- A 12V winch wiring diagram has seven conductors. Two to the battery, four to the motor, one antenna.
- Motor side, by colour, from Warrior's manual: F1 yellow, F2 red, A blue, earth black.
- The cable is heavy because a 10,000 lb Gladiator draws 365 amps at rated pull.
- Warrior publishes no cable gauge, so none is quoted here. Use the leads in the box.
- Engine running, every time. The manual says so and says why.
1. Start With the Number
365 amps.
That's what a 10,000 lb Gladiator V2 pulls out of your battery at rated load, on the first layer of rope, per Warrior's engineering data sheet for the exact part number Murphy's sells.[2] Not a spike. Not for half a second on start-up. That's the steady draw while the line is tight.
Everything else on this page comes out of that one figure. The whole table, because its shape says more than the top number:
| Line load | Current draw | Line speed | Duty cycle, min per 10 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 lb | 50 A | 36 ft/min | 5:00 |
| 3,000 lb | 150 A | 15.4 ft/min | 1:50 |
| 6,000 lb | 260 A | 10.5 ft/min | 1:20 |
| 8,000 lb | 300 A | 8.2 ft/min | 0:55 |
| 10,000 lb | 365 A | 5.9 ft/min | 0:30 |
Read the last column again. At rated pull you get thirty seconds of winching in every ten minutes. Wiring isn't what limits you there, but wiring is what turns a hard pull into a melted connector if any of it is undersized, loose or corroded.
One note on precision. Warrior's web spec table lists 355 A at 10,000 lb where the data sheet says 365 A.[2][4] The data sheet carries the duty-cycle column, so it's the one quoted here. Size for the bigger number.
2. What's in the Box, and What Isn't
Before you buy anything, know what already ships. Warrior's list for the Gladiator V2 F-Type:[4]
- The winch
- 2-in-1 rechargeable remote, wired and wireless
- 7075 aviation-grade aluminium hawse fairlead
- 16,000 lb rated hook, removable
- Synthetic rope, 0.35 in × 82 ft
- Heavy Duty Battery Leads
- Isolation Switch
- Control Box Relocation Plate
- Stainless mounting hardware and the user manual
Three of those are the electrical install. So a Gladiator arrives wired for the job. You're not shopping for parts, you're deciding where they go.
Now the part nobody puts on a box. Watch Rick's crew hit the same problem in the field, four days into a haul to Alaska:
"We got to get some battery cables for our Warrior winches. And I think it's cheaper just to buy the jumper cables and cut the ends off. Stand by."— I Traveled 3,571 Miles To Rescue A Veteran In Alaska... Will The Ice Hold?
That's what happens when a winch goes on a rig it didn't come with. Two Warrior winches, receiver-hitch troughs fabricated on the road, and the one thing they were short of was cable long enough to reach.
"Time to get to work, folks. Here's the plan. We're going to put these two Warrior winches in these two winch plates. And then we're going to mount them to the bumper. Right there and right there."— I Traveled 3,571 Miles To Rescue A Veteran In Alaska... Will The Ice Hold?
3. Which Wire Goes Where
Six conductors plus an antenna. That's it.
Battery side. A red long wire assembly to battery positive, a black to battery negative, both landing on the control box.[1]
Motor side. Four leads, each labelled in the manual by terminal and colour:[1]
- "Connect to Motor F1 (Yellow)"
- "Connect to Motor F2 (Red)"
- "Connect to Motor A (Blue)"
- "Black long wire assembly (connect the earth terminal on the motor)"
F1 and F2 are the field windings. A is the armature. Swapping which field lead is live is what reverses the drum, and that is why direction switching happens in the box rather than at the motor.
The black one is not an afterthought. A winch earths through that lead, not through the bumper it's bolted to. Skip it, or land it on paint, and you've built a circuit that works right up until it's carrying 365 amps.
