4Runner winch install, V.2

[Noltz]

So I got this winch from my wife a few years ago. Had it mounted on my old truck, got sold, but the winch made its way back to me through a recent trade. She'd been badly abused, ripped off a truck, and run over... but still fixable. Since I don't have a dedicated trail truck right now, and the Champion just doesn't have the reliability I desire for off road use, I decided to mount it to my daily driver for use in pulling ... well, whatever needs pulling!

The last time I saw it, she looked like this. It was on my '91 4R, 3" BL and 35" tires.


I got the winch in a tangled mess. I removed the remnants down to the core motor, drum and cam assemblies. Cleaned up the terminals, and started dry-fitting it. I had previously welded a 2" box section, plus gussets, to the bottom of the winch plate as a mount for the factory Toyota plow bolts. These are 12mm fine threaded bolts welded into the front crossmember. While I never had a failure (including some axle dragging stucks) in the last truck, it was an issue I wanted to address. On this build, the plate would be welded on, and that was done by Andy @ Mud Bros. Before that could happen, I needed to grind off the frame horns.







Unfortunately my camera card seems to have eaten all the pictures of the actual trimming and fitting of the bumper while at Mud Bros. Sorry. Much of the winch sits behind the front bumper, making for a very clean install. I've been complimented with several "Is that factory?" queries . I will take a better picture in the morning... these don't do justice.

[Noltz]

With the physical mounting completed, I now needed a way to control the unit. Duncan of Titan Off-Road came through with a set of solenoids.
They needed somewhere to live, so the battery hold down bar was removed and a bracket cut, welded and tapped. Once mounted, I fabricated some bus bars, and figured out how to wire the solenoids.











Electrical connections were made using 2ga welding wire from PA, plus the original power cable from the unit. The terminals were sourced from Sayal Electronics in Burlington for $1.25 a piece, vs. $5 each from every other vendor. Pure copper, and 3x thicker than what you find at CT.

[Noltz]

The remote was the last item up to be finished. The socket end was destroyed on the old solenoid housing. A new one was backordered, with no guarantee on when it'd arrive. I decided to use a good, solid trailer connector instead. Prepping, cut hole, drill and tap hold-down bolts.









Take the trailer connector, and put a weatherproof connector on the back. This lets me take the bumper off later without cutting any wires. Mounted the connector and started double-checking all my wiring. Then added the other connection to the remote wires.









And then it's done! I have a nice, clean installed winch, ready to go any time. All the connections are soldered and heat-shrunk, then loomed. I'm quite happy with the install, but I'll get a final picture tomorrow when there's daylight. Thanks to Andy & Duncan for their help.

[JPhoenix]

Wow, cool!

Good work, I like the attention to detail. That trailer wiring plug is a nice touch.

[BadCompany]

lots of work involved and looks good man.
went through the same thing on a r50. good on you for even trying.

[RBJeepThing]

Good write up.