Superwinch Epi9.0 mounted on Factory Bumper
Well I was getting impatient waiting on my Smittybilt SRC Grill Guard front bumper to ship, so I decided to try my hand at mounting my winch and keeping the stock bumper for now. I didn't want to pay an outrageous amount of money for the Warn winch mount plate, so I took a chance and bought the Harbor Freight "Winch Mount for Jeep" item number 3444-1VGA seen here
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/pho...3499/03444.gif It says it fits "...all Jeep Wrangler models from 1987 through 2003" according to their web site, but it was only $29.99 + shipping and looked generic enough I thought I could make it work. Well I did, but getting everything done wasn't the easiest task, but in the end it only cost me $35 or so for the winch plate and another $5.00 for six 1/2" grade 8 bolts, nuts, and flat/lock washers. Those were used to mount the winch plate to the top of the frame rails. Sorry I didn't take pics while I was doing it. Basically what I did 1st was remove the front bumper (plastic outer skin and metal inner.) The winch plate I laid directly on top of the frame rails. Luckily, the outer holes in the plate lined up great with both frame rails. I put the metal skin back in place, then laid the plate down to see where I needed to trim. I marked the metal, then bolted the inner skin back to the Jeep, then trimmed the metal skin with a reciprocating saw so it would clear the plate. I took it back off, then scooted the winch plate as far forward as I could (the front of the plate was against the top side of the front bumper mount plates). Then I drilled six 1/2" holes (3 per side). I used my grade 8 bolts, nuts, and washers and bolted the plate down. After that I bolted the fairlead to the plate, then bolted the winch on. Then I eyeballed the plastic bumper skin and started cutting it for clearance around the winch and fairlead. After much trimming and re-trimming to get it to fit, I got it bolted back on. I started to do the stubby bumper mod at the same time. but I was tired of working on it at that point so I quit. Here are some pictures of the results. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Excuse the dirty Jeep, I haven't cleaned it since last weekend's outing, and I'm going wheeling again tomorrow. http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...1_P1010986.jpg http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...1_P1020001.jpg http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...1_P1010994.jpg http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...1_P1020008.jpg http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...1_P1020020.jpg http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...2_P1020021.jpg http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...3_P1020022.jpg http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...1_P1020010.jpg http://www.ayresprohomeinspection.co...1_P1020017.jpg . . . |
very nice job.
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That looks darn right professional.
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Dang, that looks good. Somewhere, I read that the electronic disconnects pose a problem for mounting winches to the stock bumper. Did you notice anything like that?
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Looks good, I like the way it is recessed in the plastic. I think it looks better that way.
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Dude, you rock. I've been waiting for someone else to try this before I started cutting up my bumper. How long were the 1/2" bolts you used on the frame rails?
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Originally Posted by schwarzjp
(Post 139727)
Dude, you rock. I've been waiting for someone else to try this before I started cutting up my bumper. How long were the 1/2" bolts you used on the frame rails?
The 1/2" bolts I used were 1.5" long. I used a flat washer under the bolt head, and a lock washer on the nut side. . . . |
Originally Posted by RedRockJK
(Post 139893)
Thanks guys! I need to go ahead and do the stubby mod and plastic weld some end caps on.
The 1/2" bolts I used were 1.5" long. I used a flat washer under the bolt head, and a lock washer on the nut side. . . . Hope this made sense the way I described it I would love to see a pic of this.:yup: :D |
That is really nice and seeing it prompted me to do the same thing. hopefully you will be willing to post help if I run into trouble.
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Originally Posted by rramsdell
(Post 140113)
That is really nice and seeing it prompted me to do the same thing. hopefully you will be willing to post help if I run into trouble.
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