One more line from the manual, worth reading twice: "Poor installation contributes to approx 90% equipment or winch damage."[1]
196:1 planetary gearset, 6.1 hp motor input, 0.35 in × 82 ft synthetic rope with a full-length abrasion guard, 16,000 lb rated hook, 7075 aluminium hawse fairlead. Wired and wireless remote to 50 ft. Thermal overload protection, external brake, IP68, 7-year warranty. Ships with heavy duty battery leads, isolation switch and a control box relocation plate. Made by Warrior Winches USA.
4. What the Solenoid Does
Your thumb can't switch 365 amps. Something has to, and that something is the solenoid, also sold as a contactor. Warrior's manual defines it in one sentence: "Solenoid: Power from the vehicle battery flows through the weatherproof switch before being directed to the winch motor."[1]
So a winch has two circuits, not one. A small signal circuit from your remote to the coil. A large power circuit from the battery, through the contacts, to the motor. The remote never carries the load. It just tells the solenoid which way to close.
How much can those contacts take? Warrior's own heavy-duty contactor, sold for winches from 8,000 lb to 25,000 lb, is specified at "Max Amps = 600 A" and "Voltage = 12v", and works with "both series wound and permanent magnet motors."[3] Six hundred amps of switch for a 365 amp motor. That margin is the whole design.
Ever had a winch that clicks and doesn't turn? You just heard the coil pull in while the contacts failed to pass current. The diagram is fine. The switch inside the box is done.
5. What Size Battery Cable Does a Winch Need?
This is the question people arrive on this page asking, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a confident one.
Warrior does not publish a gauge. Not in the Gladiator V2 owner's manual, not on the engineering data sheet, not on the product page. All three were fetched and read for this article. So there's no number here, because putting one here would mean making it up, and an undersized cable on a 365 amp circuit is a fire, not a typo.
What is published: the winch ships with "Heavy Duty Battery Leads" already sized for it.[4] Use them. Need more reach than they give you? Run length changes the answer, so that's a conversation with an auto electrician who can measure your truck, not a chart that can't.
Rick's crew solved the same reach problem by buying jumper cables and cutting the ends off, in a parking lot, 3,500 miles from home. That worked because he knows what gauge a jumper cable is and what he was asking of it. Field repair by a professional, not a wiring instruction.
One more electrical fact rather than a warning: the manual says a battery isolator "is strongly recommended," and that failing to fit one "will result in voiding any warranty offered."[1] On the Gladiator V2, one ships in the box.
6. Where the Control Box Mounts
Factory position is on top of the winch, and for most installs that's where it should stay. The leads are cut for it. Warrior also ships a Control Box Relocation Plate, which is the manufacturer saying moving it is supported[4] — you need that when the winch tucks behind a bumper with no vertical clearance.
Wherever it lands: out of standing water, away from exhaust heat, leads reaching without being pulled tight across anything the suspension moves. The winch is rated IP68.[4] That rating belongs to the sealed unit, not to a joint you crimped yourself.
7. What Changes With a Wireless Remote
The power wiring doesn't change. A receiver joins the low-current side, and it brings its own small harness. Warrior's manual lists its connections as: 1. Red wire B(+) · 2. Yellow wire — OUT · 3. White wire — IN · 4. Black wire B- · 5. Blue antenna · 6. Sensor cable · 7. Overload inductor.[1]
Red and black power the receiver. Yellow and white are the two signals that used to come down the corded pendant. The antenna wants somewhere it can see out, not folded under a steel box.
The Gladiator V2 ships with a two-in-one rechargeable remote, good to 50 feet.[4] That distance isn't a convenience feature. It's how you stand somewhere a parting line won't reach you.
Now the line most people skip. The manual says the wireless remote "is designed and offered for 'Offroad' or 'None Commercial' use only and is not included in any warranty offered."[1] Keep the corded pendant in the truck. When a battery dies in the cold, it's the one that still works.
8. Test It Before You Trust It
One check catches a reversed pair, and it takes ten seconds. From the manual:[1]
"Check for proper drum rotation… Press the cable out button on the remote lead switch. If the drum is turning and releasing cable, then your connections are accurate."
