Home Brew Whinch bumper questions

[Ranger5.0]

Hey boys, its been a while since i posted, been REALY busy with work, and well, graduating college and everything. anyways. Im revamping the bumper i made two years ago to acomodate a whinch. my question is this, do you guys use the factory front bumper mounts on the frame, of do you cut them off and make somthing else? Also, if you you do re use them, did you add any extra mounts for the bumper to help support the weight during a hard pull? Im getting a 8500lb pull super whinch and even tho i dont plan to be useing it much, I want to be able to depend on mounting to put up with some abuse.

[metalmacguyver]

Well I started fabbing mine up today for my XD9000i.

In order for the winch to fit between the mounting brackets which I wanted on the inside for the frame rails, I needed to "remodel" the front of the frame. Basically I just cut the brackets off and am going to plate it up and bolt the bumper on. The bolts will go through the entirety of the frame rail.

Can I see some pics of your bumper as it is now?

[Ranger5.0]

ya, I can get some, but none of how its bolted to the frame. the orriginal mounts that i made were drilled to match up to the factory bumper mounting holes.

[hitech_hick]

Hey boys, its been a while since i posted, been REALY busy with work, and well, graduating college and everything. anyways. Im revamping the bumper i made two years ago to acomodate a whinch. my question is this, do you guys use the factory front bumper mounts on the frame, of do you cut them off and make somthing else? Also, if you you do re use them, did you add any extra mounts for the bumper to help support the weight during a hard pull? Im getting a 8500lb pull super whinch and even tho i dont plan to be useing it much, I want to be able to depend on mounting to put up with some abuse.

You should really cut the bumper mounts flush with the frame, then bolt your bumper directly to the frame. If you try to use the factory bumper mounts, you will tear them off.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u128/hitech_hick/small5.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u128/hitech_hick/small4.jpg


Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of me pealing back the factory brackets (I had d-rings welded on the front of my stock bumper).



hick

[metalmacguyver]

Do you have a full frontal pic? G rated please!

[Ranger5.0]

pardon lol....you asking me?

[Thumper113]

For now, I'm using the factory mounts without any other supports. I plan to add some supports from the bumper to the frame when I actually feel like getting off my lazy ass to do it. Several months ago, I winched 5 vehicles in a row up a rocky, snowy, hill & I was kinda worried about the factory welds (on the brackets to the frame) coming apart. It's still holding fine but I'll add some brackets eventually.

The heaviest vehicle was an '87 GMC Suburban. The rest were.........full size Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee, Toyota Tacoma. So I'd have to say, based on my own experience so far, it should hold up decent for your own truck but adding brackets would be a good idea.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Warrlord/Wheeling/245521607-XL.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Warrlord/Wheeling/245523188-XL.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Warrlord/Wheeling/cw02.jpg

[rickcdewitt]

my bumper moved around with only two bolts per side. i welded ears to my bumper and used 4 bolts per side including the original holes with reinforcment plates on the inside of the frame since i don't have the newer crumple zone frame that go back a foot or so

[hitech_hick]

For now, I'm using the factory mounts without any other supports. I plan to add some supports from the bumper to the frame when I actually feel like getting off my lazy ass to do it. Several months ago, I winched 5 vehicles in a row up a rocky, snowy, hill & I was kinda worried about the factory welds (on the brackets to the frame) coming apart. It's still holding fine but I'll add some brackets eventually.

The heaviest vehicle was an '87 GMC Suburban. The rest were.........full size Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee, Toyota Tacoma. So I'd have to say, based on my own experience so far, it should hold up decent for your own truck but adding brackets would be a good idea.

The problem with my brackets wasn't from winching, it was from being recovered using my d-rings, more specifically being jerked out by a Commando with a running start. As proven by you, it is possible to get by with them, I'm not sure that I would trust them though.


hick