Connect winch to alternator?

[Chris S]

Hooking the winch to the alternator will be the shortest wire run and will be easy to do. I figure if the alternator is not providing enough juice the power will run back from the battery up it's connection to the alternator.

Any reason not to do this?

[Toynut]

No dont do it .

I think that will draw too many amps and cook your alternator.

[Toyrantula]

Don`t bother. Use the battery.

The battery has way more amperage stored in it than any alternator could produce on demand.

if hte length of your wiring versus resistence is a concern, just step up to a larger gauge of wiring. 2 gauge would be excellent for your 8274.

Word of rule is to ALWAYS make the ground the same gauge or bigger than the ground, since electricity flows from negative to positive.

Another good thing is to look into gold plated battery terminals and ring connectors etc. The gold plating (on the better quality stuff) wont leave the dreaded battery terminal corrosion which means more resistence.

Think about using ANY high strand count wire as it is more flexible. Rockford Fosgate even has a semi flat desing of power wire out now. You can even get colors to match your Jeep.

[Toyrantula]

Fogot to add. If you do draw straight from the alternator, it will cook itself. The diodes will blow and you will be stranded.Bad idea.

[Chris S]

OK, no alternator connection.
I figured there must be a reason it wasn't hooked up that way before, but thought I'd ask.