Hitch-mount Winch installed (with pics)

[Carloc]

3 ton is dead lift with snatch block 6 ton pulling force and a snatch block was included
Uses Amsteel synthetic dyneema rope so if is snaps everything just drops.
I have the Rivian recovery kit so soft shackles are used as well.
I have Maxtrax and a shovel so I would remove material not just try to pull through it.
I have not used this gear with the Rivian yet but I have used similar equipment to keep my Unimog from rolling over and sliding downhill, while using a hi-lift jack (much more dangerous), to rotate the front end around to point downhill on Mount Hood.

You clearly have solid experience… I will shy away from high tension lines and click my wireless remote from afar

I agree this is a temporary solution till they come out with the official one in the front bumper.

Sponsored

 

[Carloc]

Got it. I think this could be a really simple and smart way for Rivian owners to mount a winch. Look forward to seeing how it works out.

Two shortcomings from playing around with it today:

1) it covers a large portion of the rear camera (annoying as it would be nice to look at it while winching yourself back).

2) can’t lower the tailgate with that on (maybe some of those tiltable hitch extenders though I haven’t seen one sturdy enough to trust)

 

[HaveBlue]

You could build a 2" receiver rack in the bed to store it. Putting it up front may mess with distance sensors.

For manual winches, tractel ones are useful for recovery but super expensive.

 

[KrakenLand425]

Yup! I go off-road and my buddy who used to come with a modded Wrangler with a winch has moved to a Grand Cherokee 4Xe Trailhawk (awesome overlander but no winch yet), plus sometimes I go out solo.

We could off course use a kinetic rope but not all conditions make for good “hard yank”… sometimes a controlled winching is the way to go.

I will keep you posted on how it does, if I end up using it in the wild.

FYI total cost is ~$1k.

Someone has to forge ahead on the trail when there is a new game to learn. I like that you are making a go at it. Here is a good link to wench related option, with R1S/R1T in mind.
https://www.novawinch.com/news/evs-and-winches-rivian-and-more

The overall weight of the wench should also be a factor for EV Overlanding/Off-road as conserving "driving" power is different than consuming accessory power. The 12500/Sythetic model sneaks in at 68.2 lbs, per the manufacturer website. I agree that eventually a secondary battery system for things like lights and wenches will be required, if you want to cover any kind of reasonable distance. It's going to be a fun thing to experiment with. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Carloc]

Someone has to forge ahead on the trail when there is a new game to learn. I like that you are making a go at it. Here is a good link to wench related option, with R1S/R1T in mind.
https://www.novawinch.com/news/evs-and-winches-rivian-and-more

The overall weight of the wench should also be a factor for EV Overlanding/Off-road as conserving "driving" power is different than consuming accessory power. The 12500/Sythetic model sneaks in at 68.2 lbs, per the manufacturer website. I agree that eventually a secondary battery system for things like lights and wenches will be required, if you want to cover any kind of reasonable distance. It's going to be a fun thing to experiment with. Thanks for sharing!

I saw that, but the Apex has been thoroughly tested (Matt’s off-road recovery YouTube channel for e.g.) and seems sturdy and cheap. Comes in at 14 extra lbs but on a 7k lbs truck I felt was irrelevant.

I hope they build a winch bumper for us too, that would be super.

 

[Carloc]

You could build a 2" receiver rack in the bed to store it. Putting it up front may mess with distance sensors.

For manual winches, tractel ones are useful for recovery but super expensive.

I like the idea but I was not sure how easy is to anchor in our bed, and whether I would want it there permanently as it could be in the way of bed usage for cargo. Also I ah e not finalized my over landing loading (I have 7 pelican cases and a ARB Element fridge). For now I will strap things down, but long term might be nice.

