Front bumper with 2" receiver and winch tray

[MonLand]

I bought a winch a few years ago. It's been sitting in its box ever since (well.... I did check that everything was in the box at least a dozen time! ;-) ).
Anyway, with MAR around the corner, I decided that I needed to do something about it as I always look for the lack of armor and recovery means as an excuse to not go out as much as possible (well.... the primary excuse is still the twins! ;-) ).
Since I did not like what I had seen so far (either look or price), I decided to getto-fab my own bumper. I wanted to retain a close to factory look. Wanted to be able to put the winch in front or in the rear of the truck. All the rear winches options I have seem always seems to involve heavy rear cross member modifications, so I figured that was not going to be for me, instead I went the receiver approach.
So I had Charles pick up some metal with his order. Then I spent a few hours every weekend for the past two weeks (well.... past three weekends). Maybe..... a total of 24-36 hours?

Thoughts:
- Not 100% set with the front connector location.
- sorting out the battery connection was not fun. I can't believe there is not a clean option available off the shelf at the local auto parts (and not too expensive).
- The winch sits fairly low and forward quite a bit. Attack angle will definitely suffer.
- I think I should have put the 2" receiver on the top of the bumper (you likely have sticked out more, so not sure if that would have been better ultimately)
- I still $uck at doing paint jobs. This is where I've spent 25% of my time! :(
- I have yet to check the winch tray on the rear receiver, it will likely cut it _really_ close with the spare tire.
- I have to learn about metal strength and all since this looks an overkill.
- I am not done with it since I want to get some tube bent to make a brush guard to help protect the fenders and front of the truck.
- It's heavier that I thought.
- I still don't know if I want to weld tabs on the bumper since the winch tray can be used.

[cgalpin]

Cool. Lets see a pic without the winch mounted.

I think ideally you would build the receiver into the bumper so when you slide the winch in, the plate goes over the bumper, or maybe into a recess shaped for it, pushing the winch as far in to the grill as possible. That should resolve your clearance issues.

No idea how it would affect the rear mounting, but I am sure a custom rear bumper would resolve it :)

charles

[MonLand]

Cool. Lets see a pic without the winch mounted.
Hum... Don't have one yet! :) Will try to take one tonight.

I think ideally you would build the receiver into the bumper so when you slide the winch in, the plate goes over the bumper, or maybe into a recess shaped for it, pushing the winch as far in to the grill as possible. That should resolve your clearance issues.
Not sure how this would work out exactly. But If I was to have a channel above the bumper, that might work (i.e. not a standard 2" receiver style). The problem is that if you look at the picture below, you will see that the receiver tube is already under the grill. So, moving it higher means body work if the winch tray is the same. So I'd think the mount itself would need to be different than the 2" receiver mount. I'm sure somebody came up with something clever already, I just did not see it yet.

No idea how it would affect the rear mounting, but I am sure a custom rear bumper would resolve it :)
No no no no.... Not building a rear bumper! I bought the winch in 2003.... At that pace, I'll have a new rear bumper in.... hum.... 2011? Yes, I plan to modify the stock rear bumper (to include bumperettes), but I can not wait that long. I plan on getting stuck way before that (read "getting really stuck" before 2011).

[cgalpin]

Hard to describe, but I was thinking more like the receiver hole being embedded in the bumper, with the top edge being about the winch plate thickness below the top edge of the bumper. The winch tray would slide over the bumper (preferably into/onto a recess about the same thickness as the plate), and the result is the winch will sit 3-4" higher and about 6" closer to the grill that way, instead of being out in front of the bumper.

Here is a very crude drawing of the front of the bumper as I imagine it.

[MonLand]

Wanted to post that pic that shows the 2" receiver going under the grill/grill panel (not sure how that thing is called).

Follow-up Post:

Here is a very crude drawing of the front of the bumper as I imagine it.
Hum.... I think it _has_ to look like one of those two instead?

[cgalpin]

Why can't you cut the tube off at the grill? You just need room to push the pin in. And I'd move the whole bumper out an inch forward if that was an issue. The end result is still much better I think.

I have added a side view. The red box is the bumper, the blue dot where the pin goes. No laughing at my artwork.

charles

Follow-up Post:


Hum.... I think it _has_ to look like one of those two instead?
Yeah I see what you are saying... You could do multiple pins maybe? Like one in the normal 2" receiver part, and two vertical ones trough the sides of the plate through the bumper?

Starting to think the only way it would work is how you have it :)

[MonLand]

Why can't you cut the tube off at the grill? You just need room to push the pin in. And I'd move the whole bumper out an inch forward if that was an issue. The end result is still much better I think.
Hum..... Good question. Strength? I don't know? I guess since the winch is pulling, the amount of metal in the back is not really important....
Right now, the pin is just passed the bumper (see picture below). So I guess more metal could be cut out of the receiver.

[cgalpin]

Yeah I think you could cut it off a lot shorter and cap the tube for strength. Sleeve it if you think you need more. I'd have the holes vertical so you can just drop the pin in from above (which would also provide a drain hole), and mount the receiver tube on the top of the bumper, not the bottom.

[JSBriggs]

FWIW here is something similar that I did for my RRC. The pics are old and lousy, but you get the idea. The vertical hole in the bottom is threaded for a set screw to keep it from rattling.

-Jeff

[MonLand]

Managed to take some crappy pictures last night without the winch tray (and put the grill and license plate back on so I can take it for inspection). Since they all look bad, I'll only upload one.

Follow-up Post:

Yeah I think you could cut it off a lot shorter and cap the tube for strength.
Now that I think about it, I don't know why I did not cut it in the first place....
Since the tube is inserted into another one, I don't think it needs to be sleeved/capped. But it sure would not hurt.
I'd have the holes vertical so you can just drop the pin in from above
I thought about that one and decided against it since I did not want to mod the rear receiver and wanted to be able to use standard 2" receiver stuff (trailer attachment, hook, etc). But technically speaking, that could be done now.
mount the receiver tube on the top of the bumper, not the bottom.
Yes, I think that would have made more sense.

[steinhnj]

Loic,

Looking nice! Ghetto fabs only make these trucks look better IMHO.

I read that you were thinking about welding tabs. I think that would be a good idea. By using tabs, it opens up options like using a bridal or tow strap on which you can put a shackle allowing you to be towed out at different angles should the winch not be on. It also allows the use of a snatch block at the anchor with the winch hook coming back to your bumper tab.

Another, more expensive option, would be to just shell out the bucks for 2 Dixon Bates jaws and drill 4 holes and mount. This would save what seems to be more precious to you now, your time.

Just my $.02

-Neil

[MonLand]

I was looking a few days ago at the Equipe 4x4 rear winch mount. Seems like this would be a good setup for a removable winch where a similar mount could be setup on a 2" receiver plate and on a front bumper. This is probably the route I am going to take (in the distant future). I will likely modify (rebuild?) the removeable 2" receiver mount I built to include a removeable winch system.... No laughing please!

[evilfij]

I have a warn winch cradle I have floating around if you are interested.

Ron

[MonLand]

I have a warn winch cradle I have floating around if you are interested.
Ron,
Are you talking about something different from: http://4by4connection.com/wapowimo.html ?