Winch ground cable
- Thread starter Bart
- Start date
Badger
I am the Brute squad
- Location
- South Salt Lake
If your asking "will it work" grounding to the chassis, yes it will work. If your ask "is it wise to ground to the chassis", I would go with no.
Your winch will have better draw if wired directly to the battery over using the chassis, at least one would think. I have always wired my winched directly to the battery with this in mind. Even when I had dual batteries one in front and one in the back. I had a ground and a positive both chased down the chassis to connect the batteries as well as my multi-mounts for my receiver winch.
Your winch will have better draw if wired directly to the battery over using the chassis, at least one would think. I have always wired my winched directly to the battery with this in mind. Even when I had dual batteries one in front and one in the back. I had a ground and a positive both chased down the chassis to connect the batteries as well as my multi-mounts for my receiver winch.
UNSTUCK
But stuck more often.
You should always run your cables to the battery. The ground side has been known to find its way back to the battery through smaller ground wilres throughout the rig and burn them up. If you decide to ground the the chassis, make sure your battery ground wire is at least 2 guage and if you ground your winch to the frame, ground your batter to the frame, not the engine.
I am so out of money it's not funny. You know as well as any that the last million little things on a buggy add up fast.
My stone installing trucks are gounded to the frame & work great. that being said, I also ground the battery to the frame as said above.
my work truck winches get used every day, & I work them harder than what they were intended for.
TEAM FRED
Registered User
- Location
- Centerville
Battery to frame and frame to winch will work just fine.
ChestonScout
opinions are like Jeeps..
- Location
- Clinton, Ut
Heck Bart......that thing shouldnt even need a winch!
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
I have. He'll need a winch.
He'll need a winch. 
RockChucker
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Highland
when i wired my winch i had on my yj i was in the same boat, no cash, so i went to walmart and bought some jumper cables. the wire was flexible, heavy duty, and it came with 2 lengths of 20 feet! i think they were around $20. i then just marked the cables to differentiate between positive and negative. just another option you have...
Kiel
Formerly WJ ZUK
I am so out of money it's not funny. You know as well as any that the last million little things on a buggy add up fast.
No doubt on that, I am strapped!! But I'm grounding to the frame also, but the battery is to the frame too.
BART! Go to the welding store and buy welding lead, it's 10x better than battery cable and about half as much moneys.
Oh yeah, and I always run a dedicated ground wire to the winch. You can never be too grounded.
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
On a related subject...
Is it a good idea to run your winch off the front terminals on an Optima. I've heard only to run a winch off the top terminals on an Optima.
Is it a good idea to run your winch off the front terminals on an Optima. I've heard only to run a winch off the top terminals on an Optima.
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
They can and have. Optima themselves urges against side terminal mountings. I've seen the results of a burnt out lug.
Kiel
Formerly WJ ZUK
I ran the samurai winch off the side terminals no problem. Curious though
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
Not an Optima, but you get the point...
Doesn't the side terminal connect up to the top post though? That one looks like it blew out the bottom somehow.
Badger
I am the Brute squad
- Location
- South Salt Lake
The side lugs on most batteries can not handle the load. Either they get hot and melt the outer shell(which is what the Optimas do) or they do what happened in the picture above and burn through the side of the lug. But in either case it's because they get to hot from the draw put on them.