As project Big Bad Chevy takes shape, it’s time to get Warn’ed! Warn is one of the industry’s most recognized off-road product manufacturers. Aftermarket accessories make life much easier while on the trail and can certainly help you out of a tough situation, and we decided to install a couple key items every off-roader should consider equipping on their vehicle.

Warn Industries was founded in 1948 by Arthur Warn, whose first products were locking hubs for surplus WW II Jeeps that converted them to on-road vehicles. In 1959, Warn produced his first winch. With the rugged design of this winch, Warn quickly became the industry leader and has since produced hundreds of products dedicated to the off-road enthusiast.

Warn's Hidden Hitch was the perfect setup for our truck since it works with our existing bumper.

We needed a way to mount our old winch without building or buying a custom front bumper. Warn has a ‘Hidden Hitch’ front receiver kit designed specifically for our year truck. It mounts to the frame just behind the factory bumper using factory frame holes. We found it very easy to install by following the detailed instructions, and it fit our frame perfectly with no need for drilling or trimming parts. Simply remove the front bumper, bolt it to the frame with the supplied hardware, and reinstall the factory bumper.

Warn's Winch Cradle slides right into the Hidden Hitch receiver.

To hold our winch, we used Warn’s Winch Cradle. It’s a heavy-duty steel mounting plate with handles on each side to make the winch portable. It slides into the Warn Hidden Hitch or a rear receiver hitch, so it can be very handy if you need to winch from the front or the rear of your vehicle. The kit comes with two cables, with one that connects to the winch and the other that connects directly to the battery. The cable kit has a quick-disconnect connector for easy removal. We also installed the rear quick connecter kit, which has the proper cables, a solenoid to provide power from the battery to the winch, and an in-cab switch to power the solenoid.

Our Warn winch installed on Big Bad Chevy.

To get power to our winch, we used Warn’s power interrupt kit along with its quick connect power cables and jumper cables. This kit allows safe power connections in both the front and rear of our truck to a winch or jumper cables. The power interrupt kit consists of a large solenoid, short battery cable, in-cab switch and mounting hardware. It is used to safely connect higher power accessories to the battery, and makes it possible to disconnect power through the solenoid and switch. The quick connect cables are massive cables that are run to the front and rear of the truck.

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Warn Air-Power SPI compressor

Our most used Warn item is the Warn Air-Power SPI air compressor. This compressor has a max pressure rating of 100 psi and has a build in 1/3-gallon air tank/intercooler. It’s large enough to handle light-duty air tools but compact enough to be mounted just about anywhere.

Since we would mainly be using this to air up our tires after a day on the trail, we decided to mount it just behind the cab under the truck bed. We removed the tube frame/carry handle and mounted the compressor to a piece of angle iron that we bolted to the truck frame.

For some added protection from the elements, we bent a piece of scrap aluminum around the compressor and left each end open for some air flow. We ran air hoses from the compressor to each side of the truck and mounted the connectors to the truck steps so we could use it on both sides of the truck if needed.

For power, we removed the toggle switch from the compressor’s housing and mounted it in the cab of the truck. We made a wiring harness to connect the switch to the compressor. We connected the built-in heavy-duty power cables directly to the battery.  The Warn SPI compressor has proved to be extremely useful on the trail. We are able to air up our 39-inch tires from 15 psi to 50 psi in a matter of minutes. This is a quarter of the amount of time it took with our tiny, older portable compressor.

For added protection, we bent this piece of scrap metal around our compressor.

When you are building your rig, Warn is a great option for more than just its well-known winch systems. The company also has a wide range of off-road accessories for trucks, Jeeps, ATVs, UTVs and more. Warn is one of the few companies that builds a tough product and stands behind it 100 percent. We're happy with our newest additions, and we look forward to inching one step closer to the completion of Big Bad Chevy.

Contact
Warn Industries
800/910-1122
www.warn.com