How to Power a Trailer Winch
A winch uses a powerful electric motor to pull in a cable. This is useful for pulling heavy cargo, such as vehicles, ATVs and snowmobiles, onto a trailer's bed. Winches are commonly installed on the front of the trailer and need to be wired to the vehicle's battery for power. The existing trailer electrical supply is unsuitable for this task because the wire gauge is too small to carry the necessary amounts of current to drive the winch's motor.
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Instructions
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Trailer Wiring
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1
Loosen the positive and negative electrical terminals on the winch with a wrench. Slide the black hot wire's ring connector from the trailer harness over the positive terminal on the winch and tighten it back down. Slide the white ground wire's ring terminal over the negative terminal on the winch and tighten it down.
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2
Run the wire along the frame of the trailer to the trailer's tongue. Leave enough wire to extend the coupler to the vehicle with a little slack to allow for movement between the trailer/vehicle connection, but not so much wire that the wire drags on the road.
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3
Fasten the wire to the tongue with several cable ties. Secure the loose wire along its entire run with cable ties.
Vehicle Wiring
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4
Open the front hood of the vehicle and loosen the positive and negative terminals on the battery. Slide the black hot wire from the vehicle harness over the battery's red positive terminal and tighten it down. Slide the white ground wire's ring terminal over the negative battery terminal and tighten it down.
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5
Run the wire underneath the vehicle along one of the frame rails. Secure the wire to the frame with cable ties.
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6
Fasten the vehicle wiring harness to trailer hitch at the back of the vehicle with cable ties.
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7
Push the trailer winch wiring kit's harness into the vehicle's receiver when you want to supply the winch with power.
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References
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