5RUNNERZ
New member
so when I bought my truck the kid before me but a few things on it and for some reason he thought it would be cool to put the solenoid on the top of the bumper
I hated it! plus it did not work, and the lever for free spool and engaging the clutch broke. I called smitty built and they sent me a hole new end cap for free!
when I took the solenoid off all the connections were so rusty there was no way any current could get through. the best part about the hole thing was the power wire he ran to the battery was resting on the alternator pulley and cut up the electrical tape coving from previos contact with the pulley! all of the wires coming from the solenoid were tost! so i had to go out and buy 10 ft of 4 gauge wire and 30 ft of 18 gauge wire (I will get to what the 18 gauge is for) shrink rap, solder, and connectors that was a 75 bucks right there!
So I started with this
took all the bolts cleaned them up
clean up the contacts
Then I read this, and did this as well
Sealing your Smittybilt XRC8 solenoid before it fails - Tacoma World Forums
any one who knows smitty built winchs know the bracket for the solenoid is red so I sanded that down and painted it black!
Then I cut and soldered all the wires, I made them all about a foot to a foot and a half longer so i could mount the solenoid in the engine bay!
So next I replaced the end cap with a new lever.
Then put all the new wires and solenoid in
Now for the 18 gauge!
In-Cab Winch Control in a 3rd Gen Toyota 4Runner Using an OEM Power Mirror Switch - YotaTech Forums
This was a little bit different then mine but the same concept!
I used the up and down arrows on my switch when it was on the L side but it now it look like l, so it means "in-gauged" and R means "release" thats how the 2 differ!
Just need to find a label maker so it will say winch!
For the winch controller it self I just stuffed it in here for now, but you can see were it is going to go once I have time to make a bracket for it!
I hated it! plus it did not work, and the lever for free spool and engaging the clutch broke. I called smitty built and they sent me a hole new end cap for free!
when I took the solenoid off all the connections were so rusty there was no way any current could get through. the best part about the hole thing was the power wire he ran to the battery was resting on the alternator pulley and cut up the electrical tape coving from previos contact with the pulley! all of the wires coming from the solenoid were tost! so i had to go out and buy 10 ft of 4 gauge wire and 30 ft of 18 gauge wire (I will get to what the 18 gauge is for) shrink rap, solder, and connectors that was a 75 bucks right there!
So I started with this
took all the bolts cleaned them up
clean up the contacts
Then I read this, and did this as well
Sealing your Smittybilt XRC8 solenoid before it fails - Tacoma World Forums
any one who knows smitty built winchs know the bracket for the solenoid is red so I sanded that down and painted it black!
Then I cut and soldered all the wires, I made them all about a foot to a foot and a half longer so i could mount the solenoid in the engine bay!
So next I replaced the end cap with a new lever.
Then put all the new wires and solenoid in
Now for the 18 gauge!
In-Cab Winch Control in a 3rd Gen Toyota 4Runner Using an OEM Power Mirror Switch - YotaTech Forums
This was a little bit different then mine but the same concept!
I used the up and down arrows on my switch when it was on the L side but it now it look like l, so it means "in-gauged" and R means "release" thats how the 2 differ!
Just need to find a label maker so it will say winch!
For the winch controller it self I just stuffed it in here for now, but you can see were it is going to go once I have time to make a bracket for it!
