My winch came installed from the factory. I have installed them in the past and its no big deal, but yes you will most likley need to take off the rack, or at least part of it.

 

Okay. thanks for the info. Is it a big deal to take the rack off? I wouldn't think it would be, but I don't want to get into something that will end up being a big deal inthe end.

 

what kind of quad do you have?

 

2006 Sportsman 500 EFI H.O. I just got it this past Saturday. I ordered a winch for it on my way to Wisconsin to pick it up. Hopefully it will be in before Friday so I can install it for the ride I am going on Friday night.

 

cool, nice ride!!
Im sure its a cake deal to insatall.

 

cool thanks for the info!!! Once I get some pictures of it I will post them up. I am able to post pictures on here right? I am new to the site. I just registered today.

 

06sportsman500, if you have the 06 Sportsman you should not have to take the front rack/box off. If you got the Warn kit from Polaris it does require you to take off a couple of plastic panels temporarily, but not the front rack. The front rack has a small panel that is near the headlight pod that has to come off but beyond that it is pretty easy. A couple plastic panels, some wrenching, etc. Took me about 1 hour altogether.

 

cool thanks!!! I can't wait to tackle it this friday hopefully!!

 

When I put my Warn 3.0 on, I stripped my whole front end. It was WAY easier..

Heres how to do it.. Its really easy.

Cargo rack, there are 4 gold bolts on top, take those 4 out,
on the back side of the cargo rack there are 2 torx head screws, look where the lid latches down, look down in the holes, you will see the screws,

Look under the fender above the front wheel, 2 torx bolts there.
All this comes out the whole rack lifts off.

Go to the front bumper There are 4 ? bolts there, pull off the 4 bolts and the headlights clips and the whole front bumper comes off.

The front plastic, 2 bolts holding it on by the front gas tank, take those off, up front by the headlight there are 2 plastic rivits holding it on, take those out by prying the center rivit up with a flat screwdriver, be careful not to damage. Go to your floorboards, pop out the 2 rivits on the front. THe shell should shimmy off, its kinda a pain to get the shell off the top of the tank, oh yeah take off the gas cap too, it takes some shimming to get it off, dont worry you wont break it, its pretty durable.

Take all this off you have total access to the winch area.

When I installed my 3.0 I threw away all the mounting bolts and went and got stainless bolts. The ones that came with my Warn snapped off when i torqued them down.. THe mounting plate I got stainless bolts and nylon lock nuts. The ones with the piece of nylon in the end of the nut. I fastened the mount using the bolt & nut.

After tearing apart the quad I would say to totally strip mine now I could do it in under 30 min..

The reason I tore my plastic off was the Warn 3.0 wasnt a polaris plug and play version, i had to split my winch ground and power lines to make them work with the warn contactor.

Dont be afraid , it is really simple. Putting it back together just reverse the steps, dont lose any of the plastic rivits. When i took mine apart to keep from losing the bolts after i had the part out i just put the bllt back int he bolt and gave it a turn or two..Also when placing the front plastic back on you have to again shimmy it. It feels like you are going to bend it all up but it goes on at a weird angle. I angles mine towards the left tire, after the shell slipped over the tank it just popped on.