Press OUT, watch rope leave the drum. If rope comes in instead, your field leads are swapped. Find that in a driveway, not on a hill with a load on.
Later in the same episode, water pump done and electrical finished, the crew gets their answer:
"Dang, those new Gladiators are fast."— I Traveled 3,571 Miles To Rescue A Veteran In Alaska... Will The Ice Hold?
4,000 lb rated line pull in a carry case. The product page: "This winch requires no mounting or setup."
365 A at rated pull, 196:1 gearing, 82 ft of synthetic. Leads, isolator and relocation plate included.
Shields synthetic line from trees, rocks and the bumper face. Five fitments, 10 in bolt spacing on full-size.
The manual says never attach the hook back onto the cable. This is what you attach to instead.
Every line below is quoted from the manufacturer's manual for this winch or from a cited non-competitor source. None of it is opinion.
- Disconnect nothing over a battery. Warrior: "Batteries contain gases which are flammable and explosive. Wear eye protection during installation and remove all jewelry. Do not lean over battery while making connections."[1] A ring across a terminal at 12 volts will weld itself to your hand.
- Fit the isolator. Warrior: failure to install a battery isolator or safety cut-off "could result in damage to the vehicle, equipment and(or) operator and will result in voiding any warranty offered."[1]
- Keep the engine running. Warrior: "The vehicle engine should always be kept running during winching operation to minimize battery drain and maximize power and speed of the winch."[1]
- Respect the duty cycle. Thirty seconds in ten minutes at rated load.[2] Warrior: "If the motor stalls DO NOT maintain winching."[1]
- Five wraps, always. "Keep at least 5 full wraps of cable on the spool, (Usually marked red on the winch cable at the drum end.)"[1]
- Never hook the line back onto itself. "NEVER attach the clevis hook back onto the winch cable as this could cause damage to the cable."[1] Use a sling or a soft shackle at the anchor.
- Straight, not sideways. "Do not winch from an acute angle as the wire rope will bind up on one side of the drum."[1]
- Stand back and wear gloves. BFGoodrich: "A good safety rule is to stand farther back than the full length of the winch line," and "Do not winch without gloves."[5]
One caveat on the manual itself. Warrior's V2 manual covers the whole range and calls the line "galvanized aircraft cable." The SKU Murphy's sells ships synthetic instead. Take the electrical instructions as written. Take the rope instructions as written for the steel version.
Sources
- Warrior Winches, "Gladiator Winches V2 — Owner's Manual" (US/CA). Fetched as PDF and confirmed verbatim 2026-09-19. WW_Gladiator_Winches-V2_OM_US-CA.pdf
- Warrior Winches, engineering specifications sheet, part 10FT2A12-CAD. Fetched as PDF and confirmed verbatim 2026-09-19. WW_10FT2A12-CAD_Specifications_US.pdf
- Warrior Winches, "600amp Heavy Duty Contactor CON012-CAD" product page. Fetched and confirmed verbatim 2026-09-19. warriorwinches.com/products/600amp-heavy-duty-contactor-con012-cad
- Warrior Winches, "Gladiator V2 F-Type 10,000lb Winch" product page, and the matching product page on murphysdiesel.com. Both fetched 2026-09-19. murphysdiesel.com/products/gladiator-v2-f-type-10-000lb-12v-electric-winch-synthetic-rope
- BFGoodrich Tires, "4x4 Driving Guide — Recovery Techniques." Fetched and confirmed verbatim 2026-09-19. bfgoodrichtires.com/auto/learn/4x4-driving-guide/recovery-techniques
Six Wires, One Number
F1 yellow, F2 red, A blue, earth black, two heavy leads to the battery. Run them the way the manual draws them, earth to the motor terminal and not a painted bracket, and check drum rotation before you load it. Everything else comes back to 365 amps. Build for that and it'll still be right in five years.