This is how I mounted my winch (hidden behind bumper) (56k beware)

[Philc]

people ask for creative winch mounting ideas, here's mine.

My dad upgraded his winch and gave me his old one, a winch mounting plate, and a fairlead.

Here is what I did-
I took off the bumper, measured between frame rails. about 21 inches.

cut out the middle 21 inches of the winch mounting plate.
took the ends I cut off, bolted them where the bumper went.

tack welded the plate between them. took off the truck, finished the welds.

re-mounting the bumper was a pain. I had to cut out some of the 1/4" steel in the bumper mounting, flip the bumper mounting brackets around, and get creative. but the bumper is mounted, the fairlead is bolted to the winch mounting plate, and it is as hidden as I can make it for $0.00 (complete cost of winch, plate, fairlead, etc)

total time- about 12 hours. I know I could get a nicer setup for $$, but the point was to see what I could do.

any comments?

I know the winch I'm using is only a 5000lb winch, and the fairlead is a little too big, but the setup was free.. It doesn't look like there is room between the frame for much larger than a 5000lb, but I'll measure a 7500 and see if that can go in.

what could I have done differently?


start of mockup





welding in progress!!!



mounting the bumper to the winch plate. Notice how the brackets now go from the middle out, instead of pointing inwards. had to drill new holes in the bumper to do this too...







bumper mounted up, hold cut in bumper. looks good, eh?







now its beer time.

[97_4x4]

I would like to comment but I am scared to...

Chris

[Philc]

Originally Posted by 97_4x4

I would like to comment but I am scared to...

Chris

Chris-
I see in your sig you did something similar-

pics?

[michowski]

It looks good. I like stock looking stuff like that with a lot more to it then it looks like. One constructive comment tho, have a professional weld that up. Those are some really bad welds. Besides the welds it looks good.

[Destroyer000]

deff looks good.. an for free how could you complain.. but as stated get those welds redone.... those are going to be the week link here.. other than that looks kick ass..

[Philc]

Originally Posted by Destroyer000

deff looks good.. an for free how could you complain.. but as stated get those welds redone.... those are going to be the week link here.. other than that looks kick ass..

Cody-
I saw your tow hooks on the black ranger how were they installed?

edit- DOH! answred my own questions by looking at the rest of the cardomain pics.

[Gabe8810]

Hey bud looks good from the pix.Just like the other guys said keep an eye out on the welds you know just in case but i like the stock look

[97_4x4]

Originally Posted by Philc

Chris-
I see in your sig you did something similar-

pics?

There should be some on my cardomain site.

First off here's my concerns... Those welds (first of all) and second that will not hold under much of a pull unless I am seeing this incorrectly.

Am I right that you welded that winch plate to the front bumper and the stock bumper brackets are holding everything on?

Here's the pics I have for you...

This one is the first winch i had mounted, ( a MM9000) with a hawes fairlead.



and here's one with the winch and bumper removed so you can see the tubing it is setting on.



what I did to mine was cut off the ends of the frame where the bumper mount to, weld in a piece of 2" x 8"(IIRC) x 3/8" wall rectangular tubing between the frame rails. This is what the winch is mounted to. Then I welded the bumper lift brackets to the outside of the frame. Next took off the bumper brackets from the actual bumper flipped them from side to side and weldign them on.

This way the only thing supported by the bumper brackets is the bumper. The winch pulls directally from both frame rails.

You have a good idea but IMO it is not anywhere strong enough.


Chris

[brendank]

Originally Posted by 97_4x4

You have a good idea but IMO it is not anywhere strong enough.

X2. I would be scared to use that.

Mine is done quite similar to 97_4x4's. I used a piece of 1" thick by about 8" wide plate steel. It bolts directly under the frame. I have a body lift so that's why the winch is so much lower on the bumper. I knew it would be a hell of a mess to try to do it without. I don't have any pics of the process, but it ended up like this:

[Philc]

Originally Posted by 97_4x4

Am I right that you welded that winch plate to the front bumper and the stock bumper brackets are holding everything on?
Chris

nope-
the winch plate is bolted to the frame using the old bumper holes, and the bumper is bolted to the winch plate- similar to the two other designs shows here.

when you state "no where near strong enough"- is that because you thought the winch was bolted to teh bumper, which was boted to the frame? I thought it was clear what I did when I said "...took the ends I cut off, bolted them where the bumper went."

I added notes to the pics so you can see what I did.

[Capt Jay]

The end results look great. If I where you I would probably have someone go over the welds before you throw a load onto them. I'm sure there are many people on the site that would be more than happy to drop a couple of beads of 7018 on there for you. Where are you located?

[Philc]

Originally Posted by Capt Jay

The end results look great. If I where you I would probably have someone go over the welds before you throw a load onto them. I'm sure there are many people on the site that would be more than happy to drop a couple of beads of 7018 on there for you. Where are you located?

san diego, ca.
however, taking it apart will be a PITA. It's possible, just dont wanna do it right now.