King Power Winches were made by Koenig Iron Works of Houston, Texas, who were also well known for their All Steel Jeep Cabs and Jeep Body Extensions. Winches could be driven from the front, rear or middle power takeoff (PTO) points, but the most common were the front-mounted.
They could also be driven from the front of the main crankshaft; this is rare, but it could be useful if there was other equipment on the rear PTO, for example a trencher. See the Koenig R100J Crankshaft Winch.
There isn't a huge number of parts in the King winch itself. Rafael Teran laid out all the parts of his winch before re-installing it on the front bumper of his 1953 CJ-3B in Mexico. See also a top view and side view of the parts (60K JPEGs).
King Model 100J Operating and Installation Instructions (140K GIF) for CJ-2A, 3A and 3B Jeeps.
King Model 100 Parts List (120K GIF).
King Bulletin 555 (4MB PDF) includes parts and installation of Model 150J, 151J and 158J winches on CJ-5 or CJ-6 models.
King Bulletin 555 Supplement (50K GIF) describes the differences in mounting King Model 130J, 131J and 138J winches on flatfender Universal Jeeps versus CJ-5 or CJ-6.
King 1960 catalogue page 2 listing PTO-driven front-mount winches for Jeep Universal (200K JPEG)
King 1960 catalogue page 3 listing Crankshaft drive and rear- and center-mount winches (200K JPEG).
King 1960 catalogue page 8 listing Winch Specifications (220K JPEG).
by Don Norris
Here are some pictures of the Koenig winch, Model 100, and Koenig PTO drive, Model J51, being installed on my '53 CJ-3B in North Carolina.
When you install this type of winch on a CJ-3B, you need to install a 1/4-inch spacer plate under both ends of the winch as shown in Bulletin 555 Supplement.
Installing the PTO drive (130K JPEG) was a simple bolt-on job. You will need to lower the oil level in the transfer case before you remove the back cover. Just be careful and don't drop the Allen-head mounting bolts inside the PTO. They are difficult to get out. (Please don't ask how I know.)
The mid point bearing was simple to mount once I found one to use. The bearing mounts to the engine side of the bell housing flange. You'll use one of the bell housing bolts and the engine stay cable to mount the bearing mounting plate.
I installed a slip u-joint between the bearing and the winch. This, I hope, will allow a little bit of play for the drive shaft as the chassis and the drive train twist and torque separately of each other. I bought the drive shaft and u-joints at FLEETPRIDE, a big truck parts dealer. Several of the guys behind the counter and I, had a good discussion about the damages they had encountered with PTO driven units because of drive lines being compressed. This slip u-joint gives me about an inch of in-and-out drive shaft play.
The winch was the hardest part to mount due to the weight of the winch and the mounting plate. The used winch I bought still had the mounting plate but it had been carefully cut off of the bumper. I didn't have a usable bumper, and the reproduction bumper I bought was too thin to make me feel comfortable for holding a winch. So I made one out of 4" channel and welded the mounting plate to the bumper. That looks good to me but if you're thinking about using 4" channel, it won't bolt straight back to the bumper mounts because of the shape of the inside web of the channel.
I also extended the bumper out 1-5/8 inches to allow the front u-joint to clear the bottom of the radiator guard. Extending the bumper also allowed the rear plate mounting bolts to clamp on the flat part of the chassis instead of the angle going up. I just felt that would be stronger.
This is how I handled the bumper extension that Bulletin supplement 555 calls for on the CJ-3B. I used a piece of 4-inch channel for my new bumper since my old bumper was cut off. I used a piece of the old bumper on the chassis end as a spacer to make the 4-inch channel flush for bolting the extension bars. I used grade 8 bolts, nuts and washers on all parts on the winch and bumper mounting.
As I was installing the winch I kept a check on drive line clearance. Everything worked out well and the drive shaft was centered between the front cross member and the bell crank.
My winch was the solution when Hurricane Matthew's winds caused 3 of my 35-foot Leyland Cypress trees to lean over at about 25 degrees in 2016. I was pleased how well the winch pulled the trees upright. I pulled in 1st gear and at idle speed. I had to chock the wheels to stay in place as I slid along when I tried to use brakes only. -- Don
Note: Koenig Bulletin 555 (see "Literature" above) includes some "Helpful Hints" on anchoring your vehicle and anchoring the cable while winching.
by Greg Boren
There are some things I learned when fitting a winch to my CJ-3A (80K JPEG) I would like to pass along.
The drive shaft routing for the winch is as tight as it can possibly be and there are no options. It has to go where it has to go. The Universal Jeep exhaust (160K JPEG) is tucked up under the driver's side, passes over the transmission crossmember, and continues back with the muffler transverse at the back of the body tub. This puts it right in the space where the drive shafts from the winch to the PTO need to go.
