winches from Warn feature a wireless free spool feature that eliminates the need to manually deactivate the free spool clutch.. no need for reaching thru bumper or raising the hood to turn the clutch lever.

I wish I had any sort of skills like this

 

[Mjsimmons]

No, sorry I didn’t. You’re welcome to ask

No, sorry I didn’t. You’re welcome to ask me questions.

Do you have a hybrid Tacoma?

 

[StreeTaco]

Yes I do, hence the specialty wiring.

 

[Mjsimmons]

Yes I do, hence the specialty wiring.

Copy that. Did you wire both positive and negative directly to the battery set or did you run the negative to a separare ground point? Did you use the aux connect dongle that came with your rig?

 

[StreeTaco]

Yep, wired both connections directly to battery to provide the cleanest, most direct voltage. I used the Aux 3 switch to activate a relay to provide power to the winch.

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