TJM T17 Bumper & Warn M8000

[Howard70]

Hello:

First - Merry Christmas to all!

Second - I'm looking for advice from anyone who's successfully mated a "new style" T17 steel TJM bumper with a Warn M8000 winch. The steel T17's come in at least two styles - one with detachable "ears" on each end of the main bumper channel. These ears extend rearwards towards the from tires a short distance and provide a finished appearance. The other style (I'll call it the new style) has the same ears, but they are part of the main bumper channel so the whole bumper is a single piece welded unit.

My new style T17 has the access hole for the winch's clutch engagement knob in a slightly different place than the old style T17 I had on my '87 4runner. The location of this hole in the new style makes it very difficult to operate the clutch engagement knob. I thought that I could fix this by rotating the end housing of the M8000 to bring the knob into a more accessible position. However, that hasn't solved the problem completely since the rotated housing now restricts the travel of the knob, causing it to strike the bumper before completely engaging the clutch. Thus I'm looking for help!

Thanks in advance,

Howard L. Snell

 

[jeffryscott]

I may see if my friend with the plasma cutter can help solve that issue - I've seen/heard of it but haven't unpacked the bumper yet. I'll be putting a T17 and M8000 on my 01 4Runner this week, If I can answer this question then, I'll let you know. Merry Christmas to you as well.

 

[Howard70]

If you Rotate the End Housing (long)

Hello Jeffrey:

If you find that you need to rotate the end housing of the M8000 to alter the position of the clutch engagement knob, and you don't have instructions from Warn about doing that, there are a couple of things I found that might help you. There are quite a few references on the web regarding the need to rotate the housing in some situations and most of those posts mention how helpful the installation instructions from Warn were. My M8000 lacked instructions and I made a couple of mistakes that you might avoid.

1. I think it is best to work with the winch vertical - the motor at the bottom and the end housing with the clutch knob pointing up.

2. Look over the parts diagram that comes with the winch. It contains an exploded view that will help you understand the inner workings of the parts that you're dealing with.

3. When you remove the 10 allen screws that hold the end housing to the rest of the winch, you'll find that two sections are freed. The outermost section with the clutch engagement knob as well as the larger section next to the drum. Both of these contain sets of gear clusters that slide onto a hexagonal shaft running from the motor through the drum and into the two sections of the end housing. These gear clusters engage teeth in the inner walls of the two sections mentioned above. The clutch works by pushing these gear clusters along the hexagonal shaft and either engaging or disengaging with the teeth of the inner diameters of the two sections.

The clutch does NOT work by turning or pushing the hexagonal shaft. Thus you don't need to worry about the rotational position of the shaft if it is pulled out of the motor side of the winch while you work.

The teeth on the inner walls of the two sections also engage very thin teeth cast into the body of the winch (for the side of the larger section facing the drum) and cast into the outer end of the larger section (for the side of the smaller section facing the larger section).

When you rotate the sections (either together or separately, see below) you'll find that these teeth need to be engaged - thus the sections can't rotate freely, but must rotate in steps, the smallest step being one tooth. However, you're eventually constrained in the rotated positions by the screw holes that must align in the two sections and the rest of the winch. Therefore there are only 10 possible rotational positions.

4. I think, but I am not certain, that the easiest way to effect the rotation is as follows (once the 10 allen screws are removed):

A. Work with the clutch disengaged. This may allow you to turn the drum to help align the hexagonal shaft as you proceed with the rotation. I did not do this and suffered a lot of frustration trying to align everything when I ended up with more disassembly than I anticipated.

B. Mark a couple of the holes on the drum and the two sections for reference. These marks can help you align things if you end up with more of disassembly than planned (as happened to me).

C. Lift the outer most section of the housing (the small section with the knob) and try to keep the gasket down on the larger section. A second pair of hands could be helpful to keep the larger section in place. If all the gear clusters remain on the hexagonal shaft fine. If some remain up inside the smaller section that's also fine. your goal is to lift the smaller section just enough to disengage the thin teeth cast into the outboard end of the larger section. Then rotate the smaller section as many screw holes as needed to put the knob in the position you need. You may need to turn the drum as you rotate the smaller section.

D. When the holes are aligned, engage the teeth in the new position by slightly rocking the smaller section and possibly turning the drum. Your goal is to engage those teeth at the point that the holes are aligned in the new position.

E. Once D works, replace the allen screws and tighten them very evenly. I ran them in finger tight all the way around, and them worked quarter turns in a criss-cross pattern until tight.

F. If you end up with gear clusters and sections separated from the rest of the winch and the hexagonal rod disengaged from the motor, don't despair. That's what I ended up with by mistake. Just lay the pieces on a clean surface in the order they come off, and then insert the hexagonal rod into the motor and stack the rest of the pieces back on engaging them as you go. I suspect this would be much easier if you're working with the clutch disengaged.

Good luck & I look forward to hearing from you.

Howard L. Snell

 

[jeffryscott]

Thanks Howard, I started to take the winch apart last weekend, and got a bit intimidated. Funny, googling this I found your reply to my post and voila, I think I have the answer.

Thanks. I might try again this weekend.

 

[goodtimes]

Funny, googling this I found your reply to my post

:xxrotflma

 

[erin]

Just try to separate the halves just enough to turn it, and it hepls if somebody holds the thing for you also. I did mine on a slippery tranny table and had a hell of a time. LOL