i dont think id weld the winch on to the bumper. if you had to take it off for warranty issue or repairs it would be such a pain! those bolts are hard to get to and the wiring would have to be disconnected so i dont think a thief would take that much time to steal your winch!

 

Thanks to all...
it was really hard to put the powerplant in. but i did everything myself (some help from my lovely wife in tight places...)
The pics posted here:
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-show-tell-33/new-look-what-do-you-think-87134/

 

I took the plastic "grille" off and installed just the bumper first, then once it was tightened down I dropped the winch in. Wasn't too bad doing it that way, but it was heavy. Taking the grill off helped work in the winch without scratching it and it was easy to do