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Thread: Install of Carbon 12K Discreet Winch

  1. #1
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    Install of Carbon 12K Discreet Winch

    The culmination of some COVID isolation projects has been the install of the Carbon 12K Winch onto the Disco 4. Following on from the APT front, sump and air compressor guards, APT rock sliders, Oricom UHF radio and Safari snorkel it has been a busy but rewarding few months. I had been keeping a keen eye on other forum posts of discreet winch installs, with the view that the D4 front end is best sans bull bar! The surprising thing is that discreet winch installations pretty much come without a guide... certainly that was the case in installing the winch onto a Terrafirma style winch cradle in my case. I was very keen to see how others had tackled the task and inspired by their efforts and quality results posted in Aulro.com and other LR forums. This Terrafirma guide was helpful - tf097-lr3-bumper-discreet-winch-mount-fitting-instructions.pdf

    So I hope these photos are of some help to others:

    Part A:

    D4 Winch 01a.jpg
    The starting point... take a big breath and push ahead... there are a few very helpful YouTube videos of how to dismantle the D4 grill, headlights, bumpers, tire flares. All need to come off... along with the newly fitted APT front guard.

    Internal screw for front wheel flare.jpg
    Yes, you do need to remove the headlights so that you can get to the internal screws that hold the front wheel flares in place. The headlights remove very easily with the lift of the two tabs to enable the mounting bracket to slide off the two plastic mounting lugs on each side of the light.

    D4 Winch 02.jpg
    Remove the front bar. The 8mm high tensile bolts, 4 each side will be replaced with high tensile 10mm bolts. Drill out the existing nut captures. I used a step drill and punch to knock the capture nuts out quite easily once the step drill revealed the leading edge of the nut.

    D4 Winch 03.jpg
    The Dremel and plastic cutting wheel is very handy in removing the air scoop... yes, it all has to go to make room for the winch cradle and to provide clearance for the winch it self. You will find the external temperature probe runs along the back edge of this plastic scoop, unclip the cable mounts and the probe itself. This can be relocated up higher near the horn... see below.

    Winch 3a.jpg
    With the air scoop removed, you can tackle the 8mm bolt capture nuts ... 4 on each side.

    Winch step drill out to 10mm.jpg
    The winch cradle comes with 10mm HTS bolts and spacers to offset the back of the cradle about 25mm from the chassis mounts either side of the radiator. These 8mm nut captures can be drilled out with a step drill and punched through easily. Leaving a pretty neat 10mm hole.

    Winch punch out captures.jpg

    Winch 3b.jpg
    Exposing the mounting brackets with the air scoop removed. Take note that the plastic water reservoir for the windscreen wipers has a brass insert. With the Terrafirma winch cradle you will end up wedging the plastic wing of the reservoir with brass bush insitu between the chassis plate and the cradle mount... fill the gap with washers. All of the other 7 of 8 bolts will be spaced off the chassis plate using metal spacer bushes to ensure that there is sufficient clearance off the front of the radiator / turbo cooling coils.

    The winch cradle comes with some 10mm captures on a mounting bar... but these are really fiddly to fit in behind the mounting plate, so I replaced with HTS bolts and nylock nuts. The water reservoir slots in OK, but needs about 10 washers to fill the space.

    D4 Winch 04.jpg

    The Carbon 12K has a movable cowling that the clutch handle is attached to. You can undo the securing allen key screws and rotate to position the handle forward so that it will clear the surrounding metal work and project forward so it can be reached through the gap between the bumper and the plastic bar that the Hawse fairlead will be cut into.
    MY16 D4 SDV6 HSE 3.0L MOAB 265/60R18 KO2 - Carbon 12K Winch - DO 35 Hitch - RedARC TowPro - Rhino Rack Backbone & Pioneer Platform - Front Runner Ladder - 100Ah 'The Lithium Box' - Full Boar Fourbie Drawers & Travall - APT Front/Sump/AC/Sliders - Safari snorkel - Oricom DTX4200 - Cel-Fi - GAP IID - TyreDogs

  2. #2
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    Well done Naps. Great job and looks like your build is nearly complete. I suspect if met on the tracks somewhere the cars would look identical. Just fitted a Bundutop last week. Though to be fair the carbon winch is a decent upgrade on my Kings.
    Not planning on heading to the NT next month lol.?
    cheers
    Turtle
    2014 white TDV6, compomotives with BFG KO2, E-Diff, rocksliders, Redarc DBS, Mitch Hitch, TPMS, icom UHF, GOE compressor and bash plates, hidden winch Mount, GAP ID tool.

