Last night I installed the Warn Winch Mounting Plate on my factory bumper. The plate described here -

http://www.warn.com/truck/mounting-s...h_mounts.shtml

First the good - :toung:

Heavy duty plate that is specifically engineered for the JK. No cutting or drilling needed unless you don't have the factory tow hooks. This item is quality engineered and built to last forever.

The bad - :sad:

This item has only mediocre instructions and is moderately difficult to install. It can be done by someone that is not high engine techie type but it is difficult. For example you have to remove the entire bumber and fit these large bolts inside the frame. If you have big hands you just might want to skip this part or ask your wife or even kids to do it. It is very difficult to get the bolt wahser, lock washer and nut inside this very tight area. Also, the directions have ok pictures but they do a hoorible time describing the bolts and there are tons of bolts.

What makes it even more confusing is that there are extra bolts - the directions make it hard to decipher which bolts to use. The directions say things like 1 1/2 inch bolt. Well there are several 1 1/4 inch and several 1 3/4 inch bolts that are very close. None are exactly 1 1/2 inch.

I basically had to use the directions as a guide and figure out myself how to mount the thing. With trial and error it took a good 5 hours and 3 beers. Impact wrench is nice to have but tight places make it impossible to use in all places. I needed a very large socket like a 15/16 or something but had to settle for a 1 inch. It worked but was just a little off. The directions don't tell you the exact size. I also had to use a 18 mm socket which I have but I don't think is real common.

The directions also just say - remove the splash guard, bumpber, etc. and keep the bolts. They really aren't concerned with telling you step by step directions to do this.

Anyway, here are some pictures and I am very happy with the item - it is pretty heavy about 50 pounds and with the 9,000 lb. winch also. this is pretty heavy to the front of the vehicle. I could tell the difference when I drove. Maybe my Rubicon has heavy duty shocks (more than the X serires) I am not sure. This may want to be investigated for you if you are considering the same option.

 

I plan to use the same mounting plate. Are the tow hooks included? Any advise to make my installation easier? Maybe I could get by in four hours and two beers. Thanks.

 

Yes, the tow hooks are included. When installing put the biggest bolts on the brackets first - don't tighten all the way. Install the cross member and don't tighten all the way. Intall the part that goes through the old tow hooks. Put the bumper back on and get it in posistion but again don't tighten all the way. Make sure that the black bolts (not the round head) on the ends line up. Get everything in posistion and tighten it down. The big bots are 125 foot pounds and the other are 50 I think. Everything works out great but like a puzzle you have to understand the pieces. Really no way to rush this job - the second time I could do it a lot faster but the tight places will always be tight. Hope this helps.

 

Let me know if you want more pictures and where. I might be able to help in that regard

 

That's what I was thinking. It's a good option though for someone who wants to keep their factory bumper I guess.

 

Hey, thanks a lot for the write up. I appreciate you sharing your experience. I'm deciding what to do about a winch mount as my JK just arrived.

 

Do you think it could have been done in 3 hours if you had 5 beers?

 

I wanted to keep the factory bumper - its a lease thing. I thought this would be a great solution to install now and take off 35 months from now if I traded in the Rubicon after my lease finished. It would not be real easy to take off but at least it will still look stock when complete.
I could have done the same thing with another bumper PJ winch bumper but I didn't want my factory bumper laying around.

 

jk-rubicon, Thanks for the info. I think I can figure out the installation after reading your post. The reason I don't want the $400 Pure Jeep stubby winch bumper is because I want to continue to use my factory fog lights. I heard Pure Jeep is developing a larger JK bumper with factory fog light mounts, so I'll be watching for that too.

 

I picked up my JK last month and bought a M8000 winch this week. Now I'm not sure how I'm going to mount it. I very much would like to see some pics of the mounting plate and install. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Glenn