DIY winch cradle for GU alloy bar.

Thought I'd share a few pics of the build process to help anyone out there that might want to try their hand at making one.
My original idea was to buy the premade one to suit the bar but jff45 led me astray with his thread "here"
It consists of 50x75x3mm RHS, 75x3mm flat, 40x40x3mm SHS and 2 pieces of 50x80x3mm angle and cost me $51 in steel all up.
I had to pull out the trusty old stick welder for this one because my MIG is on a job and too much of a pain to bring back home just for a few welds.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...925_190608.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...926_181951.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...927_120524.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...927_120506.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...929_172056.jpg


The winch I decided on is a Tigerz11 12000lb Grande MKII as I know a few guys with them and can't fault them plus the price was what I wanted.
I got it to a point where I could mount the winch but wasn't sure about where to put the solenoid just yet.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...929_171210.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...929_172222.jpg


I ended up pulling the solenoid out of the box and mounting it up in the drivers side corner near the brake booster. It wasn't the best idea for big hands but worked out in the end.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...001_211305.jpg


The fairlead is attached similar to jff45's but I used the 2 spacers that sit between the chassis and bullbar brackets to mount it.
Sorry I didn't get more detailed photo's but to be fair, it was 2am at this stage and I just wanted it done.
Nothing is attached to the alloy bar so there's no chance of shifting during hard winching.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...001_015547.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...001_025009.jpg


The controller plug is under the dash and will soon be accompanied with an arm switch and rocker so I don't have to plug anything in if I'm winching from in the cab.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...001_211342.jpg


All in all, it was quite easy if you put a little forward thinking into it.

It got used in anger on its first outing today after staying up until 4:30am to finish. My mate bit off a little more than he could chew in his GQ in the way of a puddle and it pulled him to freedom effortlessly.
Don't hesitate to ask any questions if you want to attempt a build.

Well done mate! That winch looks absolutely identical to my Ridge Ryder.

Isn't it great how a welder can not only save you money but also be a source of personal satisfaction when it turns out as intended.

Yeah I noticed that. I would dare say most of the cheaper 12000lb winches are all the same and just rebadged.
Welding is probably the most useful skill I've got. I started with a pile of scrap and a stick welder when I was 8 and used the same welder to weld this 19 years later.

good job nice and solid , I especially like the idea of putting the winch control socket inside.
I fitted a yellow latch lock hook,, you can fit more straps etc in it if required

Im thinking of removing the hook and just fitting a 6.2t bow shackle instead.

Just in the middle of installing same winch into my GU, thinking about putting the solenoid box on the front apron near the horn as that seems to be easiest place to mount it. If I mount in the engine bay near brake booster I would have to lengthen the cables....what size cable should I use if I go that way?...thanks.

I bought 6 meters of red for the 3 cables that go from the solenoid to the winch and ended up with a meter spare so just under 2 meters per cable. The earth cable and the power cable are long enough.

Did you go thicker with the cable? As mentioned in my thread, I changed the cabling from 2 to 0 gauge.
My Ecutalk shows me it drops from 13.8v to 11.2v when I use it. That's with a high idle and a new battery.

0 gauge is about 8mm diameter isn't it?, where are you guys getting your cable from.

Yea its (0 awg) 8.25 mm, what wire was 2 and swapped to 0? The main power supply?. Surely the didn't supply (2)6.5mm wire for that??

would this stuff be ok to use?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HIGH-DENS...item417b50ad75

I stayed with 2 gauge and it seems to run fine. I get my cable from jaycar and I think I paid around $5 per meter with trade discount.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by megatexture

Yea its (0 awg) 8.25 mm, what wire was 2 and swapped to 0? The main power supply?. Surely the didn't supply (2)6.5mm wire for that??

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The cabling supplied with my winch was 2 gauge (35mm2) and I swapped it all for 0 gauge and 50-8 lugs.
I posted pics in my DIY thread - to which the OP included a link in post #1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tallman

would this stuff be ok to use?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HIGH-DENS...item417b50ad75

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When I researched before my installation I saw several mentioned using welding cable similar to that. You'll need some good 50mm2 lugs as well and get them crimped correctly.
I bought my own hydraulic crimper - see pic in my thread.

My advice if you go with the welding cable is to cover it with conduit or colored heat shrink because we're taught in fire and rescue that orange leads are used on hybrid vehicles and can lead to a bit of confusion if your ever in an accident. I myself and many others would put 2 and 2 together but some old folk might get the wrong idea.

That's mint man! I wish I had thought of something like this instead of spending a mint on an ARB bar..

Spoke to local auto sparky and he said for the lengths of cable I'm running from winch to solenoid and to battery that 2 gauge would be more than adequate to do the job. He went on to say if I was to run longer lengths more than 3 meters then he would recommend a thicker gauge due to voltage drop.

