Jeep owners who use their vehicles for what they were designed to do are normally independent folks with a sense of adventure.  Jeepers enjoy backwoods exploring as a group or alone.  The group can work together to fix a mechanical problem, aid each other in vehicle recovery, and worst case, get help if someone gets hurt.  Adding a winch to your Jeep cannot fulfill all the benefits of exploring with a group; but, it can add considerable independence to your explorations as well as aid others when you with a group. 

Most folks reading this page own a short wheelbase (SWB) Jeeps that have an advantage when considering the purchase and installation of a winch.  The SWB Jeeps are not so heavy they require a large winch and the bumper configuration allows easy mounting.  The first questions people normally ask when considering a winch is "how big" and "what kind".  Many people will say, "buy the biggest winch you can afford" and there is some logic in that.  To get the job done, a winch with a capacity 1.5 to 2 times the vehicle weight is normally recommended.  For a SWB Jeep, this equates to a 6000 - 8000 pound capacity winch.  The question of what kind can be argued over many a campfire.  By far, the most common winch is electric.  There is hydraulic and power take-off available, but you see these much less on the trail.  The PTO and hydraulic winches require the engine to be operating when the winch is in use.  I have been using electric winches for over 20 years with very good success.  On three separate occasions, I was not able to have my engine running due to imminent water ingestion yet was still able to winch the rig to dry land where I could make repairs.  For my 1999 Wrangler, I chose Warn's HS9500i.  I made an informed decision after visiting several manufacturers web pages and comparing feature for feature and price.  The HS9500i's unloaded line speed (speed the winch retrieves the wire rope with no load) is 62 feet per minute.  With the possibility of having 125 feet of wire rope spooled out, it is important to be able to get the wire rope back on the drum quickly. 

Winch installation on the TJ is very straightforward.  The winch manufacturers can provide a winch mounting plate or you may choose, as I did, a combination bumper/winch mount/brush guard.  My combination unit is made by Custom 4X4 Fabrication and came predrilled for many of the popular winches available including the HS9500i.  Warn provided the Grade 5 mounting bolts that were inserted from below the bumper making it necessary to assemble the winch and bumper combination before installing it on the Jeep.  Two bolts for the roller fairlead, four for the winch and six to attach the bumper make this job a snap.

After the winch is in place, you need to run the positive and negative wires to their respective battery terminals.  I cannot stress enough the importance of ensuring the electrical wires are routed away from sharp edges.  The cables will be exposed to constant vibration and movement causing the insulation to slowly wear away and creating an electrical short.  This occurred to me some 20 years ago and caused a rather expensive electrical fire.  To help prevent this, I cut some heater hose and slid it over each cable where they are routed under the grill and along the body panels.  Once your battery connections are made, you are ready to stretch the wire rope.  A new wire rope needs to be stretched under at least a 500-pound load to ensure the layers are even and will not cut into each other when used under full load.  To do this, I find a slight grade away from an anchor point and spool out all the wire rope so the Jeep is only prevented from rolling backward by the wire rope.  As the wire rope is powered in, make sure the layers are evenly dispersed on the drum.  Use caution to keep you hands away from the fairlead when spooling in the last few feet and your job is complete.

For more information on winch operation, go to

http://www.off-road.com/jeep/cherokee/xjtrail/winching.htm