This was a royal pain in the Ass to do but the end results were worth it. Credit goes to my little brother for machining the winch plate and modifying the bumper and frame to accept it. I put 175amp quick connects on it to be able to hook up a matching set of Jumper cables if need to. Found the 8274 for 600.00 and rebuilt it, put on 125 feet of 3/8 of Gray Amsteel Blue synthetic winch line and a Pro-Link 55 to attach the Clevis to, all from Custom Splice. The complete assembly only dropped my front end by a 1/2 inch. Not shown is the 3/8 steel plate welded to the frame which runs under the grill to the bumper mounts for added support, the plate was drilled and tapped and the whole unit has (24) 1/2 bolts holding everything in place. Overkill maybe, But strong as hell, Yes! There is only a 1/4in clearance between the grill and the back of the winch, but with the quick connect and a 8274s front bolt mount winch removal is fast if I ever need to take the grill off. Total investment was 1200.00. So yes it can be done with patience, time,a Plasma cutter, bridgeport mill, welder, and lots of BEER! Next project is the rear winch bumper/tire carrier which I think is at least a Mini Keg project.

 

Nice job, well done.

 

Great job! It looks awesome. What bumper is that? I was going to try install my 8274 in a Rockhard full width but didn't think I could squeeze it in. Just finished installing a Zeon 10S I picked up this morning. It was a tight fit.

 

Good job bro!

 

I found it on Ebay, shipped to my door for 249.00. I wanted one with a drop deck because the 8724 is so tall. If Id chose a standard one the control box would be hood level. from there we just built the winch plate and sub plate that was welded to the frame which filled the 3/8 gap between the bottom of the drop deck to the frame itself. we also removed the factory fairlead mount from the bumper as the winch plate had to be positioned all the way forward flush with the front to have clearance for the grill.

 

I'm picking up an old 8274 tonight and was wondering if you have any pics of the install process (where did you weld the plate, where did you end up bolting it down etc)? Also, I've been checking out eBay for similar bumpers, do you remember any of the specs on it or what it was called? I'm running just a plain Pavement Ends stubby bumper and after I mod the plates to fit the winch might ride super high like you were worried about. Just trying to brainstorm a bit before I tackle all of it myself. Thanks!

 

I made the bumper to mount this winch on my wife's jk. I made the winch set down in the bumper so it didn't set to high. Some bumpers look like they wouldn't be to hard to mod to get tis winch in.
Do a search some others were helpful when I started mine.
I can post some pict tomorrow if it would help ya.
Enjoy the winch cause they are the best ever made!! The line speed is super fast and that 150' of cable helps too!!

 

Here is the one I built.