The power cable that came with the winch was around a foot longer than the current extended cables I have so that tells me that the 2ga is plenty over that length. I've used it twice now with no issues what so ever.

Ive taken the solenoid out of the control box and have mounted it the near the battery, just waiting on cable to arrive now. That black thin earth wire that comes off the solenoid, it was screwed to the inside of the control box, do I need to still use it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tallman

Ive taken the solenoid out of the control box and have mounted it the near the battery, just waiting on cable to arrive now. That black thin earth wire that comes off the solenoid, it was screwed to the inside of the control box, do I need to still use it?

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Just hook the black wire from the solenoid straight to earth. That long thin wire was a jumper cable incase you mounted the control box on an area that's not earthed.

Got it all working, though now my bullbar is slightly crooked, when I took the bull bar off there were about half a dozen washers on one side of the mount and couple on the other, got no adjustment either way bugger it because the winch cradle steel is to thick..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tallman

Got it all working, though now my bullbar is slightly crooked, when I took the bull bar off there were about half a dozen washers on one side of the mount and couple on the other, got no adjustment either way bugger it because the winch cradle steel is to thick..

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Adjust the bar where it mounts to the bracket right up behind the bar. Loosen them enough to just be able to manipulate the bar with a rubber mallet or a good whack.

Thanks for that got it nice and level....had no idea there was any adjustment in that spot until you told me...cheers.

I originally removed the bar at the chassis to measure up and fit the cradle so everything went back together as before and the 3mm angle replaces the 3mm spacer so happy days.
I had the then remove the bar at the top mounting point to fabricate the fairlead bracket and also had no idea that there was so much adjustment there. Fitted the bar, did the bolts up tight and my mate stood there laughing because of the 3mm gap on one side and the 33mm gap on the other side. A quick nudge and all is good.

great work mate

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Originally Posted by mjr350

The winch I decided on is a Tigerz11 12000lb Grande MKII as I know a few guys with them and can't fault them plus the price was what I wanted.

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MJR, a bit off topic, but I was wondering if you could please post up the User Manual that came witht the winch in the Manaul section. I have just worked out that the winch in my just bought Patrol is a Tigerz11 Grande MKII. I have got it operating etc no probs but am also trying to get all the manuals and missing bits for it. Are you able to assist?

I'm away for the weekend at the moment and to be honest I have no idea where the manual is or if I still have it. Ill let you know when I get home.

It looks to be identical to the supercheap ridge rider 12000lb winch as well.

Thanks mate, and appreciate you looking.

Been looking as i go. Can't find it sorry

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

good job nice and solid , I especially like the idea of putting the winch control socket inside.
I fitted a yellow latch lock hook,, you can fit more straps etc in it if required

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x2 on putting the socket inside the cab ,
Will be doing exactly that , using this thread as inspiration.

Sorry to tickle an old thread but better than starting a new one, I used the straight across 8mm plate on my GU, but to run my dyneema straight out from the plate I cut a slot where the number plate usually sits. Is there any advantage or disadvantage on pull stress noticable depending on the angle it comes through the bar? Attachment 67721

An old thread I know, however I'm looking at fabricating a winch cradle similar to the ones going around for $300+ (shown below) which is ridiculous, but I guess that's the after market scene nowadays. I'm interested in some dimensions such as how far the winch sits lower than the chassis rails, distance from the front of the cradle to the first mounting hole to get the positioning and projection right. Better still, if someone has this style cradle all dimensions would save some time.

Cheers,
Paul

Attachment 83811

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pspeirs

An old thread I know, however I'm looking at fabricating a winch cradle similar to the ones going around for $300+ (shown below) which is ridiculous, but I guess that's the after market scene nowadays. I'm interested in some dimensions such as how far the winch sits lower than the chassis rails, distance from the front of the cradle to the first mounting hole to get the positioning and projection right. Better still, if someone has this style cradle all dimensions would save some time.

Cheers,
Paul

Attachment 83811

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Paul, you would get all this info by default if you purchased the item that someone has taken the time to work out - now you will pay the 'free time bill' trying to work it out, buy the steel, have it laser cut, welded and then painted. I understand the frustration but you ultimately pay either way. Depends what hourly rate you value your personal time at I guess. In saying that i have done a lot of similar tasks in the past, and value the personal satisfaction of doing it myself, but these days, time poor so find buying the bit makes more sense, and i don't have to root around for 16 hrs and modifying it after I screw it up for the fifth time.

Free time I have, capability I have and I don’t mind shelling out for something at a reasonable price for a quality product. I don’t however enjoy being ripped off by a market that sees the gullibility of consumers. I could market an identical product at half the price if I could be buggered looking into it and still make a decent profit.

That being said, if anyone has measurements that’d be good, would save me pulling the bar off now.

There’s also the satisfaction of making something as you mentioned.


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