Installed R/C hidden winch on the Bronco (updated 5/21/23)

[Grumpy]

Well I received my R/C 12k Pro S winch today. The hidden mounting kit will be here on Monday. It only took 2.5 months to receive due to R/C supply and demand issues.
I also purchased R/C shackle thimble, and a blue anodized winch base fairlead. Lastly I bought a marine battery cut off switch to disable the power to winch when not in use. I will fab up my own bracket for the switch.
So I should be able to install sometime on Monday or Tuesday.

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[redone17]

Well I received my R/C 12k Pro S winch today. The hidden mounting kit will be here on Monday. It only took 2.5 months to receive due to R/C supply and demand issues.
I also purchased R/C shackle thimble, and a blue anodized winch base fairlead. Lastly I bought a marine battery cut off switch to disable the power to winch when not in use. I will fab up my own bracket for the switch.
So I should be able to install sometime on Monday or Tuesday.

I mounted the switch to the fuse box cover, but I’ve been thinking - would it be possible to wire it to AUX 1 (30 Amp)?

 

[Grumpy]

I mounted the switch to the fuse box cover, but I’ve been thinking - would it be possible to wire it to AUX 1 (30 Amp)?

I would not trust the AUX switches for the winch. The motor amps is 360, I'm no electrician, but that seems to be a huge draw on a 30 amp switch. Maybe someone else has better advice than me. The marine switch I bought is rated at 400 amps, so I know that will work.

 

[mjohnso3]

Well I received my R/C 12k Pro S winch today. The hidden mounting kit will be here on Monday. It only took 2.5 months to receive due to R/C supply and demand issues.
I also purchased R/C shackle thimble, and a blue anodized winch base fairlead. Lastly I bought a marine battery cut off switch to disable the power to winch when not in use. I will fab up my own bracket for the switch.
So I should be able to install sometime on Monday or Tuesday.

Which engine is under the hood, 2.3 or 2.7 ?

 

[Grumpy]

Which engine is under the hood, 2.3 or 2.7 ?

2.3

 

[BD6G]

Grumpy I feel like RC should sponsor you at this point. I think those Blue accents will look sharp. Looking forward to seeing this once complete.

 

[redone17]

I would not trust the AUX switches for the winch. The motor amps is 360, I'm no electrician, but that seems to be a huge draw on a 30 amp switch. Maybe someone else has better advice than me. The marine switch I bought is rated at 400 amps, so I know that will work.

Yeah, I’m terrible at electrical. Figured there may be a way to bolster it - but, now that I think of it, not likely.

I have a similar switch.

 

[Buckethead]

Doubtful you pull that many amps through the actual switch. It’s likely a low amperage circuit triggering the winch motor. The wiring diagram will tell you gospel but if you were pulling that many amps through the switch the switch wires would need to be the same gauge as those going to the battery/ground.

you expecting to get noticeable front squat with the added weight? My sons base doesn't have lockers and a winch would be very helpful

 

[the poacher]

Hey Grumpy,
I very much look forward to your insights into the difficulty, if any, of installing this. I have had my eye on this RC item for some time, and you will be able to let me know whether I should pull the trigger or not.
Good luck, hope it goes well for you.

 

[Grumpy]

Hey Grumpy,
I very much look forward to your insights into the difficulty, if any, of installing this. I have had my eye on this RC item for some time, and you will be able to let me know whether I should pull the trigger or not.
Good luck, hope it goes well for you.

Yes sir, should be pretty straight forward as long as fit and finish is good. Got to go tomorrow to buy some 1' battery cables to run from the switch to the battery. Also going to purchase some metal to make the switch mount. Will post build and progress pics.

 

[Grumpy]

Doubtful you pull that many amps through the actual switch. It’s likely a low amperage circuit triggering the winch motor. The wiring diagram will tell you gospel but if you were pulling that many amps through the switch the switch wires would need to be the same gauge as those going to the battery/ground.

you expecting to get noticeable front squat with the added weight? My sons base doesn't have lockers and a winch would be very helpful

Total wt for both winch and mount is roughly 110lbs, so I'm not expecting much of any effect on posture. If there is, it will be minimal, but we will know in a couple days.

