Electric Winch Mounted In Truck Bed

[cuoffroad]

This was just an idea I came up with. More of a nice to have than a need to have.

I built a mount for an electric winch for the back of my truck. I searched and searched for similiar ideas on the web and only found one on a welding forum...guy was actually from Germany. I followed his design but now other than he and I, I haven't seen anything else out there like this for a truck bed. I understand Warn did make something similiar a while ago but it's no longer available.

Idea is simple...winch my quad into the bed of the truck instead of pushing it. Never been a fan of riding a quad or bike into the bed.

Winch, steel, wire, misc, I have about $200 into it. Battery was half of that.

[DODGE57HEMI]

I take it you dont have a winch on the quad?

[cuoffroad]

No winch on the quad. I just ride state DNR trails here in Michigan...never been stuck in 20 years so I don't see it happening any time soon.

Like I said, it's just a nice to have. I enjoy welding and this gave me some garage time.

As I think of all the stuff I've man-handled into the back of my truck over the years I'm pretty sure I'll find some additional uses for the winch as well.

Just a different idea....maybe not for everyone.

[DODGE57HEMI]

I hear ya, tinkering is always fun! Thanks for sharing the idea/pic.

[3_Polaris_ATVs]

Why didn't you use the truck battery?

[cuoffroad]

Biggest reason was simplicity. Original idea was to use the truck battery but I also wanted this contraption to be able to be completely removed from the truck at any time.

Also, was going to run 6 gauge wire from the truck battery back to the bed. I figured by the time I snaked the wire down through the engine bay, along the frame rail, and up into the bed I was looking at about 20ft of wire (giving myself some fudge factor). It's a crew cab truck. Cost of the this wire + connectors + fuseable link + fuse(s) would have run me the cost of the stand alone battery I ended up with anyway.

[Ranthalion]

Very cool! That looks exactly like what I need to do. Can you give any details about the mount you built? How does it attach to the truck bed?

[3_Polaris_ATVs]

Originally Posted by cuoffroad

Biggest reason was simplicity. Original idea was to use the truck battery but I also wanted this contraption to be able to be completely removed from the truck at any time.

Also, was going to run 6 gauge wire from the truck battery back to the bed. I figured by the time I snaked the wire down through the engine bay, along the frame rail, and up into the bed I was looking at about 20ft of wire (giving myself some fudge factor). It's a crew cab truck. Cost of the this wire + connectors + fuseable link + fuse(s) would have run me the cost of the stand alone battery I ended up with anyway.

Dont get me wrong I like it but
What charges the battery?

[cuoffroad]

Originally Posted by Ranthalion

Very cool! That looks exactly like what I need to do. Can you give any details about the mount you built? How does it attach to the truck bed?

Thanks. It's pretty simple really. It attaches to the truck bed with the turnbukcles. I welded some chain links onto the winch mount and then just ran the turnbukcles to the tie down points in the corners of the bed.

Computer at home got some kind of virus this past weekend. As so as I figure out how to fix that I'll post more pics.

[cuoffroad]

Originally Posted by 3_Polaris_ATVs

Dont get me wrong I like it but
What charges the battery?

Trickle charge when not being used. Battery sits in the garage and when I'm going riding I put it in the bed and hook it up to the winch. It's a very easy pull for the winch so I doubt the battery is getting much draw on it at all.

Lately, if I get a chance to ride it's only for a few hours at an off-road park about an hour from our house so I don't worry about the battery discharging on me.