  3. #3
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    Install of Carbon 12K Discreet Winch - Part B:

    following on from where I left off....

    D4 Winch 05.jpg
    The Carbon 12K Winch comes with an important piece of kit, the isolation switch which can be installed securely in the engine bay. I chose to mount this near to the cranking battery case and running conduit covered leads into the battery box to ensure dedicated connection to the +ve and -ve terminals. (do not connect -ve to the chassis attachments... go direct to the battery). The mount is a galvanised house spouting mount bracket I had lying around :-). Mounted alongside the connections for the secondary lithium battery box that is in the back of the D4.

    D4 Winch 08.jpg
    The external temperature probe can be relocated and mounted up on the cross brace next to the horn assembly.

    D4 Winch 09.jpg
    Maybe overkill, but to protect against the potential of rubbing, all leads are protected in flexible conduit and the winch control solenoid is protected from mud and water to some degree by cloth tape. I also put a drain hole into the base of the controller box to assist in water escaping. you will not stop water from a river crossing getting in, but it will help to let it find its way out is my thinking. Also, one of the challenges of a discrete winch mount is that the controller is behind the bumper and not accessible, so I have securely affixed the manual control lead to the box and run it up to the driver side box in the engine bay.

    D4 Winch 07.jpg
    Be sure to attach the breather hose to the back of the winch motor housing before installing it into the cradle as it gets really tricky to install by feel later if you don't. I made the rookie mistake of installing the brass filter cap onto the tubing just to see how it fitted... mistake... the Shark Bite fitting securely grabs the tube as it is inserted and there is no way to disconnect. A good thing, but if you haven't cut the breather tube down to size, you will be left with a coil of excess tube to house (see above). Oh well, otherwise mounting the breather vent and the manual winch controller in the box alongside the brake fluid container is a good spot for both. I went to Bunnings and got a metal shovel storage clamp and is perfect for securely holding the controller hand piece in place.

    D4 Winch 10.jpg
    With all of the cabling secured in place with cable ties and numerous test 'fitting' to ensure there is room for all that is crammed into the space behind the bumper, you can now prepare to mark out the cutouts for the bushes that project forward from the winch cradle front face. Depending on the winch cradle you may find that the plastic bumper will come back flush with the plastic, but with the terrafirma style cradles there is about 10mm space offset and the bushes project through to hold the hawse fairlead clear of the plastic facior by about 20mm. You will need to get smaller 10mm high tensile bolts to screw into the threaded bushes from the winch side and leave enough thread for the bolts from the fairlead side to bolt the hawse home firmly. Centring the bush bolt holes to align the position of the holes you need to drill out with a step drill is a bit time consuming. But I found that setting up a timber jig that stood off the concrete carport floor that I could mark the centre of the holes then allowed me to transpose the same points onto the plastic bumper when in place... mark over masking tape and drill (check) drill some more... and adjust. The step drill will find its way to centre on the holes in the winch cradle if you go steady.

    D4 Winch 06.jpg
    For all of the cut-outs... and there is a lot to be removed, you will be best served by a Dremmel cutter with a plastic cutting wheel. Believe me, the initial cutting is a bit stressful, but after a while you will get stuck into it. Do lots of test fits and adjust the amount to remove / cut out. You can always take more out if you have undershot the sizing, you can't put it back. Also, you will need to cut out the upper surface of the black plastic bumper behind where the number plate used to be and the inside bottom surface of the coloured (white in my case) bumper to make room for the winch body and also to allow the winch clutch handle to rotate freely.

