heres my input on a 2500 lb gorilla winch install on the wifes sportsman 400. just a quick 3 to 4 hrs pain in the a$$.
1st pic is the front bumper assem. taken off w/ 6 bolts and nuts that hold it on. 2nd the mounting plate on is mounted w/ the 4 bolts (1/2") that hold the radiator protector w/ lock tight. 3rd is the winch and roller fairlead mounted on the plate w/ supplied bolts. 4th is front left wheel taken off to access the black plastic panel where the battery is behind and also the front bumper assem. back on. 5th. is the rocker switched mounted on left handle bar by master cyclinder. 6th is the wife ( damn straight shes working on her 4 wheeler, got to love that women lol) taking off the bracket for the battery box under the black access panle w/ the push in plastic connectors and the 2 bolts. this is the big pain in the a$$ hooking up the cables to the battery and routing them back tot eh conntactor. 7th is mounting the conntactor under the left rear fender on the frame rail w/ 2 bolts i drill straight thru and bolted them w/ 1/4" bolts and nuts. you have to remove the air box bolts and pick up the box to prevent drilling thru the air box and sliding the bolts thru so the nuts face out towards tire and then replace box. 8th is cables and rocker switch wiring routed thru holders behind left side panel. 9th is a bounce picture showing more cable routing and found where the 3 fuses are located lol. 10 th is where behind the black access(battery box panel) i zip tied the extra cable and routed the cables to the winch from contacter. last pic is finshed project. the pics i didnt take( to stupid to remember) was un bolting and pulling plastic fasteners out of front key pod assembly to run wiring from switch down to a orange female spade connector wire (factory wire coverd in black rubber) to hook the red wire from switch to the key supplied power. then run rest back thru same place as cables to plug in the plug connectors on contactor. then neatly zip tied excess(there is a bunch) the rest under small black pod and reassembled. im sure i left a few things out and i wouldnt say this is good as my buddy sheepdog does on his description(his are great and very detailed) but you get the idear. ask questions if you like while its still fresh in my mind lol.

 

what no comments lol.

 

Nice job. Looks like they had to work at it to cram the battery and radiator in there with that bigger engine too. Looks like a lot of air will be blocked from the radiator now. Let us know how the cooling works and if you have any overheating issues when you get some mud on the rad.

 

yea its cramed in there for sure. but for cooling this is why i made this [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I have one of those sprayers also, but its a pain to have to do that when everyone else doesn't have to and they hit the same holes I did. That's why I have an air cooled machine now.

 

Hey Stendori, nice PIC How to's. I was thinking at some point adding a winch
to the wifes bike too, but that is lower on my TO DO list. Hey we finally saw
Mrs.Stendori (a little I guess?) Well you know that saying "Behind every successful
man is a WOMEN!" -- So that is your hidden secret huh? Did she do the clutch
spring and front lift mods too? -- LOL, just hacking on ya man!

Mine, she barely goes 4Wheelin, I was stuck TODAY cleaning'em up too? Man what is a man to do? But we all
had a great time mudd'in and ATV'ng this weekend.

Good job, is this what is now expected to do winch installs on the 400s or is it
cuz it was the Gorilla product or both?

Cheers,

R'

 

hey big R she sometimes actually pressure washers them too. got her trained right(i think lol). no this set up is a bit.. no matter what the wicn brand is because of the battery location. the cables could have been a little longer for the contacter to the battery but other wise just time consuming. as far as the heating up vs air cooled ive seen in the warm weather the air cooled bikes loose alot of power when their hot. besides i run my 800 and w/ my friends who have differnt brute force bikes who have the same (but worse) clogging issues. we play hard in some good old mud so iwe dont mind a little extra cleaning time.