 

[Thedude]

Someone has to forge ahead on the trail when there is a new game to learn. I like that you are making a go at it. Here is a good link to wench related option, with R1S/R1T in mind.
https://www.novawinch.com/news/evs-and-winches-rivian-and-more

The overall weight of the wench should also be a factor for EV Overlanding/Off-road as conserving "driving" power is different than consuming accessory power. The 12500/Sythetic model sneaks in at 68.2 lbs, per the manufacturer website. I agree that eventually a secondary battery system for things like lights and wenches will be required, if you want to cover any kind of reasonable distance. It's going to be a fun thing to experiment with. Thanks for sharing!

It’s not really forging ahead, having a winch on a hitch mount tray has been around for a long, long time. It’s especially useful if you have a receiver at the front and back of the vehicle.

Also, this is a wench:

This is a winch:

 

[Nine_One_Six_R1S]

Agreed! I don’t fully trust the small 12v batteries of the Rivian and anyway running long cables to the back would be a pain. They will eventually come out with a OEM front bumper winch but for the time being.

How do you foresee an OEM front bumper winch? would it be a bumper replacement, or use the tow hooks? maybe, Idk I'm just a noob on this.

 

[Carloc]

How do you foresee an OEM front bumper winch? would it be a bumper replacement, or use the tow hooks? maybe, Idk I'm just a noob on this.

I have seen some pics of a test Rivian I guess with a winch built into the bumper itself. I don’t know what is the underlying mount point, but it is fully integrated.

here something about it:
https://carbuzz.com/news/rivian-owners-discover-the-winch-option-is-now-available

 

[ghanvass]

Two shortcomings from playing around with it today:

1) it covers a large portion of the rear camera (annoying as it would be nice to look at it while winching yourself back).

2) can’t lower the tailgate with that on (maybe some of those tiltable hitch extenders though I haven’t seen one sturdy enough to trust)

Have you tried mounting it upside down? Assuming it just slides in the receiver. Should give you a better camera view, at least of the tension on your line, and may be able to put the tailgate down.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

Yup! I go off-road and my buddy who used to come with a modded Wrangler with a winch has moved to a Grand Cherokee 4Xe Trailhawk (awesome overlander but no winch yet), plus sometimes I go out solo.

We could off course use a kinetic rope but not all conditions make for good “hard yank”… sometimes a controlled winching is the way to go.

I will keep you posted on how it does, if I end up using it in the wild.

FYI total cost is ~$1k.

It works, used it a few months ago

 

[TollKeeper]

neat set-up but sad an "adventure" EV can't power it on its own.

Actually it could if he attached it to the frunk 12v battery, with a battery isolator installed, so it only charged when the vehicle was turned on. Finding a 12v reference point for the battery isolator would be the challenge, but it should be able to be done. Because of the voltage drop, you definity would not want to use the winch with the system active. May freak out the system.

 

[TollKeeper]

Now that I think about this a bit more... The "jump" point connections behind the rear bumper, are those 2 points hot all the time, or only during a jump? If they are hot all the time, it just got a LOT easier. Install a battery isolator with those 2 wires, find a 12v reference for the switched side, and connect your battery.

Could even use a set of those quick disconnect battery jumper plugs to make it easy for removal of your remote battery.
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Conn...locphy=9028724&hvtargid=pla-569277321020&th=1

Edit: The only caveat I can think of, is you dont want to have 2 dissimilar batteries. So you may have to buy a replacement battery for under the hood, and your remote, or buy a factory battery for your remote.

Edit2: Or what about the 7 pin trailer plug. It sounds like it might already have a isolator in it?

 

[kylealden]

while using a hi-lift jack (much more dangerous), to rotate the front end around to point downhill on Mount Hood.

What I learned using a hi-lift to pull my friend's Dakota out of a raging river is that I will never do that again.

At one point a rope snapped and the hi-lift moved about 45 feet in less than a second. That'll put the fear of god in you.

 

[dgennetten]

Actually it could if he attached it to the frunk 12v battery, with a battery isolator installed, so it only charged when the vehicle was turned on. Finding a 12v reference point for the battery isolator would be the challenge, but it should be able to be done. Because of the voltage drop, you definity would not want to use the winch with the system active. May freak out the system.

Would love to hear from someone who has done this successfully.

Sponsored