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Wiring a non-Polaris winch

7K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  blueline15 
#1 ·
I'm looking to put a winch on my 2010 Sportsman XP 850 EPS. I asked my dealer about the Superwinch Terra 4500. Obviously, he wants me to buy from him but he said that it's a good "occasional" use winch but that the mounting bracket it comes with won't fit my ATV. Also, he said that Polaris is a plug in type connection and that I would have to strip, solder and connect the wires myself because Polaris won't sell the connector by itself. Has anyone installed this winch them selves and how hard is it to wire up?
 
#3 ·
I installed a Viper Max 4000# winch and the wiring wasn't too difficult. There are some instructions on this site for wiring. You need to locate a 12 volt hot wire that is key activated. On my 2011 850 Touring, it was located under the front cover (below the headlight). There were three wires (orange/white,brown/white). I put the tester on them and found one with 12 that was hot when the key was on and not when it was off. Other than that, you need to run the wires to the battery, the winch switch on the handlebars (and remote if applicable), the solenoid/contactor supplied with the winch, and to the winch. The hardest part for me was getting my hands inside the frame of the machine to get the bolts on to mount the winch.
 
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#5 ·
The warn contactor probably still wont be a plug and play. More then likely the switch from the superwinch will not fit the leads for the switch coming off of a warn contactor, which means you would either also have to buy a winch switch from warn as well, or cut the leads off of the contactor switch wires and solder in your own. It is never plug and play when you start mixing brands.

You can probably just use the factory installed winch wires that are on your ATV with the supplied contactor, as long as everything reaches.

Winch mounts plates are very specific. Does superwinch supply a mounting plate? If not, you are own your own to find one. The mount plate from KFI (click here) might work, but you will need to find out if the superwinch mount holes line up with the KFI bracket, and that also the winch/fairlead fit right as well. Again, when you start mixing brands, you are taking some risk. I dont know if this will all bolt up or not, but it might be an option.

If you want plug and play, the polaris winch kit is 100% plug and play and will come with everything you need to install it, including the mounting bracket. Compare final prices before you buy, it may be the same price to just go with the polaris winch. Remember to factor in shipping cost with the superwinch and mount brackets. Where are you planning on ordering the superwinch from?
 
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