    D4 Winch 11.jpg
    I was concerned that the corner edge of the front section of the winch cradle would be squeezing into the space near to the front parking distance sensors, so I did a quick modification to the corners with a grinder, touching up with rust proof primer and black overspray. Everything is a snug fit... and as you can see I have not held back with the cable ties.

    D4 Winch 12.jpg
    The winch clutch handle will only clear if tilted forward at about 10 o'clock... another quirk of the Terrafirma winch mount with the Carbon 12K, but not always the case from what I have seen with other mounting solutions. Fortunately the Carbon winch handle is easy to adjust.

    D4 Winch finished product-a.jpg
    Happy with the final result after the most challenging install project to date. I went with mounting the number plate onto the bumper after considering long and hard whether to go with a hingeable number plate mount to go over the fairlead. Next to consider is whether to go with the winch hook or a Factor 55 flush mount. Always something to ponder! Anyway, having done all of the work... now it is time to get out and challenge it. We have a round oz trip planned for next year (if the borders allow) and I am sure that the Victorian High Country, a trip to Tassie and Cape York will give it a crack!
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    MY16 D4 SDV6 HSE 3.0L MOAB 265/60R18 KO2 - Carbon 12K Winch - DO 35 Hitch - RedARC TowPro - Rhino Rack Backbone & Pioneer Platform - Front Runner Ladder - 100Ah 'The Lithium Box' - Full Boar Fourbie Drawers & Travall - APT Front/Sump/AC/Sliders - Safari snorkel - Oricom DTX4200 - Cel-Fi - GAP IID - TyreDogs

  4. #4
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    Haha... thanks Turtle, we are planning a trip to the top end next year and a round Oz adventure. Providing the borders are open :-)

    Naps
    MY16 D4 SDV6 HSE 3.0L MOAB 265/60R18 KO2 - Carbon 12K Winch - DO 35 Hitch - RedARC TowPro - Rhino Rack Backbone & Pioneer Platform - Front Runner Ladder - 100Ah 'The Lithium Box' - Full Boar Fourbie Drawers & Travall - APT Front/Sump/AC/Sliders - Safari snorkel - Oricom DTX4200 - Cel-Fi - GAP IID - TyreDogs

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Naps View Post
    Happy with the final result after the most challenging install project to date.
    Quote Originally Posted by Naps View Post
    ....The winch clutch handle will only clear if tilted forward at about 10 o'clock... another quirk of the Terrafirma winch mount with the Carbon 12K, but not always the case....
    Nice work. Mostly the same as my install of the Carbon Winch into a Prospeed mount but I'm able to access the freespool lever without rotating it.
    Link to a few other installs in this thread:
    hidden winch on D3/4 with standard bumper and NO roo-bar

    Cheers,
    Scott
    D4 TDV6 MY14 with Llams, Tuffant Wheels, Traxide DBS, APT sliders & protection plates, Prospeed Winch Mount w/ Carbon 12K, Mitch Hitch & Drifta Drawers
    Link to my D4 Build Thread
    D3 2005 V8 Petrol
    Ex '77 RRC 2 door. Long gone but not forgotten.

  6. #6
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    Hi Scott,
    Yes I had seen your thread and was most impressed by your installation which led me to undertake my own adventure. Thanks for the feedback and links. The flush mount of the Prospeed winch cradle I think gives a neat finish, but possibly some more exacting Dremmel cutouts.
    Like you had posted in your hidden winch posts, I am now looking to ways that I can keep the winch well maintained while in isolation :-). Recently a group of us were able to head north to Lightning Ridge following the Darling River trail before the lock down ... no winching opportunities other than running the initial tension tests.

    Disco4 outback NSW.jpg

    Naps
    MY16 D4 SDV6 HSE 3.0L MOAB 265/60R18 KO2 - Carbon 12K Winch - DO 35 Hitch - RedARC TowPro - Rhino Rack Backbone & Pioneer Platform - Front Runner Ladder - 100Ah 'The Lithium Box' - Full Boar Fourbie Drawers & Travall - APT Front/Sump/AC/Sliders - Safari snorkel - Oricom DTX4200 - Cel-Fi - GAP IID - TyreDogs

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