> Assoc. question do lot of people have winch on front?
I do, but, I do not care too much how ugly it makes the truck or if it cuts down on the MPG. If I had my old silver 1997 Ranger, which I tried to keep nice (had more damage from grocery store parking lots then off road), I might just go with a winch in the bed, which I have found handy. Just from my limited off road experience getting stuck, if I do not have a trailer attached, many times I want to go backwards to get unstuck, not forward into a worse situation.
On the newer vehicles, designing the bumper so the air bags still work is a consideration along with cutting down on the MPG. If I had a newer vehicle, I would take off the factory stuff, and experiment on junkyard bumpers and such.