[Wingnut]

Yeah, no! I'm gonna side with the OP on this one!

I have EVERY Manual or Instruction Sheet ever written or provided by Warn Industries on the installation of their VRX and Axon series winches (probably SIX in number), and there is NO (zero!) reference to mounting the switch using the brake handle screws. Nada. If you have one, please post it here in rebuttal!

And I'll leave it at that for now, before I start getting into my well-warranted views on Warn documentation, because it AIN'T pretty, plain and simple, and they damned well know it!

Inaccurate, incomplete or missing parts lists, hardware kits missing key items, screws, bolts and nuts the wrong size or missing altogether, yada, yada. I was able to get my winch and plow assembly all mounted-up just fine, and I'm perfectly happy with it, but it wasn't no 1-2 hour job, and it didn't happen without several trips to Fastenal (a premium hardware provider). Mostly minor and easily resolved, but the winch, winch mount, plow mount, push tube assembly and plow blade, all had some sort of an issue that slowed me down!

Bottom line? Warn Industries needs to take a long, hard look at whoever it is that they've contracted with to draw-up their documentation. No doubt! And yes, it's a rather trivial point in this instance (the winch switch), but again, based upon everything I've ever seen from Warn on paper, the OP has it right in this instance.

Disclaimer: Your mileage may vary.

 

[Wingnut]

Twern't no printed "insert" for the rocker switch inside any of the instruction sheets, manuals or hardware bags that I received, but I can totally see Warn doing so, because I've seen it happen with other instructional items of theirs, like the plow mount/push tube assemblies. In fact, I've got two totally different instruction sheets here for the VRX-2500 winch, which are completely different renditions (different instructions, different illustrations, etc.), for the very same piece of equipment, one (outdated), which was enclosed in the product packaging, and the other (newer), that was printed on-line from (I believe?), a commercial vendor's website.

And to be clear, the rocker switch thing didn't really matter to me much, because in the end, I chose to use the bar clamp approach. Checked with a couple of local dealers, and apparently, they tend to use that approach too, since it's easier and cheaper to replace a stripped screw, than a threaded (tapped) cast aluminum brake lever housing. In addition, it doesn't really sit any higher than the brake lever approach, and only slightly to the right of it (by less than an inch), which in my case is a good thing, because it helps me avoid inadvertently hitting the neighboring round green ignition button, when the motor is already running.

 

[Wingnut]

One thing on the brake lever screw, mine was that way and when I changed out my handle bars one of the first things that I did was to strip that bolt. I then planned to just get a longer bolt and nut to take care of it. But once I had the longer bolt I found that there were plenty of threads left to put it in and tighten it to the correct torque.

I have no idea if Warn puts a longer bolt into the winch mount kit. Since I picked up my Kodiak used and with the winch already installed. I would also wager that a 1/4" longer bolt is quite a bit cheaper than a handle bar clamp.

This is no way defending Warn for their instruction sheets. I have dealt with them for years but I figure that most of those who purchase Warn products are mechanically inclined and it doesn't take too much to figure out just what to do as far as the installation of plows and or winches if you have been around tools.

But then there is always the saying that the first thing that men do is to open the box of parts, dump everything onto the ground (loosing needed parts) then throwing the instructions away with the rest of the cardboard and plastic wrappings. They then try to put together the parts finally realizing that some bolts are too short and others are way too long. They then go to the trash or chase the trash truck down the road waving their arms to retrieve the instruction sheets only to find that in that parts list that a few of the parts that they dumped on the ground are now lost forever. After two or three trips to the hardware store to pick up new bolts ( the first couple of trips they got the wrong ones, SAE for Metric or wrong grade). Then once everything is together they will find the lost hardware right where they dumped it, but it now that extra hardware either goes into the trash or the bit's and pieces drawer never to be seen again.

Yikes! That's quite the sordid saga! Fortunately, I'm not one to "dump" things on the floor or to chase garbage trucks, and frankly, most of the Warn hardware kits come in sealed bags with visible part numbers printed on them anyway, but I will say that it can get to be a dicey handful when you do as I did, and install EVERYthing, all at once (winch, winch mount, contactor relay, rocker switch, plow mount, push tube assembly, and plow blade), because albeit segregated in small plastic bags, it amounts to about the same thing . . . a wild mixture of hardware, along with OEM hardware that had to be removed from the Yak (i.e., front rack bolts, skid plate bolts, fender well bolts, yada-yada), and other accessory items that you may have purchased yourself (e.g., custom 12v cables, wiring lume, Nylox lock nuts, hose clamps, etc.).

It was a journey for-sure! One that involved some minor fabrication in my case (strap pulley for the plow), and one that took 'numerous' hours to fully complete, but I'm very pleased with it.

Plus, on a multi-component job that diverse, you always seem to end-up with an unidentified bolt or two that leaves you wondering what you may have missed? It may have been a duplicate supplied by the vendor, it may have been replaced by something shorter or longer (the 1"x M8 bolts on the front rack for the front cargo box), or you may truly have overlooked something. Who's to say?

But the one thing I do NOT overlook, is printed instructions. That's a fool's errand.

 

[Wingnut]

When I did my front mount plow from Warn I must of read the instructions a dozen times trying to see what was wrong when the bumper didn't want to be remounted. I then did some looking and found where the bumper was contacting the plow mount on the right hand side. Well, the plow mount needed to come back out and I pulled the grinder out and placed a notch in the mount. Then when I went to mount the bumper everything went together the way it was suppose to.

So what went wrong? Wrong mount? Was it cut wrong? I have no idea, I got it mounted with just a small piece of metal missing from the plow mount. I thought about calling Warn but decided to just not to worry about it.

But when I did the under the frame mount on my 2000 Kodiak the instructions were fairly complete, even the part about having to cut a notch in the skid plate.

Yeah, I've gotta admit, I had some alignment issues with mine as well. There's gotta be a total of 12-15 or more attachment points between the winch mount, plow mount, frame and front bumper, and I had a 'biatch' of a time getting them all lined-up correctly.

In the end, I got them all lined-up and attached by at least some portion of the threads on all bolts, except for two: the two carriage bolts that drop through the square holes on the front platform of the winch mount, through the plow mount directly underneath. They simply would NOT line-up. The distance between them was fine, but both were off (forwards/backwards), by about 5/16". I had to take a triangular rat-tail file, and tediously file those two square holes in the winch mount open, until both carriage bolts dropped through into the newly opened square holes and through the round holes in the plow mount. Royal PIA!!! Took me over an hour just to do that!

 

[Wingnut]

Smart!!! In my case, I wasn't expecting the rather sizable misalignment of those two square holes, because if you'll recall, they are both already elongated somewhat (into rectangular holes), at the time of manufacture by Warn. So they must have learned over time, that that particular alignment was a bit problematic on certain apps, and they simply elongated them to resolve it. Unfortunately, in my case, it was in the opposite direction of the elongation, and to rectify it any other way, would have involved removing the whole danged thing all over again (winch, winch mount and plow mount). No-sir! Homey don't play that game!