[Xtreme]

Has anyone mounted an internal winch? I am having a think about mounting a winch in the centre behind the 2 front seats (would put in a roll cage and probably mount it on a plate off that as well as through the floor to something) and wondered if anyone has done a similar set up?

Obviously safety is important (would not like it ripping out and trying to push past me on its way through the engine bay!) so thats why I thought doing a full cage and mounting it off that would be best.

Also how is the rope run? is it ok to bend up some tube for it to run through and have it exit out the front where I want it? The only problems I see are:

1. How many bends I will need to run the rope through to get it to exit out the front.
2. It would appear it will need to route under the motor and so its open to the tube getting bent/pinched from rocks.

Those are my only 2 concerns at this point but perhaps others have some other information on this kind of set up.

I have a Runva 9500lb winch its a good winch but that size is fairly heavy and I would like to lighten up the rig. My original plan was that on the front and a smaller lighter winch on the rear bar so if the center mount idea does not work out I will look into that option again.

[Jezza86]

how often do you need to use your winch?

[Xtreme]

I have not needed it very often only a few times, but I am starting to hit some harder tracks, alot of the time I am wheeling solo so its a pain when I do get stuck so the winch has bailed me out the few times I did get bogged otherwise I would probably not put one on at all and just pack a hand winch

[Jezza86]

seams like an extremely complex and prone to failure way of mounting a winch plus you will loose 2M of cable off the drum in mounting it like this.

your weakest points will be the 8 body mounts. winch needs to be attached to the chassis. you could always mount 2 winches, one to your rear bar if you reinforce it.

if you get 2 new winches, pull them appart, grease and seal them properly, and mount the cables properly you should have something more reliable then a internal winch, and quicker then a hand winch incase you get yourself into something propper mesed up/urgent recovery.

[pezz]

if i were to run a mid mounted winch it would be be chassy mounted, rope heading to the rear first then back to the front,
that way its single line pull forwards and dual line pull rear, alloy wear rings as guides, running in tube would be prone to caking up with dirt/mud ect

its a lot of work to package it really for a play rig...

have you considered building a cradle for the winch and just having a receiver both front and rear that you can pin it into when required?
also have a storage receiver for it in the cabin so its not loose when stowed..

[Xtreme]

I had looked at the cradle mounts before but when I have been really stuck it was just under the top of the bonnet in mud like soup and although I had to get into that anyway to get the winch rope out I would have had a hell of alot of trouble trying to put in a cradle mounted winch wether it was front or back.

The reason I am looking at internal mounted winch was because of the AC the winch and bar stick out a fair bit and lower the approach angle. I am also looking at making a better front bar with the winch mounted a bit higher which would help out a bit as well but I just wanted to think other options as well.

I do not mind losing the 2m as its 30m of dyneema rope on it anyway and I have extension straps etc.

Pezz can you explain to me the single line pull forward dual line rear how that all works? do you mean the winch would be able to pull the car both ways?

[Red89]

The rope would run from the winch to a pulley at the rear next to a fairlead and then to the fairlead at the front. When you need a rear winch you feed the rope out through the rear fairlead and it will act like a double line pull. When you need a forward winch you pull the rope out the front fairlead like normal.

[atari4x4]

how do you seal the hole where the rope exits the body & then reinforce the body enough to withstand the loads?

have a look for pics of cj's lwb sierra, that had a rear high mount winch on it, there have been others but as pezz says they're all chassis mounted.

[pezz]

Xtreme wrote:

Pezz can you explain to me the single line pull forward dual line rear how that all works? do you mean the winch would be able to pull the car both ways?

Red89 wrote:

The rope would run from the winch to a pulley at the rear next to a fairlead and then to the fairlead at the front. When you need a rear winch you feed the rope out through the rear fairlead and it will act like a double line pull. When you need a forward winch you pull the rope out the front fairlead like normal.

^^^^this^^^^

[Blkfxx]

Red89 wrote:

The rope would run from the winch to a pulley at the rear next to a fairlead and then to the fairlead at the front. When you need a rear winch you feed the rope out through the rear fairlead and it will act like a double line pull. When you need a forward winch you pull the rope out the front fairlead like normal.

Would it not be double line pull out the front and single line pull out the rear? Or have I confused myself

[pezz]

picture the winch rope heading to the rear of the 4wd, then going around the pulley(fixed to the 4wd at the rear) and the the rope coming out to the front,
when winching forwards the rear pulling is simply guiding the rope, and is still fixed to the 4x4..

when winching rearwards, attach the hook on the front end to a rated point on the front bar..
now pull the rear bight of rope out the rear hawse and connect to the anchor with the pulley.
as the pulley is now attached to the anchor, not the 4x4 is in now a double line pull

[Blkfxx]

Thanks pezz I was thinking about it all wrong.

[Xtreme]

So it would seem that it is actually fairly functional to do (as long as it can be mounted strong enough) as instead of needing to run 2 winches creating additional weight, I can pull forward and back off the one, and the weight is low and centered in the vehicle, the winch is protected (although I have dragged it through hell and back and am happy with the winch it appears well made and has a limited lifetime warranty). and I dont need to change anything around to pull either way.

Assuming its done that way I would lose about 3.5m off the drum which I can live with

Its mentioned that running it through a tube you run the risk of it caking up with mud - would this matter? I would think that mud caking it up would not be strong enough to stop the winch winding, and when its winding it would be scraping the mud out. This means that it could need something to clean the rope a bit before it comes back through the car and onto the drum.

