By: The_Ronster Mood: feel like wheelin Date: 03/14/2008 13:58:56 Music: None

After waiting for what seemed like weeks for these to get here, I had to start the install right after the delivery man left the door. It is a ready to install kit when it got here, but I wanted to make a few modifications along the way for ease of maintenace in the future.

This is the basic kit minus the hardware that came with it. The panel and switched were high quality, and the wire was way longer than what I needed for the jeep

A view from the back before I started hacking things up

After reading a few other sites installs, I decided to install bullet connectors just in case I have to remove the panel in the future. It wasnt really necessary because there was plenty of wire, but it allows for a cleaner install in the end.

The kit comes with instructions as well as a template for cutting out your panel opening. I removed the panel from the jeep to make things easier, and traced the template. I cut the inside of the lines with a dremel which worked out perfect. On jeeps, be careful if you mount your plate in this location. You need to stay as far left as possible to avoid hitting the metal brace behind the panel, and you cant go to high without risking catching the panel fastener. In this picture, I had about a 1/8 gap on the top and right side.

As you can see, its a pretty tight fit, expecially next to the panel screw hole, but it does fit. I elected to use rivets here instead of the nutserts included with the kit. I fugured if I cut a hole, its probably a permenant thing, so the panel would stay with the jeep, no need to remove it...

All mounted up and connected in the inside. This was where I made my big mistake and connected my panel power wire to the ignition accessory wire. I had to many amps pulling off the line due to my auto start and seat heaters already installed on this switch and I popped the fuse under the hood. A tirp to Schucks, and I was back on track. I ran a wire directly from the battery and installed a 20A fuse in line to the panel. Problem solved for good (hopefully )

I made another change to the wiring harness at the winch. Instead of using the disconnect option which came with the kit, I cut the terminals off and went with a regular hoop terminal. If you do this, make sure to install ther terminals with the insert end down to allow water to drain away from the wires to prevent corrosion.

All installed (minus the last minute terminal movement as stated above on the red wire). You can see the 3 new wires connected to the solenoids. All winches are different, so make sure to break out a meter to make sure you get the right connections for your in and out signals. I mistakenly connected the ground to the handheld remote chassis ground and didnt have any power from the interior panel. Once that was corrected, it checked good and everything was buttoned up.

The total install time was about 2 hours. If I had done it when I wasnt tired and thinking straight, maybe an hour and a half. You have the option to continue to use the handheld remote if you want to, but now you dont have to drive with the remote sticking through the window and the cord getting wrapped around the steering wheel like someone I know