 

[Indarkness]

When I did construction in another life I had a 12k mile marker winch that we would install in the rear or front receiver in the 350, then 450. I used upfitter switch 3 to power it. I was able to do this because the upfitter went to a solenoid. The wiring was battery to solenoid, to winch. We used the remote 2-0 battery cables run to the front and rear of the trucks.

Now they sell kits for that sort of thing, but when I did it back in 2005 I pieced the kit together and it was maybe 100-150 per truck. All the heavy draw goes through the solenoid and doesn’t touch the upfitter switch. The nice think was the 2 quick connects were not powered when the switch was off. I also crafted a couple of sets of jumper cables. Worked awesome for the dump trailer that seemed to have a perpetual dead battery despite always having a new battery and solar charger on it.

 

[MotoVexGT]

I installed the R/C hidden winch on my 2.7. It was...not fun. Also, the clutch is pretty much impossible to reach, so we had to fab up a solution for that.

From what I've seen, the 2.3 has a much, much easier time of it.

 

[Grumpy]

Well I received the winch mount today instead of Monday. So I went to work on the install.

First, after removing the ABS skid plate (LOL) I went to work removing the frame extenders (2) with a 4.5" hand grinder. Just a warning to all, make sure you wrap the brake line with a towel or the like so if your grinder grabs you don't accidentally cut or knick the line. You can't move it, so you better protect it. And I did not cut or knick mine, just FYI. I went slow at it just so I wouldn't damage the brake line. The extenders are welded on all four sides. I cut three sides, both side and bottom welds. Since the brake line is in the way for the top weld, so I just bent the frame extenders up and down until it broke the weld at top.

The rest of the install was pretty straight forward. Now I knew there was an issue with the front skid plate not mounting flush on the side ears to R/C frame tow attachments. But I was hoping that R/C had addressed this design flaw, but they had not. When placing the front plate in place, I can visually see that there was about an inch of gap between the tow attachment and the front plate. So, to avoid too much of the ears bending when tightening down, I loosened the tow attachments about 3/4" so to drop down to meet the plate, doing this I was flush with the plate and tow attachment. Once I tightened down the bolts, I then started to Tighten down the R/C tow attachments back up. This in my opinion helped with the stress on the mounting ears to tow attachment. There is a pull bend on each ear, but it is not noticeable unless you get down and look closely. Plus the tow shackles block that view.

After all that, I found where I wanted to mount the battery cutoff switch on the D/S inner fender. So I made a bracket out of 22 gauge piece and then painted black. I used the battery tray mounting bolt on fender for the bottom mount bolt with an additional self tapping screw on the fender frame. I also mounted the remote plug into the ABS front radiator tray. So everything is basically in one area for activation and operation. FYI for everyone, the instructions doesn't say anything about connecting the negative cable to the winch when mounting said winch onto its bucket tray. So I went to work following step by step. When its time to run the battery cables, you realize the negative is on bottom of the winch. You literally have an inch of room to negotiate the cable, nut and washer. So with my fat fingers it made it impossible. So I had to unbolt the 4 bolts holding the winch to the tray, and then attach the negative cable. Costed me an additional 30 minutes of my time and a few 4 letter words. So for anyone wanting to do this themselves, attach the negative battery cable before you mount the winch to the tray. After running the cables everything else was clean-up.
Contents

3/16th thickness

Cut the frame extenders off

Painted black

Winch mounting tray

Winch is mounted

Made the cutoff switch bracket and painted black

Mounted the switch in place

Installed remote plug on the radiator tray

The front skid plate and blue hawse fairlead with shackle thimble.

The front plate stress bend at the mounting ears.

Overall, I am happy with the install, I will give R/C a call this week about the front plate design flaw issue. But no one will see it but me, unless they look for it.

 

[Grumpy]

There was additional parts not used as this kit is for multiple applications with the Bronco. The plastic bumper, the steel bumper or R/C bumper, and the 2.7 or 2.3. So I did not need all of the parts. The bumper mounting plates are decent for reinforcement of the plastic bumper model.

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