Winch Wiring
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 24,686
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From: South Georgia/East Florida
Depends on how much the place wants to make off it. Lowes in my neighborhood has it on big wooden rolls, the ones you see people making into coffee tables and such and are more than happy to spool you off however much you need at the "bargain price" of $4.39 per foot in 2 gauge...
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Professional
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 160
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From: MA
wow, i was at home depot yesterday thats where i bought the 4 gauge for 98 cents a foot, i looked at the 2 gauge it was about 1.69 a foot.. when i have the cash i will grab it bc the setup I have is a PTA and like hammer said not the best. i am not looking foward to crawling under my truck it is colder than usual even for a new england winter tommorow is a high 12 low of 0! I would use my uncles garage bc it has a little propane heater but my project mustang is in there....
when i get a chance i am going to take a ride to tax free NH only about 15min from me and get the connectors from the welding house i use.
when i get a chance i am going to take a ride to tax free NH only about 15min from me and get the connectors from the welding house i use.
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Professional
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 160
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From: MA
ok so the warm weather is here i am itching to pull some stumps! i am gonna do some maintenece on the truck and while i am under it i am going to run some string and get a general route and measurement of how much wire i will need. here is a dumb question.... when i route the negative cable do i have to run it all the way from the battery to the back of the truck with the positive or can i use a shorter piece for the negative wire and ground it to the frame? thanks mike
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 24,686
Likes: 21
From: South Georgia/East Florida
Although it's perfectly fine to ground most things to chassis (frame), it's not a good idea to do so with a winch. True, a battery is already grounded to the frame, which is why you can ground most items to the frame, a stock ground strap from your fender to the battery is almost never stout enough as winches can easily draw 400+ amps If you don't have enough capacity in your grounding cable your winch will not pull it's capacity, in addiiton it will get much hotter, much faster.
Check the ground between the battery and chassis, if it's not as thick as the negative cable for the winch, either replace it with the same 2 gauge you are using for the winch or ground the winch directly to the battery
Check the ground between the battery and chassis, if it's not as thick as the negative cable for the winch, either replace it with the same 2 gauge you are using for the winch or ground the winch directly to the battery
Last edited by HammerZ71; Mar 19, 2011 at 08:57 AM.
