Adding a Portable Rear Winch to Your Jeep Wrangler

Adding a rear winch to your Jeep Wrangler can be tough, but a forum member has come up with a great way to add a portable setup with the hitch assembly.

There are a great many options for adding a winch to the front of your Jeep Wrangler, but without making significant modifications, it isn’t quite as easy to add a winch to the back end. Fortunately, forum member “Rednroll“ put together a great DIY that illustrates how to use the rear hitch assembly to add a winch that can be stored in a small bag until you need it.

The Plan

When “Rednroll” introduced his portable rear winch setup, he explained why he came up with this idea:

“A while back I picked up a HF Badlands 2.5K winch open box item for $35 during one of their tent sales. The regular price is $78, but you can often find a coupon for it for $50. I figured for $35, what the heck I’ll find a use for it. Took it home, tried it out to make sure everything was there and was working and it all checked out.

I finally got around to figuring out a use for it. I already have a 12K winch mounted on the front in my AEV front bumper but was thinking having a smaller winch in the back could add some conveniences.

My intended uses are the following which I think this winch should be able to handle.
1. Hunting: Pulling a downed deer out of a field. They can get heavy and I’m not getting any younger.
2. Camping: Dragging large logs for camp fires.
3. Yard Work: Pulling brush and bushes
4. Winter: Pulling cars out of 12in+ snow/ice that often get stuck on the roads in my neighborhood before the road crew plows the roads.

Of course most of this could be done with my front winch, but having something smaller for these smaller tasks seemed easier to manage, and less effort to wind it up and put it away.”

That intro post also detailed all of the items that he purchased to add the portable rear winch to his Jeep, with pictures of each item- all of which cost him just $135.

The Build

With his second post in the build thread, the OP explained how he built the portable winch rig, using a universal hitch receiver:

“The easy part was mounting the winch and fair lead on the hitch receiver winch mount. However, I decided that I also wanted the control box and fuse also mounted on the hitch receiver so it was a complete assembly that could just be connected to power.

I considered permanently mounting the control box and fuse to my JK but then considered I wanted this to be a portable winch setup where I could just connect the complete assembly to a battery. As well, this would likely prolong the life of the control box not having it constantly being exposed to the elements if permanently mounted on the outside of my JK.”

Finally, he explained how he tested the portable rear winch setup:

“I tested it out by putting my JKU in Neutral and setting the parking brake and did this to wind the rope onto the winch with tension on the rope. I did a snatch block double pull setup and a single pull setup without the snatch block and the winch pulled my JKU with ease.”

Of course, there are far more details and images in the build thread, so if you are looking for an innovative way to add a removable/portable rear winch to your Jeep Wrangler, click here to check out the DIY thread.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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