Having a hole in your winch bar is never good. It needs to be filled. For one main reason, so you don't need to scam help from your mates if you get stuck.
Above mentioned hole has been calling for a winch, so after speaking with Duncan at Runva winches, the decision was made to install a Runva 11XP.
The Runva 11XP features a rated line pull of 11000lb (4999kg), a 4.9kw/6.5hp motor turning full steel 3 stage platetary gears. The gear ratio is a low 230:1 with an automatic brake featuring a load holding screw cone.
This big red powder coated winch also comes with 26.5mtrs of Dyneema rope and a limited lifetime warranty.
Once the order was placed, I received a nice big box to my front door. After getting the winch installing expert to inspect the box, it was opened to find a wide array of parts, accessories and one hell of a heavy big red winch fitted with Dyneema Winch Rope.
The box includes the winch, hawse fairlead, wireless remote control, 3.7m corded controller, assortment of bolts, two different mounts for the control box, clevis style safety hook, fabric winch cover, snatch block, and other accessories.
The manual included in the kit was perhaps a little on the light side for information. It included a wiring diagram, full exploded view, maintenance, trouble shooting and safety tips. Perhaps details for installation may be helpful for the novice, but considering the vast array of possible install situations, its understandle being left out.
Our application for the Runva 11XP was to go behind a ARB Winchbar on our touring Jeep XJ Cherokee. The first thing needing attention with the winch was to rotate one end of the winch housing to allow for the clutch handle to protrude from the notch in the ARB bar.
This may not need to be done if mounting on top of a bullbar though. While having both motor assembly and gear housing off, we applied a liberal amount of grease as it seemed a little light on.
Installing the winch is very straight forward, a Blue, Yellow and Red wire are premounted in the control box, which are connected to the winch motor as per the diagram in the manual. A separate black earth wire is also included as well as a smaller black earth wire for the control box. Ample wiring is supplied for most applications.
Two mounting brackets are supplied depending on your requirements for the control box. We mounted the box onto one of the spotlight brackets on the ARB bar. We were unable to mount it in the centre as you would with a ARB box due to the hand controller plug fowling with the bar work.
Also supplied is an aluminium Hawse Fairlead due to the fact the winch comes with Dyneema Winch rope. With the ARB Winch bar, it is designed to run Fairlead Rollers, which are not recommended with Dyneema rope. The Hawse fairlead had no mounting points with our configuration so we needed to fabricate a plate with a stud to accommodate. Simply drilling a hole in the front of the bar would not have worked due to the winch motor and gear housing being flush on the inside. Depending on applications, this part may well be a good edition to a already well thought out kit.
XJ Cherokee
HG Premier
Runva 11XP Winch
