Started my winch installation.

muddy12 · Jun 21, 2017

My wife and kids gave me a 12k winch for Father's Day. Had a little time this evening, so I pulled the bumper and started measuring and fitting the winch.

Looks like only a little trimming will be needed, then I'm going to add bracing to tie into the tow hook mounts. Im also going to add two hitch receivers in place of factory tow hooks.
Hoping the final product will look something like this.

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BAMF · Jun 21, 2017

Looks good... Happy Father's day to you

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Curlyp · Jun 22, 2017

Very nice!

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akennedyusmc · Jun 22, 2017

Nice! Been thinking about this as well. Now just gotta find the time to do it lol

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muddy12 · Jul 4, 2017

Finding time is my biggest hold up as well. Seems like I can only manage to get to the garage for a few minutes a day.
I have managed to get the pieces cut for the two support bars.

These will weld to the bottom of the plate, and bolt to the rear tow hook mounts on the frame.

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muddy12 · Jul 6, 2017

Forgot to get any pics, but I got the mount all tacked together. Now I just need to fully weld it, and work out how I'm going to attach the receiver tubes.
With the reinforcement collars, the tubes won't fit through the opening in the bumper. I may have to remove the collars, and weld them back on once the mount is installed.

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muddy12 · Jul 9, 2017

Got the winch mounted.

All that's left it to mount the rollers, and make a decision on what I want to do for tow hooks.

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blackbetty14 · Jul 9, 2017

Looks like someone has been shopping at HF and saving there coupons! Lol.

Nice! Careful of the factory tow hook mounts at the frame. They might be able to support 5k lbs max. The badland winches seem decent, I got a 5k one for like $100 and used it to yank a huge bolder across my back yard.

muddy12 · Jul 10, 2017

blackbetty14 said:
.............Careful of the factory tow hook mounts at the frame. They might be able to support 5k lbs max. ..........

My truck did not have tow hooks, the only thing "factory", is where it's bolted to the frame. I used a combination of 2" angle, and 2" square(all 1/4" thick) to attach to the tow hook mounting locations on the frame.

The winch seems to be of good quality, and should do nicely for dragging logs out of the woods, and be large enough for the occasional winter time vehicle recovery (everyone seems to forget how to drive during the winter around here).

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muddy12 · Jul 17, 2017

Got the fair lead mounted.

Once I figure out what I'm going to do for tow points, I'll pull everything out for paint, and button up the wiring.

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muddy12 · Jul 23, 2017

Got a little closer to buttoning up the winch install.
Added the mounting brackets for the bull bar, and got it reinstalled.
I like the "through the bumper" mounting much more than the "under the bumper" mounting.

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muddy12 · Jul 24, 2017

Got the light bar and air dam put back on.

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jds66 · Jul 27, 2017

This is great. really like the look of the winch and the Bull Bar mounted thru the bumper. This DIY has been on my back burner for awhile, unfortunately i will have to cut my bumper as i have the 2015 express bumper that only has the holes for the tow hooks.

do you have any pics of how the winch plate mounted to the frame? Did you use a custom winch plate?

Once i figure it all out still have to buy the winch, looking at the Smittybilt winches.

thanks

muddy12 · Jul 27, 2017

There is at least one pic of the plate at the beginning of the thread. I'll see about getting some better pics from under the truck, of how it's all mounted.
I started with a "universal fit" winch plate that I received with the winch(it was a gift), and modified as needed.

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jds66 · Jul 27, 2017

Awesome thanks a lot, when i get home i will log into Tapatalk and try to zoom in on the first pic to get a better look. i thought it looked like a universal plate but wasn't 100% because elsewhere i had read that the universal winch plates didn't fit and you had to custom build one. maybe i misunderstood and they were only referring to the mounting of them.

Thanks again, great thread.

Jason

muddy12 · Jul 27, 2017

Well, the universal plate won't just bolt on, and I did have to modify the plate, as well as make mounting brackets. If I hadn't received the plate along with the winch, I would have just bought some 1/4" plate, and started from scratch.

Not the best pic, but shows the Horizontal supports.

Couldn't get a good pic, but I also have vertical bars coming down from the front of the frame(uses 4 of the bumper bolts).

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jds66 · Jul 29, 2017

This is awesome, was thinking 1/4 plate. Automatic vs universal, thanks for the feedback. Will probably go custom.

Jason

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outlaw · Aug 24, 2017

This looks good!

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d495w · Feb 16, 2018

I like the Bull Bar through the bumper. Nice work! Which winch did you install & how do operate it when it is fully concealed? It seems that most of the winches I've been looking at have the connector for remote control on the solenoid housing and a manually operated clutch release on the gear housing, which would be inconvenient to access with a hidden installation.

muddy12 · Feb 16, 2018

the winch is a Badlands 12,000 LB.
I picked up a wireless control for the winch.
it is a little tricky to reach the clutch lever to allow free spooling, but I'm working on a design for a handle that will stick out between the roller and bull bar, that can be operated from in front of the truck.

Started my winch installation.

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