So I finally started mock up on my Kwiklift winch.
Bought some 1/4" steel-drilled some holes, made some cuts.
Still have to shape and weld everything but decent progress today. Got the 9000lb winch cheap from HarborFreight few months back.

 

Sweet!!!

 

Nice. That is exactly what I'm gonna do. What are you using for a 12V source? (I don't want to use the car battery.)

 

I am using the car battery.

 

Very nice setup. Need to do something like that soon in order to get the chassis and body up the ramps to complete my restore. Never new about throwing something over the line so if it cut loose it would 'nt go flying. Pretty neat!

 

is that 2"X2" tube? What size are your pads? Look like 4"X4".

Looks great, have to do the same.

Thanks

Russ

 

Not that overkill is ever a bad thing but I run a 3500 lb winch on my 4 post lift to drag the car onto the lift if it is not running. I mounted it in a similar fashion. On the crossbeam of the lift. Easily removeable when not in use. I have a spare battery that I use for it.

 

The tube is 3"x3" and the pads are 6"x6". All 1/4"
I made some good progress today-I'll shoot some pics tomorrow. Still have to grind/clean it up but all the welding is pretty much done. I am also going to add couple of brackets to attatch ratchet straps to so the car doesn't have to rely on the cable to hold it when the driveline is out.

 

Lol-it is overkill
In my defense I did get that winch for just over $200 from HF so not a huge amount of $$$.

 

Does the battery alone work pretty well for you? I was concerned maybe not enough juice when not connected to a running motor.

 

Yes it has plenty of juice. I rolled the car back off the lift and then back up on the lift and the battery never lost any power. It pulled it back on no problem. Most batteries will have plenty of juice as long as it has a good charge.

 

Whats the best way to get a good connection to the battery from the winch?

 

This seems like a great idea. I sold my quick lift because I realized I had no way to put a disabled vehicle up on it.

I am curious how this works when you actually go to use it. I am no engineer but I do recall times putting my car up on the quick lift where the boxes would kick under a little "bottom would tilt in" when the vehicle was being pushed on or driven up in normal use. It was unsettling to see the boxes tilted so i would pull off again and had to ensure that I had small leader ramps going to the main ramps as the tires on the car would actually push the quick lift forward if they didn't have a smooth transition onto the ramps.

I am wondering if the boxes will tilt under when you apply pressure to them when using the winch?

Do you have the same size or bigger plate steel inside the box as you do outside the box for mounting the cross bar? You have what looks like 1/4" plate out there and the box itself is pretty thin. I am concerned that the winch is going to try and "turn into" the direction its pulling and try to rip the winch off the boxes at the bottom most bolts. An internal plate will spread out the forces of the cross bar trying to turn or rip out in the direction that the winch is pulling.

Very interested to see this work ... I may have kept my quicklift if it had this provision.

 

Hmmmmmm that IS a good point and I thank you for bringing it to my attention. I'm going to work on that.

 

 

Well I have everything grinded down and mocked up. So what do you do think? I was thinking that because the spool exits on the lower part of the winch and the guide is low that the winch really won't have the leverage to twist and pull those bolts through like you were suggesting. I definately plan on using some larger washers on the backside and I'll keep an eye on if the mount is trying to torque when I first get to use it. I plan on posting a vid as well.

 

That looks awesome and I think it will work just fine.
R

 

Are you pulling a dump truck on this? This is so heavy duty you could pull 80,000 lbs with that setup. I bolted mine to the cross post of my lift with 2 5/16 u bolts. It never moved a bit. To pull a car with tires that roll you do not need huge bracing, it rolls. I'm certainly not knocking this at all. It is good fabricating but I work with steel all the time and your sizing of the steel is more than adequate.

Here is my cheap butt setup. Pulled a 79 up no problem.

 

Hey Gordonm you bolted your winch to the Kwik lift crossmember. the metal cross piece for jacking a car already on the lift????
Thanks
Roger

 

Picture above on my 4 post lift. Took a little to load it up.