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Technical / Installation Articles - Body Interior / Exterior


Warn 9.5xp

Article written by Adventure Bob

Date Added: 02/19/2007

No other winch carries the name-brand recognition or drool factor in wheeling circles like a Warn. We install a 9.5XP in preparation for the most obscene shootout test the world has ever seen.

When Warn secured their entry into the ?Winches in Hell? shootout, they set us up with their outstanding 9.5xp. While Warn wanted to enter the 9.5ti, we felt that this was probably jumping into a price point too high on the bell curve for our average reader?s winch budget. The 9.5ti would have been an amazing entry, but Warn ceded the point and chose their 9.5xp. This is a workhorse of a 9500lb winch, and by their specs it appears to have one of the best pedigrees out of the box.

We chose to mount our winch feet down on a universal winch plate, the way most winches are mounted on Jeeps. We will not be going into the steps of mounting a winch plate on the vehicle since there are many variations depending on your bumper/plate setup.

 

Installation

1. Attach the winch to the winch plate with the four bolts.
 Clearance issues with the frame cross tube prevent access to the bolts. We chose to remove the plate and install the winch to it on a bench.

2. Install the winch and plate on the vehicle per your plate's instructions.

3. To install the solenoid pack mounting bracket, loosen the passenger side bolt on the forward cross bar.

4. Install the bracket, and connect the solenoid wires to the motor.
 A to A (yellow), F1 to F1 (green) and F2 to F2 (blue)

5. Attach the solenoid pack to the bracket.

6. Connect the small red wire to the ground lug on the motor.
 Due to the lack of space, this step can make you very angry. Breathe and relax; it can be done.

7. Feed the positive and negative leads (red and black ones) through the grill, and connect them to the battery.
 We changed our battery terminals to military style to make the connections easier.

8. Bolt the fairlead to the winch plate.

9. Remove the large rubber band, feed the cable through the fairlead, and attach the hook.

10. Connect the remote control, put on some gloves, and test your winch!

Installation Issues

While this winch went on relatively easily, the instructions were less than we expected. The installation of the solenoid pack caused us some frustration because the instructions never mention it. To drive the point home, the very next week a reader asked "how do I mount this solenoid box?" His response to our install photos was ?I never would have thought to mount it like that." Neither would we. We had to search the internet to see how it was supposed to be done. Warn should have a section in their manual dedicated to step-by-step installation instructions including this issue. Another point of concern is the solenoid pack mounting bracket- we can't seem to keep the thing tight. The design of the bracket puts a huge amount of torque on the single attachment bolt in the loosening direction. The bracket worked loose on 2 separate wheeling trips from vibration. At best, the solenoid pack ends up resting on the power cables; a much worse result would be the loss of the bolt. A design that uses both of the crossbar bolts for the bracket mount would possibly eliminate this problem.

On a positive note the cable connections are nearly ?Bob? proof. While not covered really well in the instructions, if you know your alphabet to G and can count to 5, you can install the connections without a problem. The connections and wires are color coded, and the case has letters stamped in it near the terminal; it couldn't have been any clearer. A to A, F1 to F1 and F2 to F2 and you?re good to go.

Final Thoughts

Warn sent us two remotes to try: the classic with the metal forward and aft switch, and the newer model with a left and right rocker switch. An informal survey of around 30 people indicated that the preference was for the classic style control. They all said it seemed more intuitive to pull the switch toward you for in and push it away for out. If they flipped the rocker 90 degrees theyd have an intuitive controller update.

So far this has been a great product. We've used it in every situation we could think of to get a feel for it before the big "Winches in Hell" shootout. With some minor mods to the bracket and the instructions, Warn would eliminate the only flaws we?ve found so far.

 

Our Thank You's!

We'd like to thank Warn for participating in our test even though they didnt have to. We truly appreciate their support!


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