If I was not to run it through a tube what would I do? I have seen some run just the rope but I would feel like it is vulnerable to damage all the time like that from heat, friction and rocks.

Does anyone have a suggested path to run it?

[Red89]

This is a Patrol ute and mounted to the chassis, doing it with the body on will be a bitch and you will need to make a hatch into the cab so you can turn the free spool lever. Having the tube caked with mud will fray the rope pretty quickly and put unneeded strain on the winch.

[Xtreme]

Sweet photos thanks makes it alot easier to understand.

I will have to wait till I get back to have a look and see what kind of ways I could route the rope but it looks interesting and is as fun a project as any and something a little different. I see the chassis mount system my original idea as I said was on a bracket welded to the roll cage mounted in the centre of the car behind the 2 front seats. If the roll cage was mounted through directly to the chassis would this all tie in to make a good enough mounting point as it would bypass the body mounts that way. I am not too fussed about putting holes in the car to run the bar work through. I could use tube inside the cab sections to route the cable so there are no pulleys in there, and then just run the pullies where it goes externally.

If it is suitable to mount it as I describe, then

Using the pulley system like that means alot of route options.

[Xtreme]

After looking into it further I dont think I am going to do it - mainly because of the loads put into the chassis and crossmembers, its alot of work re-enforcing and even then it could still twist. I think its a good idea on a truggy or something that you can make the frame how you want but for the work in it compared to running a lighter smaller winch in a rear bar I think it looks like I am going to go that route - dissapointing though I would have like to see this work. I might revisit the idea at a later date if I am in a position to go wild on the Jimny. My winch bar is one I fabricated myself so its pretty much as close in as I can get I even cut a bit out of the front of the car to get the winch to sit half inch closer in and get more approach angle! All good though I have another bar design in mind that will lift it higher and give me more approach angle I might even get a different smaller winch (Runva 8000XP rock crawler) and see what I can do with that as well. -

[31zook]

I just don't understand why?

[atari4x4]

read his other threads?

[Xtreme]

The reason why is because if done right I think its a better option then 2 winches. Just more work then I can do at this stage to run a central winch. Also as stated better approach angle with nothing on the front.

[Xtreme]

atari4x4 wrote:

read his other threads?

Yes? I ask questions because I dont know the answers - some things may be suitable for me to do some may not. I am not bothered if you think the questions I ask are a bit off center just finding out what things I think I would like to have a go of in terms of modding the car - wont be everyones cup of tea but it will be mine.

[got_bar_work]

I would he cutting a big hole in the floor and mounting it to chassis.
Then build a hump that bolts over it .
Having it exposed in the car is dangerous. If u snap a rope it could fly up and hit some one .

[droverdave]

I think putting a winch inside a car is a very bad idea.

Those photos above with the winch mounted to the chassis is very different because it still has the cabin to protect the occupants.

Not to mention if the winch wire/rope gets muddy, you are bringing stinky muddy wire into the cabin. No thanks.

and you need to open the doors to use it, what happens if you are stuck in a situation where you cant open the door, or you can open the door but it will let alot of water mud in?

Why don't you just put the winch on the front bull bar? or if you want to be different for the sake of being different, fabricate up a rear bar and put the winch on that?

I think the number 1 priority on winch location is that it needs to be outside.....

[Jezza86]

it appears OP wants no front overhang so he can climb steps dead on, but keep the AC

[31zook]

If that what he wants it would be similar work to just push the diff forward 1ft and have that.

[atari4x4]

just bob the front clip & be done with it.

[31zook]

Would loose the A/C.

Don't be stupid gus.

[atari4x4]

31zook wrote:

Would loose the A/C.

Don't be stupid gus.

roof mount the condenser with a scoop to channel the air?

[Xtreme]

Yes want to keep the AC at this stage.

Yes want to keep or improve approach angle. - I did ask on here about the legalities of moving the front diff forward and as long as the tyres are not outside of a covering it would appear that is ok.

Would be happy to move the front axle forward depending on the cost and work/engineering to be done.

Have discarded the idea of putting it in the back mounted through roll cage.\
Happy to mount it in the chassis if there is room, and cut a hole in the floor to have access/make a cover etc.
Not worried about mud coming inside its painted in ute liner and is easy to hose out after trips.

Also looking at the spare- if I keep this on the outside ( to keep the back seats in) then I will most likely incorporate a winch in the rear bar. If I move the spare inside and get rid of the seats then I might try to do the center mount.

I will have to look at work involved for bracing the chassis etc to run the center mount and see if its worth doing it, hopefully it is I would like to give it a go, if not 2 winches will be the answer.

[Xtreme]

[quote="droverdave"]I think putting a winch inside a car is a very bad idea.



and you need to open the doors to use it, what happens if you are stuck in a situation where you cant open the door, or you can open the door but it will let alot of water mud in?

If you are in a situation where you can open the doors to get to the winch then how will you operate one that is located outside the car on the front or back?

The design as suggested on here is mounting it to the chassis with an opening to get to it through the floor. Therefore you can always get to it from inside the car.

[got_bar_work]

U should only need to get to the winch for servicing if it's set up right. If u wind it in under load it should always spool nice.
I read u need 900mm from the winch to the first guide to have it spool right.