Do you have a newer style Warn M8000 with the D shaped plug?
Don't want to pay $120 for a original Warn wireless winch remote kit?
Go buy yourself a $20 Harbor Freight Wireless Winch Remote and do this mod!
NOTE: if you have the older style WARN M8000 with the round plug. All you need to do is radius the inside of the plug and increase the inner diameter. Then follow the instructions on how to add a GROUND wire to the control unit and connect it to the winch. Done! Even easier if you have the old style round Warn as you don't have to cut 1/3 of the plastic off for the stupid D Ring.
1. Take apart the 2 screws from the side of the housing
2. Use a Dremel and cut the 1/3 the plug off. Line it up so the pins are oriented the same was as the Warn. Take a sanding cut and radius the inside of the plug to enlarge its diameter. Test on the M8000 till it goes in smooth but snug!
3. It should looks like this once trimmed
4. Take out your Harbor Freight Solder Gun and about 3 feet of wire. I had yellow 18ga on hand so I went with that.
5. Locate the GROUND wire on the circuit board. It's the BLACK wire seen in the image.
6. I decided to solder the yellow wire to the back of the circuit board instead of stripping and soldering it to the black wire.
7. Not my cleanest solder job, I messed it up on the first solder and had to redo it. It works fine and that's what counts. No one will ever see it, except when you share it on the internet like I just did. DUH.
Now Go outside to the M8000 and ground the yellow wire to the underside of the M8000 where the other grounds are attached. Plug in the HF unit and push the unwind button for a brief second and wind for a second. If it works, then you're good to go. Time to wrap up.
8. Drill a hole between the main wire harness and the green antenna wire and thread your new GROUND wire through this hole.
9. Get yourself some high grade silicone. I just squeezed a ton of it on to keep it as water proof as I can. Put the case back on and screw it down tight. Wipe off the excess oozing silicone and put a dab on the new ground wire and green antenna wire.
10. Get yourself some quick disconnect connectors. Take one of these and crimp it to the new ground wire coming out of the case. Now, cut yourself 1 foot of additional wire and crimp the other end.
11. The short 1 foot wire also need a spade crimped on. Take out your wrench and ground it to the bottom of the Warn M8000 where the other grounds are already going.
12. See the D Ring shape plug and the 1/3 moon shaped cut HF plug.
13. Plug in the HF connector and the 2 ends of the quick disconnect ground wire. Press the IN/OUT buttons on the wireless remote. Wear gloves and watch your fingers! Now ENJOY your cheap $20 modded HF wireless winch remote. You just saved yourself $100 bucks not buying a WARN Remote. Unplug and store inside the cab when not in use.
Do you want to hard wire this wireless control box to their WARN Solenoid unit? Follow these instructions from this guy on Pirate.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/electrical-wiring/1056230-cheapass-wireless-winch-remotes-work-awesome.html
This will allow you to put the wireless remote IN CAB and allow you to plug in the WIRED Warn Remote and run both at the same time.
I didn't see the need to have both usable at the same time. I'll just carry both wired and wireless inside and use one or the other. Plus having it inside the cab will allow it to last a lot longer than under the hood exposed to water and the elements. I'm sure the silicone will make it 99% water proof but I wouldn't trust this HF unit into submerged water crossings.
Don't want to pay $120 for a original Warn wireless winch remote kit?
Go buy yourself a $20 Harbor Freight Wireless Winch Remote and do this mod!
NOTE: if you have the older style WARN M8000 with the round plug. All you need to do is radius the inside of the plug and increase the inner diameter. Then follow the instructions on how to add a GROUND wire to the control unit and connect it to the winch. Done! Even easier if you have the old style round Warn as you don't have to cut 1/3 of the plastic off for the stupid D Ring.
1. Take apart the 2 screws from the side of the housing
2. Use a Dremel and cut the 1/3 the plug off. Line it up so the pins are oriented the same was as the Warn. Take a sanding cut and radius the inside of the plug to enlarge its diameter. Test on the M8000 till it goes in smooth but snug!
3. It should looks like this once trimmed
4. Take out your Harbor Freight Solder Gun and about 3 feet of wire. I had yellow 18ga on hand so I went with that.
5. Locate the GROUND wire on the circuit board. It's the BLACK wire seen in the image.
6. I decided to solder the yellow wire to the back of the circuit board instead of stripping and soldering it to the black wire.
7. Not my cleanest solder job, I messed it up on the first solder and had to redo it. It works fine and that's what counts. No one will ever see it, except when you share it on the internet like I just did. DUH.
Now Go outside to the M8000 and ground the yellow wire to the underside of the M8000 where the other grounds are attached. Plug in the HF unit and push the unwind button for a brief second and wind for a second. If it works, then you're good to go. Time to wrap up.
8. Drill a hole between the main wire harness and the green antenna wire and thread your new GROUND wire through this hole.
9. Get yourself some high grade silicone. I just squeezed a ton of it on to keep it as water proof as I can. Put the case back on and screw it down tight. Wipe off the excess oozing silicone and put a dab on the new ground wire and green antenna wire.
10. Get yourself some quick disconnect connectors. Take one of these and crimp it to the new ground wire coming out of the case. Now, cut yourself 1 foot of additional wire and crimp the other end.
11. The short 1 foot wire also need a spade crimped on. Take out your wrench and ground it to the bottom of the Warn M8000 where the other grounds are already going.
12. See the D Ring shape plug and the 1/3 moon shaped cut HF plug.
13. Plug in the HF connector and the 2 ends of the quick disconnect ground wire. Press the IN/OUT buttons on the wireless remote. Wear gloves and watch your fingers! Now ENJOY your cheap $20 modded HF wireless winch remote. You just saved yourself $100 bucks not buying a WARN Remote. Unplug and store inside the cab when not in use.
Do you want to hard wire this wireless control box to their WARN Solenoid unit? Follow these instructions from this guy on Pirate.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/electrical-wiring/1056230-cheapass-wireless-winch-remotes-work-awesome.html
This will allow you to put the wireless remote IN CAB and allow you to plug in the WIRED Warn Remote and run both at the same time.
I didn't see the need to have both usable at the same time. I'll just carry both wired and wireless inside and use one or the other. Plus having it inside the cab will allow it to last a lot longer than under the hood exposed to water and the elements. I'm sure the silicone will make it 99% water proof but I wouldn't trust this HF unit into submerged water crossings.
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