Cobra4B

Time for a winch I have a 18-ft Sweet Rivers Trailers full deck trailer.



1. What brand do you have?
2. General specs (weight capacity, draw line material, etc.)?
3. Intallation (where, how, power supply)?

My initial thoughts are to install a winch in the front of my trailer and have it wired into the trailer power supply so it's powered when the truck is hooked up. Do they have on/off switches so I could turn the wich off when not in use? Do you use a winch box or bolt it directly to the trailer deck?

Thanks

FastZR1

Talk to Tony Watson. He had a winch on his open trailer and maybe you can look at his.

Cobra4B

^ Cool... I'll drop Tony a PM

bb69

I don't know exactly what you mean when you say wire it into the trailer power supply, but there is no way the harness for the lights/brakes will support a winch. A winch will need battery cable type connections. You need to mount a separate battery for the winch on the trailer. You could probably hook it up so the truck was charging the battery, but that might even be more than the stock wiring can handle. I would say plan on having a deep cycle battery mounted on the trailer, and then charging the battery after each time you use it.

Ken

EDIT: Here is a pretty basic winch. http://www.winchdepot.com/PDT37053.aspx It's rated at 0.9HP, which is about 670 watts. Using a 12V battery, that means you will need about 56 amps at 100% efficiency to run the winch. You don't want that much current running through the trailer harness.

Here is a good page I found for selecting the right size winch: http://www.superwinch.com/Trailer_Winch_Selection.html

XPC5R

I use a superwinch GP serires 2300lb unit. You can see it here at Summit

Very small and lightweight (14lbs) and easily pulls a car up the ramps, or the trailer to the car if you leave the car in gear

You should wire it directly to your trailer battery (assuming it is a normal marine/auto style) or have a high amp plug at the back of the truck for it. Good time to upgrade the trailer battery to a marine unit. I use a small honda sized optima I had left over from a car build, and it will run the winch all weekend.

Cobra4B

^ So I would upgade my trailer battery to a car style battery, have the truck charge the battery when plugged in like it normally does, and then wire the winch into that?

John Shiels

95jersey

Great topic, been thinking about this myself. I am not thrilled having to drive up my trailer. You sometimes apply to much power or not enought. A winch would be sweet. Also, forbid something happened and I couldn't get it on the trailer.

question, what is the minimum rating we need for a 3200lb car?

Bill Dearborn

Or you could use one of these wiring kits and use the truck electrical system to run the winch http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...5&autoview=sku . Just plug into the connector on the truck and away you go.

Another way to go that avoids the hassle of batteries and long cables is to use a 2 speed manual winch like this: http://shop.easternmarine.com/index....categoryID=197 It is also about half the price of an electric winch and will work all the time. I used to have one of these on my boat trailer and it worked just fine. The boat weighed more than my Corvette and didn't have big 26 diameter wheels so pulling it onto a trailer wasn't as easy as pulling a Vette onto a trailer.

Bill

spazegun2213

this may be a little OT, but what truck is that? and can it tow a vette well? I'm looking for trucks at the moment, which is why i ask.

Cobra4B

It's a 2004 GMC Canyon... I inherited it from my Grandfather last March. I decided to keep it and mod it to tow vs. buying a bigger truck. It makes a supurb daily dirver which it is most of the year.

I've added the following and I can 100% say it tows safely and w/o issue. I've done panic stops, cruised at 70+, been passed by big rigs, etc:

1. K&N series-77 intake
2. PCM4less heavy towing tune
3. Valley load-sensing trailer brake controller
4. Air-lift ride control helper air springs
5. Equalizer load distribution hitch w/ sway control
6. B&M auxillary air/liquid trans cooler (ties in after oem liquid/liquid cooler)

The truck makes around 200 rwhp w/ the mods. It's a 3.5 liter I5, automatic (4L60E same as the fullsize), 2wd.

I've towed to VIR and back 3 times with it. The Corvette on the trailer is about 5100lbs and I have my box full of tools and the bed full of spare wheels/tires, and fuel jugs.

The factory rated capacity is 4000lbs, but it's underrated as the GMC sonoma/ Chevy S10 it replaced was rated at 5900lbs w/ a weaker chassis, less HP, etc. GM has upped the rating for '07 w/o any changes to the truck to better compete with the other mid sizes in the market (Tacoma, Dakota, etc.) that have higher capacity.

My trailer has brakes on each wheel... combine that with the load sensing brake controller and the truck stops like it does unloaded. The Equalizer hitch keeps the load in line

A few pics of the setup:





Oh... and now that we're tracking the Panoz it's 600lbs lighter than the Vette so that'll help too. Panoz on the trailer will be around 4600lbs.




*No I didn't tow it w/ the cover on... was just checking it out.

Bink

..................oh, I thought you were asking about our EXES! That would be a wench.....................not a winch.

TRACKMAN2

i just recently remodeled my trailer... i use a 3500# winch this time i welded a reese receiver to the front of the trailer... then i welded the winch directly to a ball mount tounge that way i can remove the winch in the winter or i can use it in the truck reciver if i need to... i keep a big marine batery in the trailer tool box ii can use it to power the winch and lights that make it nice when loading at night .......i also mounted 2 spot lights that are wired into the plug the center pin on a gm plug that connects it to the back-up lights they shine down either side of the trailer and are sweeeet especially in tighthotel parking lots.... i also have a 2 guage wire on a racing style cut of switch that can suply full batery power to the back bumper... i doubt a regular wire from a harness will run any decent size winch.. i can jump the car with it ... and i use it to run the hydralic pump on my dump trailer if its battery goes dead... and i can even jumr my truck when its nosed in at walmart paking lot and my batery goes dead.. its just kinda embarasing to tell the tow truck driver to stick it in my rear end...

2000BSME

I bought a 2500lb winch from Sams club with all the cool stuff already packed... Welded a reciever on my trailer, and I plan on using the trailer plug + to power the winch. The plug is fused for 40 amps right now, and that could be enough to straight up power the winch, which comes with a 50 amp circuit breaker, or maybe I should just buy a trailer battery.

John Shiels

i need a winch then I can get my 5.5" clutch that you can't slip! I want a Ramsey winch.

The Spark

I've been thinking about putting a winch and battery inside my enclosed trailer and mounting a solar charger on the roof to keep the battery charged. Wonder if that would work?

I guess I could also tap into the charging circuit that goes to my trailer's battery.

Would a battery last long enough to pull a car into the trailer?
As long as the tires roll, there really isn't that much strain on the winch.

Falcon

Yes.

I've got my trailer battery wired into my hitch hot wire and charge it as I'm driving to the track. I'd disconnect the trailer pigtail from the truck when using the winch.

YorkL8apex

Brian shot you a pm, the trailer is at Lakin's so I can't check the make and capacity but will see if Bill will check it for us.

John Shiels

need like a 3 amp or better solar charger.

Cobra4B

I'm going to take the trailer over to Portsmouth Trailer Supply and speak with them about a winch setup.

They did a fantastic job installing my brake controller and doing a full 7-pin wire up on my truck. The canyon only comes w/ a 4-pin so I needed a full wire. Everything was wire loomed and installed just like I would have done it... it looks like an oem option.

Thus, they'll get my repeat business.