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So my winch arrived yesterday and I began the install. Went downhill very fast. The new VRX series winches are not a direct bolt up on the UXV700's. Installed the fairlead 1st. Uses 10mm cap head bolts with short lock nuts from factory. When I set the winch in I quickly discovered the bolt holes on the winch do not line up with the holes in the winch plate and it doesn't matter which way you mount the fairlead bolts. The front of the winch housing hits the fairlead bolts preventing the holes from aligning between the winch and plate. Called WARN and the tech I spoke with said the housing for the new VRX series of winches is different from the discontinued vantage and provantage winches. His only suggestion was to send the VRX back and order a vantage or pro series winch. So not a lot of help. So I guess if you want to avoid this problem you'd better order an older winch before they're gone but those older winches are not water proof and their warranty is not as good as the new ones.

So here's what I've come up with so far. Replaced the cap head bolts with a 3/8 bolt. The hex head on a standard bolt is slightly more than .2 inch thick which is considerably thinner than the cap head or a nut. Put the bolt in backward, head facing the winch and thread facing out. Still had to grind the head down on 1 bolt, maybe 1-2 mm to get the holes for the winch to line up. Only problem is that if I ever need to change the fairlead I will have to loosen the winch to be able to get a wrench on the head of the bolts. Probably a better fix would be if Kymco changes the round hole on the fairlead plate to a square hole and then you could just use a carriage bolt and wouldn't need to get a wrench in there. If I put a pulley fairlead on for a plow I will probably file the hole and install carriage bolts. Also the passenger side of the winch hits the passenger side diagonal support for the bumper. If that support was any closer I would have had to bend it to get the winch in.

Winch controller switches require a key hot connection as I'm sure most of you know. What I found is that in the box where the battery is housed there in a connector that looks like a flat 4 pin trailer plug but with only 2 pins. It has a black cover on it. One of those is actually a key hot. You can get a 2 pole connector for a trailer at most auto parts stores. I'm going to wire any key hots into that connector and the plug it into the one in the box. This should make for a better connection than the inline splice fittings that come with the winch. There are empty connectors all over this machine. I found 2 more up around the radiator and 2 more in the harness for the drivers from light.

So I guess today will start with a trip to the auto parts store for the connector and then try and decide on a location for the plug for the wired remote. I'm thinking about mounting it to the side of the storage box under the hood. Not crazy about putting a hole in it but I think I can get it sealed with some RTV and it just looks like the cleanest location. Hopefully I won't run into any more issues.

Heck, I have the 700i, not the LE. You're lucky to have a dealer providing any support at all. I've called 2 dealers that are listed on Kymco's site. Neither really deals in them and have no parts. Both have said they'd contact the the warehouse and get info. Neither have called me back. Guess I'll call again today. One in Winston Salem has lots of parts on their website but no prices or availability.

What I'd like to do is a factory hard top, since that is the only one I've found and a windshield. Then maybe soft back and doors for now then add hard doors and back a little later. In the winter I really need a full enclosure since I'm in the mountains and it gets really cold and we can get a lot of snow. Probably would take most of the enclosure off during the summer.

I'm really leaning toward the eagle plow system. 72" blade, hydraulic turn, winch lift. Seems like there's good availability of replacement parts and at $1800 shipped that seems like a reasonable price for a utv plow. Wish it was fully hydraulic so there would only be 1 controller, but it doesn't look like that is out there. My only concern is that my mechanic has worked on a couple of kymcos and both had transmission problems, both from plowing...he says. So that's got me a little concerned. What do you guys have to say?

The one thing I have found that I wish this machine had is an easily removable tailgate. I was dumping some wood that has been sitting so long that it has rotted and that just seemed really hard on the tailga

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Ok. Next question. From what I can see I do not need to order any mounting plates to mount a warn winch. Is that correct? Am ordering a vantage 3000 and it seems to have the same bolt pattern as the 2000 and 2500 provantage listed on the Kamco page, 3 x 4.87 inches. Can't imagine putting a 2000 lbs winch on this thing since the dry weight is almost that. Back in the day on our jeeps we always ran winches that were 2-3 times stronger than the weight of the jeep and all our safety equipment for work is usually 10x the load.

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Thanks Airshot. That's what I was expecting. I have limited experience with rangers and foreman but lots of experience with commercial equipment. Your explanation was how I was expecting this one to work. My wife even tried to jump it off because she thought she had killed the battery to get it here. It won't start in any gear except neutral but that doesn't seem right because why would you even need park. Found a manual online and it says only cranks in N. To get it from park into neutral you have to get someone to rock it back and forth to get it past reverse and into N. Hope I can get some help at the shop but from what I can tell they were less than helpful to my wife. I plan to use this to plow smaller driveways for my company but didn't end up with a complete plow kit. Recommendation from shop ended up being a plow blade and mounting bracket but no mention of push bars or the need for a winch. I'm a little concerned about the  lack of options for this machine. Had really planned on mounting a full hydraulic system like a boss plow but can only find warn and eagle that look close and neither have hydraulic lift and angle. But first have to figure out if the machine has mechanical issues. Thanks again. Hope to get some good news and recommendations on here.

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