Got the solenoid wired up. Bumper and winch going on tomorrow morning. Not looking forward to cutting that vacuum pump bracket but eh. I'll post pics when it's on there!

 

Cutting the bracket isn't as bad as it looks. My JK is a 2012 and I think this was the first year they mounted it there. I was under the assumption I wouldn't have to cut anything until I went to put the bumper on. At the time there were no relocation kits. I used a sawzaw with a nice flexible blade to cut metal. After I cut it I put the new bracket on for the bumper and drilled a hole through it to remount it. I sprayed a little black rustolium and it's was good to go. Good luck!

 

Thanks! Do I have to cut the whole bracket, or just a little off the end?

 

I can't remember if i had to cut the welds or the bracket itself. You'll have to cut it flush to the metal that it's welded onto so the new bumper bracket will fit. It blocks your ability to put on the the new bracket. I didn't have a grinder at the time so I used the sawzaw with a long blade. It's hard to explain, but the welds or the bracket wasn't flush, it was round which is why the flexible blade helped. Let me go out my rig to see if I can get a pic for u.

 

Here are some pics. It looks like I cut the bracket and not the welds. You can see where I reused the bracket. It looks like I didn't do so well with the rustolem, lol.

 

Thank you! The pictures are greatly appreciated. I'll end up doing mine tomorrow. I got called into work today. Haha

 

No problem. Are u going to reattach the bracket like I did or use a relocation kit? Post pics of your new winch and bumper when you're done.

 

I ended up using the kit. It wasn't too bad. I was having trouble with the hose at first but I just cut another zip tie and now it's perfect

 

I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

 

Sweet! It looks good! I also like the color of your Jeep.