I just picked up my 03 kodiak 450 this weekend and got the warn winch. Any suggestions on where to mount the solenoid. I was going to put it in the bos under the seat unless someone else has a better idea. Thanks.

 

i think that is probably one of the best places to put it. My dad has a winch on our big bear 400, and i think he put it in the same spot.

 

That is where I put one.

 

My solenoid is in the box under my seat. I hate it there because there is very little storage already and it's taking some of it. It was already in there when I picked the Kodiak up. If I would have had a say I would have mounted it under the rear fender somewhere. The unit is pretty small way very much in the way.

 

I have a Y2Kodiak and put it in the storage box also. You have to weigh the advantage of keeping it dry, in the box and losing space, over putting it in the rear, as others have suggested. I would think that it might get pretty nasty if you ride alot in the mud. Plus I don't know if I would trust those boots over the connections to keep it from shorting out. Just my 2 cents. BTW how do you like your 450? I was thinking of selling mine and getting one. I like the diff. lock and the protective cover over the rear brake. The older models eat rear brakes from all the mud and stuff, I think.

Mark.

 

dbare,

I mounted mine on the outside under the fender and never had a problem with it for about 6 months. I use to ride in the mud all the time. If I had to do over, it would be on the outside so I didn't lose the under seat storage.

I took the winch off after six months because it weighed the front end down and I rarely used it. Even when I did, I could have gotten by with a strap. I neve ride alone so I always had someone who could pull me out. For me, the winch was not worth the loss in handling.

/NotuRaptor

 

I went under the seat as well. I would rather keep the thing dry and clean and ready for use any time than have the extra 6 cubic inches of storage (or whatever it takes) and risk a problem when I really need it to work.

I think a rear rack bag thingy is a better place to store all of the stuff people thing you should carry around and will probably get one in the spring unless Santa thinks I have been good.