Dadnatron
Veteran Member
Well... I went to the Harbor Freight sidewalk sale today.
As is often the case when I go, I come back with much more than I intended... today was no different. In the "Open Box" section of the store, there was one of the 12,000lb winches, currently on sale for $290 but usually, $399. It is a bare winch, ie there is no literature, no controller, not even a hook on the cable. It was listed as Open Box at $255 and as I was looking at a set of Lugnut Impact sockets (reg $69 - ultimately $15 with one metric socket missing) the manager walked by and said 'Everything on the Open Box rack is 50% lowest price'.
This began me wondering... whether I should take a chance on that winch. It would be $125 and after pulling it out and seeing that all it was missing was the peripheral stuff, I decided to take the chance. When I got to the checkout, they ended up giving it to me for $80 and to this writing, I'm not exactly sure why. But, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I thanked them and loaded it up, along with my new 'Intended purchase' 29gal Air Compressor.
So now, I have a 12,000lb winch without wiring, shackle, or controller. (see pics) There is a control 'lever' on the winch itself for forward/back. And for the money, I'm OK turning a handle rather than pushing a button. I'd like to purchase a remote controller,but am unsure of options at this moment. I haven't had a chance to do much digging into controllers... mostly because I am unsure about the basic wiring. But, I would like to know what options I have for wiring it to my trailer.
Do I need to use a separate battery than my truck? This is the first question, given that these are most often attached to a front bumper and I doubt they hook it to a separate battery.
I suspect it draws some pretty good amperage, so I don't know whether it can be wired through the 7pin trailer wiring. And if I need to get a battery... I need help figuring out the wiring. There are 3 live 'posts' which I assume are 'live, neutral, and ground' but I am not sure. They are color coded as can be seen in the closeup pic. Red, Black, and Yellow.
So...
1. Battery or wired to truck through 7pin?
2. Thoughts on best way to wire it to power and options for controllers. Remote attached or wireless would be fine.(I see wireless for $15, but I suspect I have to wire them into an existing controller which doesn't exist in my garage at this point.
3. Given this thing weighs about 60lbs as is and by the time I get it wired up etc, it will weigh more, I suspect I'll mount this permanently to my Gooseneck. If there are any issues, advice, etc. I'd appreciate it. I read another thread showing different connections and it seems as though most people are hooking it to the trailer with 2" receivers. I don't know how this would work for this winch, but, I'm certainly open to it. I just think that between the battery (if one is needed) and the winch, it is going to be running close to 100lbs. And while it wouldn't be an issue now, I know that in a few years, I would be leaving it at home, because it was too hard to install.
4. Any advice on placement would be helpful. Certainly bed level would be preferred, however, being a GN, the space at bed level is reserved for 'not knocking off the fenders of my truck in tight turns'. I was thinking about mounting it on the top of the GN and either running the cable through a pully at bed level or simply pulling from the GN top location.
I'd appreciate your thoughts on this subject.
As is often the case when I go, I come back with much more than I intended... today was no different. In the "Open Box" section of the store, there was one of the 12,000lb winches, currently on sale for $290 but usually, $399. It is a bare winch, ie there is no literature, no controller, not even a hook on the cable. It was listed as Open Box at $255 and as I was looking at a set of Lugnut Impact sockets (reg $69 - ultimately $15 with one metric socket missing) the manager walked by and said 'Everything on the Open Box rack is 50% lowest price'.
This began me wondering... whether I should take a chance on that winch. It would be $125 and after pulling it out and seeing that all it was missing was the peripheral stuff, I decided to take the chance. When I got to the checkout, they ended up giving it to me for $80 and to this writing, I'm not exactly sure why. But, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I thanked them and loaded it up, along with my new 'Intended purchase' 29gal Air Compressor.
So now, I have a 12,000lb winch without wiring, shackle, or controller. (see pics) There is a control 'lever' on the winch itself for forward/back. And for the money, I'm OK turning a handle rather than pushing a button. I'd like to purchase a remote controller,but am unsure of options at this moment. I haven't had a chance to do much digging into controllers... mostly because I am unsure about the basic wiring. But, I would like to know what options I have for wiring it to my trailer.
Do I need to use a separate battery than my truck? This is the first question, given that these are most often attached to a front bumper and I doubt they hook it to a separate battery.
I suspect it draws some pretty good amperage, so I don't know whether it can be wired through the 7pin trailer wiring. And if I need to get a battery... I need help figuring out the wiring. There are 3 live 'posts' which I assume are 'live, neutral, and ground' but I am not sure. They are color coded as can be seen in the closeup pic. Red, Black, and Yellow.
So...
1. Battery or wired to truck through 7pin?
2. Thoughts on best way to wire it to power and options for controllers. Remote attached or wireless would be fine.(I see wireless for $15, but I suspect I have to wire them into an existing controller which doesn't exist in my garage at this point.
3. Given this thing weighs about 60lbs as is and by the time I get it wired up etc, it will weigh more, I suspect I'll mount this permanently to my Gooseneck. If there are any issues, advice, etc. I'd appreciate it. I read another thread showing different connections and it seems as though most people are hooking it to the trailer with 2" receivers. I don't know how this would work for this winch, but, I'm certainly open to it. I just think that between the battery (if one is needed) and the winch, it is going to be running close to 100lbs. And while it wouldn't be an issue now, I know that in a few years, I would be leaving it at home, because it was too hard to install.
4. Any advice on placement would be helpful. Certainly bed level would be preferred, however, being a GN, the space at bed level is reserved for 'not knocking off the fenders of my truck in tight turns'. I was thinking about mounting it on the top of the GN and either running the cable through a pully at bed level or simply pulling from the GN top location.
I'd appreciate your thoughts on this subject.
and it is disconnected except when I want to use it. That may keep some vandal disappointed.