Warn 4.0 Winch Installation (Honda Rancher):

As you may of heard Warn has a new 4.0 winch out which is a significant upgrade from the 2.5 and 3.0 Warn.  What you may not have heard is that the 4.0 winch can be used on ATV's but it can create some real challenges during installation and for use in general.

You'll quickly find out that for most ATV applications you'll have to fabricate your own mount due to the difference in the new 4.0's bolt mounting pattern compared to the 3.0 and 2.5. The 3.0 / 2.5's old bolt pattern is 4.88" inches compared to the 4.0's 6.60" inches. This not only changes the mounting area required, but can create issues with mounting all together due to the bolt pattern matching that of the frame exactly (as is the case with the Honda Rancher).

So to even get this beast mounted can be a challenge. This was later solved by taking the original mounting plate and first centering the new 4.0's with its needed measurements and then drilling out those holes to 1" diameter. Thus allowing a socket to be used when tightening the soon to be countersunk mounting bolt heads.

This was achieved by first making sure the bolts used had the same thickness as the original mounting plate. Then secondly by taking two strips of 1/8" steel and welding them directly over the 4.0's mounting holes (which were drilled out to a 1" diameter). Now with the strip of steel welded over the holes you could now drill the correct size hole to accommodate the Warn provided mounting bolts. This allows the winch to mount but with the bolts countersunk to miss the frame and only raised the winch 1/8" which still leaves plenty of room for mounting.

The next challenge was where to go with the remote control plug.

After careful consideration we decided to mount it with a custom mounting plate and weld it directly to the front rack by the oem 12v outlet.

This allowed the wires to quickly run down under the front plastic and yet still be in an easy area for quick and simple access when needed.

The next challenge was running the power wires from the motor side of the quad to the battery. This was done by running the wires through the oem wiring harness area and back under the seat to the battery.

Now it was time to figure out where to mount the 4.0's contactor. We decided to go with it to a fairly water proof area and that was the Rancher's storage compartment. We drilled a hole between the battery plastic and the storage compartment in a 1" diameter. Reason being was we were now working on the biggest problem with the Warn 4.0's installation on a Honda Rancher; the needed power supply to run the winch.

Unlike the 2.5 and 3.0 Warn winch the 4.0 takes drastically more battery storage (and suggested cca's from Warn) to correctly work.

WARN WINCH / Min. Battery required / AMPS Drawn at full pull

Warn 2.5 / 12amp an hr. / 204

Warn 3.0 / 12amp an hr. / 202

Warn 4.0 / 500 CCA / 308

As you can see the Warn suggests a 500CCA minimum battery for the 4.0 compared to that of the 2.5 and 3.0 using a 12amp an hr. minimum battery. Not to mention that at full pull the 4.0 draws 100 plus more amps than either the 2.5 or 3.0.

After talking to local Warn dealers, ATVFRONTIER member's and other experts it was decided that the best way to accommodate the Warn 4.0's power needs was to run another battery in parallel with the oem battery.

This would not increase our cca's, or provide more volts, but it would increase the stored battery energy (amps) and thus give the limited stored power a boost with badly needed storage of more amps.

We decided to go with a NAPA motorcycle battery with approx. 200cca that would fit into the rear storage compartment of the Honda Rancher.

Our hope was that with the increased stored amp's this would help the oem battery not to be run down and assist the charging system to better cope with the increased amp's being drawn between use and down time of the Warn 4.0 winch.

So now with the plan in place we set in the parallel battery in the storage compartment and then added foam around the battery and between the contactor and the battery to prevent bouncing and rupturing of the parallel battery.

After complete installation it was time for a test. With the engine running and after approx 8 to 10 minutes of test pulls it showed no signs of bogging the battery and power supply down.

With further real life use planned there will be updated reports and reviews on this installation. In the mean time, it took a little work, some hard thinking and most importantly some patience to correctly install the Warn 4.0 for use in the Honda Rancher. But the goal was to allow the use of the 4.0 but without the fear of shutting your quad off and having a dead battery. Hopefully we have accomplished this goal and it can serve as help for others wanting to use the Warn 4.0 on their ATV.

Special thanks to: ATVF Members: Kenny, Klondikejim, Silvertipgrizz. Six States Distr. Warn Specialist Dan (Soldotna Store) and my father Leland Monroe