Ground connection for trailer winch

Mike_F · June 30, 2020

A question fro the tech guys.

Is there any additional parts available for a high amp ground connection at the battery for a winch?

Running some 6 ga wire from the battery to the bed of the truck for a boat trailer winch connection with a 80 amp fuse at the battery

The positive connection(1st pic) seems pretty straight forward with a lug under the 5/16" bolt at the post with a short( 6-8") cable to an fuse holder and then to the rear of the truck

The neg connection is somewhat of question.

The 5/16" clamp bolt (#2) has a captive nut with upturned ears on the bracket and does not look like a lug can fit under it.

The second bolt (#1) is only a 1/4" and seems a little weak as a connection point

Actually the whole ground bracket seems really flimsy and weak.

Another possibility is the ground stud (#3) that recommended for jumping the vehicle.

Last question is #4. What is it? Current sensing?

Suggestions for a correc/good ground connection would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mike_F · July 1, 2020

TTT

kde776 · July 21, 2020

On my older trucks I drilled a hole in bumper or hitch somewhere and put in a 7/16 or 3/8 stainless bolt in it which I would clamp my ground from the winch to. With a power cable ran under the truck to the battery....running a 8000# Ramsey winch.

I just bought this 2020 2500hd last week and was more confused about where to hook the positive up. In my older trucks I had heavy 2/0 cable ran under the truck that had a clamp on it, I would connect to the battery. When I popped the battery cover, all my cables as I have them wouldn't be able to connect.

I haven't started to explore where to mount my ground cable off the winch.....

pewterliftedz · July 21, 2020

There should be a ground strap mounted to the firewall with a nut, you could use that too.

Whippy62 · September 24, 2020

did you find a good place to ground the wire towards the back of the truck? I'm doing the same thing and I can't figure out where to put the ground wire. Everything is coated in black stuff.

BlancoSilverado · September 25, 2020

FYI, 6 gauge is only good for 55-65 amps, you might want to use 2-3 gauge wire its rated 85-95 amps.

Mike_F · September 25, 2020

Quote

did you find a good place to ground the wire towards the back of the truck? I'm doing the same thing and I can't figure out where to put the ground wire. Everything is coated in black stuff.

I have not done the installation yet but here is my plan.

Inside the bed on the driver side I will have an Anderson plug mounted.

I have a cap on the truck so it is protected from the weather.

One Anderson lug for the hot will be a #6 ga and the ground will be a Anderson #2 lug with 2 -6ga black ground/neg wires into the lug.

One black ground neg wire will run to the engine compartment with the positive cable and connect at the neg jump stud on fender.

The 2nd black ground neg wire will be much shorter and mount to a bolt into the frame directly below.

In looking for a nonexistent convenient bolt connection, I have decided to just drill and tap for a mounting bolt into the frame for a 2nd ground point.

I will remove the undercoating and use a serrated star washer with the bolt for a good connection and then coat the connection with Daubert X-121B.

This redundant ground with a tapped bolt connection into the frame worked for 12 years on my previous truck so I will just do the same this time.

Quote

FYI, 6 gauge is only good for 55-65 amps, you might want to use 2-3 gauge wire its rated 85-95 amps.

The original wire harness was 8 ga and I left it installed on the old truck and worked fine for 12 years.

When I checked into a replacement 8ga harness from the original winch manufacturer., it was 50% more than a 6ga harness from a different winch manufacturer, hence the 6 ga on this install.

Edited September 25, 2020 by Mike_F