Breaking news, your car trailer attachment is incorrect. We’re not pointing fingers at you for this. Such errors occur when the right guidance isn’t available.
What’s the fuss about hitching your car trailer properly? Well, unless you like spending your hard-earned money fixing your car’s frame, you shouldn’t bother to learn how to mount a winch correctly.
This post will give you all the ideas you need to mount a winch on your car trailer properly.
Winch mounting ideas for different types of car trailers
You can mount a winch on your car trailer in different ways. We have covered some of the most popular ideas you can use below.
Flatbed Car Trailers
There are a couple of winch mounting ideas you can use for your flatbed car trailer. For one, you can get a hitch-mounted winch plate that has a handle. Also, get a 2-inch receiver to weld or bolt to virtually anything. The best part is that you can use the winch anywhere there is a receiver measuring 2 inches.
So, install this winch on the railing of your flatbed trailer, if it has any. If it doesn’t have a railing, you can use a winch mounting plate with U bolts. Then you can mount the winch to the frame of the trailer.
Now, the advantage of using this mounting idea is that your winch would be easily removable.
Gooseneck Car Trailers
When you talk about durability, you are talking about the gooseneck trailer. This trailer has a load capacity that other trailers can’t even get close to. This trailer is capable of towing other cars and even tractors! Using a winch with this trailer makes towing twice as easy as you are used to.
Like every other trailer, you have to mount your winch perfectly, to prevent towing accidents. These accidents could end up costing you the cash you can spend elsewhere. Let’s get a winch mounting.
To mount a winch on this trailer, get a custom winch mount. Make a sign on the center of the trailer and the mounting plate. Weld your custom winch mount to the trailer’s low deck, then place your winch. Join a D Ring to the winch to maximise the potential of your winch.
Tilt Deck Car Trailers
People love their tilt deck car trailer, and it is easy to see why. You see, tilt deck trailers easily change angles. This makes this trailer a gem when you are trying to unload heavy loads which are difficult to handle. In addition, this trailer saves you some cash as you wouldn’t need a ramp to unload.
Mounting a winch on a tilt bed trailer will not stress you so much. An idea you can follow is getting a winch plate mount. Then you can attach a hitch combo bar to your tilt deck car trailer. Also, mount a trailer hitch tow ball on the winch for tightening.
Open Car Trailers
Open car trailers are powerful when looking to lift some heavy load. To mount your winch on an open car trailer, think about getting a square tube receiver. Weld this receiver to a square plate. Bolt the square plate on the floor in the front of the trailer. Voila! Your open car trailer is now ready to use.
Enclosed Car Trailers
If you are cautious, you should go for an enclosed trailer. It reduces the risk of your haul falling from your trailer.
So, your expensive loads will be safer to haul using enclosed car trailers. If you want to mount your winch on an enclosed trailer, you can mount it on the trailer’s floor. You will be using a bracket to do this.
Also, you can attach a winch to the trailer’s frame.
How to install a removable winch on a car trailer?
- What you want to do here is get a 3/16 inch plate.
- Then, cut it out, bolt it on the bed of your trailer and mount your winch on it.
- Weld your ball mount receiver to the plate.
- Now get a 12-inch extension tube.
- You can reduce the tube size if necessary, then fit it into a small section of your trailer. This won’t work if you don’t raise the tube by welding it on a cut iron similar to the tube.
- The cut-out iron similar to the tube should be at the base of the cross member.
- Measure your winch plate and create holes in the wood where the bolt from the plate will slide in.
- With all of these in place, you should be able to slide your mount into the extension tube easily.
- This is where your 2-inch receiver comes as it slides into the tube. Easy peasy.
- Don’t forget to get your wires out of the way.
- Pin your receiver along with the winch to prevent it from sliding out as you tow.
How to power the winch battery?
Using the Vehicle’s Power Source
First, only use this method for light or medium use. Ensure that the vehicle’s battery has at least 440 amps and a 60 A alternator. So, choose a comfortable spot at the back of your vehicle to join the quick disconnect. The quick disconnector has two wires, a long power cord and one shorter ground cord.
Ground your shorter cord to a neat metal surface on your vehicle’s frame. Bring the power cord from the vehicle’s back to the front where the battery is and connect to the positive terminal. Next, connect a different wire from the negative terminal to a safe grounding source. Install a circuit breaker with which the long power cord connects to the battery.
Install a disconnector to route to the trailer coupler at the end of the positive and negative wires. This disconnector will connect to the disconnector at the vehicle’s backend.
Using Power from Separate Battery Mounted
You can use a separate battery mounted on the trailer to power the winch. You don’t need to rely on the vehicle’s battery here. Also, you can disconnect the trailer from the vehicle and still use the winch when you need it.
Mount an external battery and the winch with the necessary connections in a toolbox to get maximum use from the battery. You would have to bolt the toolbox to the truck. Okay, connect the winch to the mounted battery as you would for an in-vehicle car battery. Also, you will need to install a circuit breaker just as you would do for an in-vehicle battery.
When operating the winch, remove the trailer’s connections from the main vehicle’s connections. If you leave the said connections without disconnecting, there will be an electrical overload. This overload would damage the entire circuitry along with the battery.
How to keep the trailer winch battery charged?
When Battery isn’t Dead
The best way to charge your winch battery is using a 120-volt battery charger before you tow the trailer.
First, connect the power cord from the 7-way connector on the trailer to the positive terminal of your winch battery. Get the shorter ground wire from the winch battery negative terminal and attach it to the trailer’s frame.
When you do this, you will be able to maintain the battery charge in your winch battery while your vehicle engine is running. So, while towing, your battery remains charged.
When Battery is Dead
When your trailer battery is dead, using your vehicle battery and a 7-way connector won’t work. It is a terrible idea. Using a vehicle battery with a 7-way connector is only significant for maintaining a charge.
So, in this situation, what you want to do is to get a DC to DC battery charger. The DC to DC connects with your batteries directly and gives your dead trailer battery the charge it needs. You can also use this DC battery charger and hook them to a solar panel if you can afford one.
FAQs
1. Where do you mount a winch on a trailer?
It depends on the type of trailer you want to use;
- For a flatbed trailer, mount a winch on the trailer railing. Another option is to mount a winch on a mount bracket on the trailer bed using bolts.
- You can use a bracket and mount your winch on the trailer floor for an enclosed trailer. However, the winch must be about 6 inches above the floor.
Essentially, you can mount your winch in any style, depending on your trailer.
2. Where do you hook a winch when not in use?
It depends. You can cover it and book it to a tow hook.
Another option is to spool the line and cover it with a quality neoprene cover.
