I've got a universal mount from harbor freight that I will be putting on the stock bumper, question , the plate has a raised front edge including the fairlead part, do I need to remove the raised part to either side of the fairlead portion so that it sits under the plastic bumper?
Yes i've looked at the other threads with the pictures but the one picture that I'm looking for doesn't seem to exist, a picture of the modified mounting plate before installation.

 

I'm interested as well. How much was the winch mounting plate? I've got a 20% coupon for them that I am itching to use.

 

40 and change with tax.
harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90476[/url]

 

Does that come with mounting hardware? I imagine you would have to cut away the plastic bumper for metal to metal contact or can you just mount it on top of the stock bumper?

 

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/winch-mount-w-factory-bumper-2001/

 

It comes with the bolts for the winch and fair lead bur not for the frame. I got four 6" bolts, four washers, and eight bolts for under 15$.
I took the bumper of today and started measuring and cutting. I'll try to keep a record of pictures and measurements as I go along. I plan on doing the whole job on Monday and I'll try to post the results by mid week.

 

you need to cut notches in the mounting plate corners on the front, to provide clearance around the verticle pices on the front of each side of your frame, since they curve backwards at the top. this way the mounting plate will sit flat on the frame rails.



and i cut the metal bumper to go around the mounting plate, just cause i dont have the factory fog lights and it was much more thin and easier to cut. i left enough on there to cover the notch i showed in the previous picture



hopefully this helped. i have tons more pics of my install, so let me know if you need anything else


here's my finished instal

 

I'm assuming that there is another bolt that is hidden under the sheet metal bumper, correct?

 

I was going to go this route, but wasn't happy with it and bought an after market bumper instead. You will find that when you take your bumper off your faced with your first issue: The vertical plate welded to the end of the frame rails doesn't sit flush with the top of the frame rail - you need to cut around it, or come up with spacers to raise it over. The stock bumper goes over this, so you would have to cut the entire vertical front leg off the mounting plate or the top off your bumper between mounting points - essentially a straight line between top of fog light holes. The fairlead will the stick down to about the bottom of the fog holes, leaving very little bumper left in this area. I made a bad cut and that was my breaking point. I decided aftermarket was going to fit my needs better. Just like everything else, it's not as easy as it sounds, but with patience it can be done, and look hood too.

 

Oh believe me I would much rather be putting on a Rampage bumper with the winch but the money just wasn't there for both. Also the weight comes into play, the winch with plate is about 100lbs and the bumper is another 135lbs, so one thing at a time untill I can get a 2.5 TF coil.I am not concerened about the finished look, I've got the skills to do it right.