Last night was the last installment of the epic winch install. Deathcougar and Nick 'monkey fingers' G. were in fine form as this install was quite tricky to put it mildly.

Here is a pic of one of the boxes of goodies


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The TJM was dropped once again (this is the 5th time now!) and the winch removed in order to get access to the bolts.


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Nick fabbed up a custom mount that put the control module inside the bumper at the perfect angle for the wireless connector to be hooked up. Seeing as it would be impossible to connect the wired connector inside the bumper each time we decided to go with the wireless connector. I am thrilled with that connector, more on that in a bit.


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one of the amazing things about going to nix99 is that there is a huge variety of toyota parts to look at. as nick and DC were wrestling with the bolt I took a quick look-see ( around the inventory
and saw this nice engine


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along with this trashed 98 4runner (only 85K on the 3.4L and only the radiator is destroyed)

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enough of my spying and back to the winch install...it took a long time to get the bumper bolted up perfectly in such a way so that it didn't touch the solenoid and also to access the bumper bolts with the winch installed proved impossible so off goes the winch again, and then all the battery/wireless wires had to go past the grille, so off goes the grille, wires routed (tight squeeze) and grille on again, bumper on again, and then installing the winch with the bumper already on, kudos to both nick and josh for this and nick especially earned the nickname 'monkeyfingers' as those spaces were so tight to work in. He finally got the TJM on with the Winch and Fairlead, wireless connected, solenoid on, and all that was left was to test the wireless


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we thought after all that there might be no batteries in the wireless module but there were (nice one warn). You have to push both buttons at the same time for 3-5 seconds and then it lights up. The moment of truth...pressing the buttons and boom! Very nice, fast motor spin-up, very nice speed (Xd9000). That was a beer moment(Hale's Ales IPA, Corona, and Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout was on the menu). Deathcougar got the PIAAS back on and oh yeah almost forgot he switched out the speedo sensor and completely cured the speedo issues I've been having for months.

last step was to see if the 100' of 3/8 trail-line would fit. I heard that the xd9000 could fit it but I had some conflicting answers and was not sure. Nick was again able to thread his fingers into the bumper and attach the line to the spool and then the fun part, I stood across the room and wirelessly reeled in the rope as deathcougar threaded it on there in the most compact manner...I was dreading if it didn't all fit as cutting this kind of line and re-splicing is beyond my abilities, but lo and behold it completely wound in, including the nylon protective sleeve. The last step was hooking the beefy hook and threading it tight. I have to say it was a great feeling. Last step is to cut the battery wires from the winch as they are way too long, also it's time to get an external post for all the accessories as the battery is getting crowded. I am very glad to have the boyle's alternator as it can handle all of it.

I forgot to take final shots once it was totally installed and i'll do that soon and post on this thread.
Thanks to Deathcougar, Nick and Nix99 for going above and beyond, this install took many hours it was a real pain but it ended up a total success. It is not easy installing the warn solenoid inside a T-15 on a 2nd gen but I am really happy as it (and the synth rope) are 100% protected from the elements.


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sweet

 

Sick! Im super jelous!

My truck goes in for a new bumper on tuesday, I need to get me a winch! how much was your warn?

 

Yea, now when I get stuck you can some pull me out

But we gotta find a place to wheel that won't tear up your sweet truck. I went to Walker Valley today, and tore my 4runner up pretty good. Definitely not a place for nice trucks.

 

walker creek huh? Sounds pretty brutal, I forgot to ask if you have air lockers on your rig deathcougar?
Maybe we should start with Evan's Creek sounds like you know some good paths there, I have my truetracs front and rear and with the winch I should be able to get out of many situations but definitely not as many as with full detroits or ARBS. Tomorrow I'll post pics of the final winch install, it looks very stealth as no one can see the solenoid box or the synthetic rope as everything including the wireless connections are hidden inside the bumper. the wireless control pack is in the engine bay too so the whole install is very water resistant. Even the rope won't get hit with UV which I hear can trash it. I was also very happy the whole 100feet of 3/8" fit in there, on top of that the wireless unit is way better than I expected, very solid feeling and you can either hold it in for a very fast line draw, or push it just for a second or 2 to get a few feet and give the winch a rest, either way the winch engine sounds very powerful. I am really happy as this is a primo winch, I paid $400 for it only been used twice.

that reminds me, I have 100feet of stock Warn wire rope with hook for sale, if anyone's interested PM me with how much you think it's worth. Also I have the steel fairlead that I got from 92toy, THANKS again 92toy! I got your PM, thanks for being so cool, and I will definitely get it shipped to another YT member at no profit to myself, in fact I'll pay for shipping. Muddpigg you have first dibbs, if you no longer need it then it'll go to the first who will definitely use it (remember, it's a steel hawse fairlead, perhaps best for a steel line but could be used for synthetic. It is however rough on the inside bottom lip which was a concern with the synthetic line for me but may be less of a concern for you). I'll be selling the stock warn line for money but the fairlead was a gift from 92toy and it'll be a gift for the next person too.

 

Some more pics of the finished job! I ended up washing and waxing the the 4runner after these were taken...it needed a bath bad.


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a closeup of the front


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Very nice install. Looks like all you need is some rear armor and you will be set...

 

Cool install and pics. Thanks. Looks very nice.

 

thanks for the compliment ocdropzone! deathcougar and nick G. get the credit on that one for sure.
I agree with you on rear armor, I have been wanting a BCC rear bumper for a long time but the prices are out of this world. Here's a pic of that bumper on Strapp22 (Phil's) classic 2nd gen taken before he went to 4th gen.


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This is the nicest rear bumper for the 2nd gen IMHO, I know that DarylD also has one! Kennesaw rear bumpers are also nice but I hear that the fit isn't quite as close. If Nick can fab me one that looks like the BCC I may go custom.

Here's another pic of that rear bumper I like so much.


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