How to Choose Winch Capacity and Parts Needed for Quick Connect Winch Wiring

Question:

Hello, one more question if i may please reference the winch i want to purchase CU854768. It says vehicle recovery capacity 4,000 lbs and my vehicle is 4700 lbs what if i double the line to a tree doesnt that disperse the weight of the line and there for make it?

asked by: Gus

Expert Reply:

Long story short, that's not going to work for you even with a double line pull using a snatch block like the # CU881079. In reality, you need at least 1.5x the GVWR of your vehicle when it comes to winch capacity. The # BDW10044 I mentioned as a better choice would be the bare minimum you'd be able to get away with and still be able to recover your 2019 Nissan Frontier from a situation that required a winch. The 6000-lb capacity ComeUp # CU854768 is not going to work with your 4700-lb (unloaded) vehicle.

Not having enough pulling strength when you're stuck in the mud is going to leave you stuck in the mud, so I really can't recommend going with anything less than 1.5x the GVWR on your vehicle when it comes to the total capacity of the winch; the Bulldog # BDW10044 is going to get you almost 2x that. If you wanted to stick with the ComeUp brand, you could go up to the ComeUp # CU859112 which has a 9000-lb capacity.

A couple of other things that should be noted when it comes to winches and recovery. First, you only reach your peak pulling strength when your winch is spooled out quite a bit, because the higher gear is engaged. The other thing I'll mention is that you should avoid wrapping your bare winch line around a tree or any other "lever"; it creates a dangerous situation where the friction can cause your line to fray and snap- you'll want to have a tree strap like the # CU881091 and D-rings like the # RA8611 handy for all recovery situations, plus the snatch block mentioned above.

With any of these systems you would still need to add the quick connect cables, since it does not come equipped with them; for that you'll want to use the Bulldog # BDW20207 (24 feet) or # BDW20043 (16 feet) and # BDW20133 (to have 2nd set of quick connect at front/rear). These come with quick connect terminals at one end and ring terminals at the opposite end so you will have to do some wiring, but it's pretty straightforward. You can create your own quick connect coming from the battery using the Bulldog wiring kits above and the # BDW20133 terminals and then use one of those wiring kits to give you the long connection to the rear of your vehicle.

This winch will have instructions on how to wire the connection to your battery using either a quick connect or hard-wire. Once you piece together all of the quick connect plugs, it will be fairly easy and that will likely be the most time consuming part of all of this.

expert reply by: Erik B

Ed K.

7/20/2020

Need to know what size motor a Fulton XLT 10.0 Marine winch has. Want to permanent wire suv for it using quick connects. Need about 19-20 ft. Will 6gauge wire be good? Should I go to 4 gauge?

Chris R.

7/24/2020

I checked with Fulton and for the XLT 10.0 Powered Winch the recommended wire gauge depends on the length you're needing to use. For 10 feet you'll want to use 6 gauge, for 15-20 feet 4 gauge, and for 25 feet you'll need to go up to 2 gauge wiring.