Koenig literature said to cut the exhaust head pipe, heat it, bend it down out of the way, and reroute the exhaust under the transmission crossmember by splicing in an extra piece. In their winch kits they even provided a short length of exhaust pipe to weld in the gap caused by this modification. This did make room for the driveshafts, but it was a lot of work, and it put the exhaust in a position where it hung down so low it was vulnerable to being easily damaged on the trail.
My research found that the early military jeeps (MB, GPW) used a different exhaust routing. It turned out to be the perfect thing to run with the winch. It cleared everything and still tucked up out of the way. On my 3A, it was a super easy installation. It bolted right up to the stock exhaust manifold. The military exhaust uses a flexible head pipe which you just bend around obstacles. It crosses from the driver's side to the passenger side in front of the transmission, puts the muffler under the passenger seat and exits in front of the rear wheel.
I found a complete, brand new system (head pipe, muffler, tail pipe, hangers, hardware). The entire system was cheaper than paying the muffler shop to cut and bend the existing system. Best of all it doesn't hang down where it can take a hit.
The PTO mounts to the transfer case with 5 special Allen-head bolts and special high collar washers. To install the PTO you need to remove the 5 plugs on the back of the housing (80K JPEG) and feed the bolts into position through the plug holes using a long allen wrench. This can be tricky since you are working blind. If you drop a bolt during installation, it ends up inside the PTO with the gears and chain. Then the only way to retrieve it is to remove and disassemble the PTO. A trick is to put something tacky like gasket sealer on the end of your Allen wrench to hold the bolt on it while theading it into position.
Another thing I'll mention about installing the PTO to the transfer case (90K JPEG). You may be lucky and the PTO may slide right into position, but I have seen many people find that they had a clearance issue with the body tub.
The Jeep body tub was mounted to the frame using rubber spacers (vibration insulators). On most flatfender Jeeps these have deteriorated over the years, or may even be gone. The PTO was designed to fit with the body properly spaced off the frame (about 3/4"). If the rubber spacers have deteriorated and compressed, or if they are gone, the body tub will be closer to the frame, or may be in direct contact with it. If the body is closer to the frame it may interfere with the installation of the PTO (this is common).
If this is the case you have two options: you can raise the body off the frame and put in new spacers, or you can lower the transmission crossmember. On my 3A the body spacers were long gone. I lowered the transmission crosmember by loosening the bolts that attached it to the frame and inserting a 3/4" spacer, then retightening the bolts. This lowered the transmisson/transfercase and gave me the needed space for the PTO. It worked fine and was much less work than raising the body off the frame.
It is advisable to install everything loosely until everything is in place, then tighten all the bolts. It is a very tight fit and goes together like a puzzle. The PTO goes in first, then the winch, then the driveshafts.
The driveshafts should be assembled with the u-joints and center bearing in place and lifted into place as a unit. The short shaft is the rear shaft and the center bearing goes on this shaft. Note that each of the u-joints is different from the others and will only work in its specific position. To install, let the center u-joint hang down while starting the front and rear u-joints onto the winch and PTO. Once started, lift the center u-joint into position. This will slide the front and rear u-joints the rest of the way onto the winch and PTO.
The last thing is to mount the center support bearing to the bellhousing. If you are lucky enough to have the correct Koenig bearing assembly, it mounts using the stabilizer cable bolt and the one next to it on the bellhousing. If you have a home fab'ed center support, you'll have to install it as designed.
Once everything is installed and you are sure everything fits, and the shafts and u-joints are evenly spaced, you can tighten everything up. Put a drop of blue locktite on the Allen-head set screws on the u-joints to make sure they don't vibrate loose over time.
The PTO shares lubrication with the transfer case so it uses the same 90w gear oil. Holes drilled in the PTO allow the 90w to circulate between the two. After the PTO is installed just top off the fluid level in the transfer case and you are ready to go. Check the fluid level in the transfer case after the first use of the PTO. The winch needs its own lube -- Koenig recommended EP150w gear oil. U-joints use regular grease.
After installing the complete setup you may find you need to adjust the steering stop bolts on the front axle steering knuckles to limit the travel of the steering bellcrank. The front drive shaft for the winch passes between the front crossmember and the bellcrank with little room to spare. You want to make sure the bellcrank doesn't touch the driveshaft as it travels through its arc. On my 3A, I had to back off the stop bolt on the passenger side by 2 turns. Driver's side was fine. -- Greg
Thanks to Don Norris, Greg Boren, and to Pablo Rodriguez for sending Greg's tips. Thanks to Joe Zindle, John Hubbard, Jim Pigg, Dell Kronstedt and Rafael Teran for photos. -- Derek Redmond
Greg Borens also has some tips and cautions on Using a PTO Winch.
See John Ittel's installation of the Koenig R100J Crankshaft Winch.
See also some vintage photos in Memories From Koenig Iron Works.
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