Kawasaki’s new Teryx 4 UTV is a great choice for rock crawling, and trail rides on more technical types of Terrain. The improved clutching system, and power steering has proven a huge improvement over the 2 seat model. With this in mind we installed a Bulldog Winch and mounting bracket on the OffRoadPress.com workhorse.The primary use of this vehicle is trail riding with the family, and working around the ranch so racing has not been considered for the build of this vehicle. In the coming weeks we will be on a mad thrash fest to prepare the vehicle for a true test of its capability as we attend the Moab Jeep Safari in Utah. That’s right Jeep Safari! We are going to see what this thing can do against Jeeps at the mecca of Jeep events. First here is a step by step guide to installing a Bulldog Winch.



SXS Performance hooked us up with the 3500lbs synthetic rope Bulldog winch and Teryx Mounting plate for this build. The retail price of the winch was $459.05 and the plate was $106.97 you can find them available at Bull Dog Bulldog 3500lbs UTV Winch :: Side By Side and UTV Parts Warehouse - SXSPerformance.com

The winch was fairly easy to install and took a couple hours with my 15 year old son Cody doing most of the work. The first step was to assemble the winch and mounting plate using the provided hardware. I wanted something a little more custom so we opted out of mounting the solenoid on the winch motor.



The hardest part of the installation was removing the factory screws ow the front skid plate. The relatively new Teryx has already seen some mild off roading and the screw heads had to be cleaned. Rather than chance stripping the heads we opted to use an impact driver to break the screws free.




I have had this Impact tool since the late 70′s and has served me well when working on factory installed screws. it seems normal to need this item on Japanese motorcycles after nearly a life time of working on my bikes, so we were not surprised by how tight the screws where. A couple good hits with a hammer and the screws where free. In the process we broke one of teh screw heads off, but a reverse drill bit made short work of it.



Here you can see the factory winch location provided by Kawasaki. In the future we mat cut this portion of the frame off to increase our approach angle, but for now the stock location will work fine. Note: Some after market bumpers move the winch location onto the bumper.



Here you can see the factory provided holes for the winch plate. our Bulldog winch utilized these holes so no drilling was required.



We grabbed a shot of the measurement so that you can verify your winch will bolt right up.



The Bulldog winch dropped right into teh area, and the provided hardware made installation a snap.



Winch installed and factory skid plate reinstalled.



As you can see the winch fits perfect tucked in between the factory sway bar, and the bumper mounted firmly to the frame.



Moving onto the wiring. We changed the wiring from the stock configuration to accommodate the remote location of the solenoid. This required us to simply change the provided wires but no cutting was necessary. We simply switch the long and short wires on the solenoid posts.



A positive and a negative to the Battery, and a Positive and negative to the winch.. To mount the solenoid. we chose a spot above the power steering motor. First we removed the plastic cowl, and related dash parts. In order to verify the location we removed these pieces, but if you have done this before you could do it with out removing the plastic. The bracket that holds the Power steering motor offered a perfect solid mounting position.



Because we would be unable to hold a nut on the back side of the solenoid we tapped the 3/16 material to accommodate a 1/4 20 machine screw.



Here you can see the solenoid test fit before we reinstalled the plastics. We applied Loctite to the screws to help keep these from coming loose.



Here you can see our wire routing using the factory tie straps. The solenoid fits nicely above the power steering motor. The switch comes with a couple options. First both an in cab and remote switch is provided. At this time we did not use the remote switch, but the wiring allows the use of one or the other, and both. The provided in car has a bracket that lets you attach to a tube, flat mount or if you want a clean look, you can do what we did and take the switch out of the housing, and flush mount it into the dash. With the dash top removed you can see a host of options.



After we tested the switch, we reinstalled the plastics. We did have to remove the solenoid and drill two holes in the plastic to accomplish this. The solenoid looks like a factory installed piece using this method, and hides nicely under the hood. A future project will find us adding an additional battery and we may revisit our winch wiring as such.



The Bulldog winch offers an affordable option for those who wish to save a little money over a Warn. There are a number of affordable options on the market, but what interests us about the Bulldog winch was that a large portion of King of the hammers racers where using Bulldog as opposed to Warn. Very few other manufactures where represented at King of the Hammers giving testament to the durability of Bulldog. as most know King of the hammers requires the toughest parts to succeed, and we based our choice on that. So far the winch has worked flawlessly but we will be testing it on some of the hardest 4×4 trails this year and we will report back. Next up for our Teryx 4 project is the installation of 4 heated seats from PRP, a Long travel Industries kit, and a custom built roll cage.
Photos of Kawasaki teryx 4 Bulldog Winch install.

Teryx 4 Winch install

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