axlesandantennas
Approved Vendor
A few years ago, after purchasing my 2018 Shara JK Unlimited, I caught myself in a few spots where a winch could have come in handy. In talking to a few friends, it always came up "too bad you can't mount a 8274 to it". Well, ignorance is bliss.
I found a rough condition 8274 on craigslist that was not running but got it for a song. I spent a few evenings gutting it and putting it all back together. Mostly just needed to be cleaned. I did replace the solenoid with a newer single type. Only thing that needed to be replaced besides that was a few ball bearing that disappeared on the ground. The cover fort the solenoid was busted up so I made a new one out of some ABS I had. Got a 150 feet of new Warn steel line and drew up some plans on how to mount it. From what I can see of the serial number, it was manufactured in 1989.
My front "bumper" is a 5 inch C Channel that I built right after buying the Jeep. I got the idea of that from the J8 series. I looked around and found the correct mount for the winch from GenRight off road. My welding skills are just slightly better than booger weld, so I took the mount to a local shop and had them mate the holder to the bumper after I had spot welded where I wanted it. The spool is about 1/8 of an inch from the bumper, so not much margin of error. Since there is a little over lap in the front, I had the fab shop add some gussets to keep downward flex at a minimum.
The winch is hard wired into the battery but is air gaped by a 500 amp switch. I know a lot of folks run winches always connected, but I did not want every amp of the battery sparking around if I wrecked. In addition to the hand control, I ran a control switch along with a kill switch to the cab.
One thing that I knew I was going to have some issue with was air restriction to the radiator. I keep an eye on it and drive in a way that does not over stress the engine. On steep climbs on 90 degree days in East Tennessee, I can see the temp climb and then the fan kicks in. So far, it has not been an issue. I also make sure my engine is always free of dirt, which helps a lot too.
So far, I have pulled myself out of a hole once and a fellow traveler twice. I have also used it to demo my back yard utility shed and one at my parents house as well. Last year we had a down tree on the road by my house and after a neighbor got it with the chain saw, I pulled it to the side with the winch. It makes an amazing sound when working!
If I were to redo this, I am pretty sure I would fab the bumper in a way for the winch to set lower into the bumper. But as it is, I like it more than I probably should. And to be honest, I like the way it bring character to the Jeep since it looks like a complete anachronism.
I found a rough condition 8274 on craigslist that was not running but got it for a song. I spent a few evenings gutting it and putting it all back together. Mostly just needed to be cleaned. I did replace the solenoid with a newer single type. Only thing that needed to be replaced besides that was a few ball bearing that disappeared on the ground. The cover fort the solenoid was busted up so I made a new one out of some ABS I had. Got a 150 feet of new Warn steel line and drew up some plans on how to mount it. From what I can see of the serial number, it was manufactured in 1989.
My front "bumper" is a 5 inch C Channel that I built right after buying the Jeep. I got the idea of that from the J8 series. I looked around and found the correct mount for the winch from GenRight off road. My welding skills are just slightly better than booger weld, so I took the mount to a local shop and had them mate the holder to the bumper after I had spot welded where I wanted it. The spool is about 1/8 of an inch from the bumper, so not much margin of error. Since there is a little over lap in the front, I had the fab shop add some gussets to keep downward flex at a minimum.
The winch is hard wired into the battery but is air gaped by a 500 amp switch. I know a lot of folks run winches always connected, but I did not want every amp of the battery sparking around if I wrecked. In addition to the hand control, I ran a control switch along with a kill switch to the cab.
One thing that I knew I was going to have some issue with was air restriction to the radiator. I keep an eye on it and drive in a way that does not over stress the engine. On steep climbs on 90 degree days in East Tennessee, I can see the temp climb and then the fan kicks in. So far, it has not been an issue. I also make sure my engine is always free of dirt, which helps a lot too.
So far, I have pulled myself out of a hole once and a fellow traveler twice. I have also used it to demo my back yard utility shed and one at my parents house as well. Last year we had a down tree on the road by my house and after a neighbor got it with the chain saw, I pulled it to the side with the winch. It makes an amazing sound when working!
If I were to redo this, I am pretty sure I would fab the bumper in a way for the winch to set lower into the bumper. But as it is, I like it more than I probably should. And to be honest, I like the way it bring character to the Jeep since it looks like a complete anachronism.
I love the ratcheting sound! It definitely makes heads turn. There’s a bunch of improvements you can do to make it more reliable. Like shimming the gears, tapping the main shaft and adding a circlip cover, securing the clutch lever with R clip since it pops out under heavy loads.
