So, I have searched everywhere, and couldn't find any info on this, so the following is my solution.
Problem: I wanted a winch, but didn't want a huge winch bumper. I don't plan to take this truck wheeling, but I do live in farm country and getting stuck or needing to pull somebody else out is common. I also don't want a 2" receiver and 'removable' winch, because likely it'll be sitting at home the day that I need it. I want to know that its always there, 'just in case'.
There is an enormous space behind the front bumper, so I set out to get a winch in there.
I started with 2.5" angle iron across the mounting bolts for the tow hooks. this gave me a surface to start working from. my target is to get the fairlead to come out through the opening below the license plate. I removed the original to hook bolts, and replaced with longer bolts of the same size.
I then took a harbor freight winch cradle I had from a previous project and cut it to fit on top of the angle iron, and between the bumper mounting brackets.
after a lot of measuring, and repositioning (don't forget, the winches aren't centered, my warn is offset by an inch or so). I managed to get it to sit really close to center, but the fairlead is still off center by about 1/2". only noticable when comparing it to the location of the license plate. I used a couple pieces of 1/4" plate for spacers to get the height just right. And after I was happy, I drilled and bolted the cradle to the angle iron.
next to add a little support to the front of the winch mount. I used a couple small sections of the angle iron, and drilled 1 hole in the side of each bumper mounting bracket. this is mostly for stability, as the bolts through the tow hooks will take the force of the winch.
Now for the fairlead. I decided to use synthetic cable and a hawse fairlead. more sleek look, and lighter weight. I used 1.5" tubing for the stand-off brackets, and needed bend the lower part of the bumper 'lip' down slightly to make enough room for it to poke through.
Time to weld! While the whole thing could probably be bolted together and be plenty strong, I wanted to weld everything together to make it rock solid. then throw some paint at it.
Re-installed the mounting plate, bolted in the winch, notched out the plastic 'filler' piece for a finished look, clocked the winch clutch lever to the back so it can be turned by reaching under the bumper, re-installed the plastic airdam, used a wireless winch controller so I didn't need to re-locate the control box.
I used an 8,000 lb warn winch, and feel that this is sufficient for my winching needs. If I regularly took this truck off road, and had a 10-12klb winch installed, I'd probably be looking for additional bracing, but am confident in this setup.
I will take additional 'finished' pics when the lighting is better so they can be as clear as possible.
I hope this is helpful for anyone wanting to do something similar.