Is this the place for tow hooks

[superj]

looks like a jeep bumper

 

[Curious Hound]

looks like a jeep bumper

It was when I got it. It's a Ranger bumper now.

That light Guage bumper tubing is reinforced with 2" angle iron and 3/16" plates for mounti g to the frame. The rear of the receiver tube also has its own crossmember bolted to the frame. When I added the winch, more reinforcing was done and the winch mounting plate I welded in is 1/4" thick.

 

[James Morse]

yeah eric that looks pretty good. I don't see a license plate, but I don't see why that wouldn't be street legal.
what size tires are those/brand? they look huge
do you have tubular bumper in back plus hitch as well?
is that gopro on top of hood or what
so this approach you don't need tow hooks it gets you out of it completely and don't worry about valence cuz there aint none
I don't know if you have lifted this truck but something like that is more/less the direction I was thinking
how is light bar attached?
you need one of those on-board water spray reservoirs heh

 

[Curious Hound]

yeah eric that looks pretty good. I don't see a license plate, but I don't see why that wouldn't be street legal.
what size tires are those/brand? they look huge
do you have tubular bumper in back plus hitch as well?
is that gopro on top of hood or what
so this approach you don't need tow hooks it gets you out of it completely and don't worry about valence cuz there aint none
I don't know if you have lifted this truck but something like that is more/less the direction I was thinking
how is light bar attached?
you need one of those on-board water spray reservoirs heh

South Carolina doesn't require a front license plate. But it would be easy to buy or make a bracket to add one in front of the fairlead.

Quick rundown - 6" Skyjacker lift (modified since then), 35" BFG Mud terrains, Dana 35 front, 8.8" rear, Aussie lockers in both diffs, front bumper = heavily modified Jeep bumper, rear custom made from 3" x 4" rectangular structural steel tube, custom made bed, light bar by Nilite (I don't remember brand of the mounting brackets. Its6in my build thread), Mack bulldog on hood with GoPro mount right behind it, several other camera mounts on the truck, custom spare tire carrier, blah, blah, blah. Link to the build thread is in my signature below. Make some popcorn and grab a beer before you start reading it.

 

[superj]

those nilite lights are pretty good. i bought some years ago and they never gave me trouble and were cheap so i always get them now

 

[4x4prepper]

> 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.

 

[superj]

i don't. my truck is 2wd and i don't go off road because off roading here just rusts stuff faster. no matter how much i spray stuff out, sand gets into places that can't be cleaned properly, i guess

 

[James Morse]

If making mods to my truck, I think I'd want to start by replacing the rear bumper. There was an option for tubular rear bumper but I don't think I'm going to see any of those around.
There are few defects to the truck but one of them is the chrome on the rear bumper has pretty bad spot vs basically perfect in the front chrome.
That's a side benefit I suppose anyway the way I envision is something that looks basically oem but probably stronger and I want a winch in back because the more I thought about it, the more sense it makes.

Questions
Can the winch mount to the bumper vs in the bed? Putting permanent stuff in the bed is something else. Seems like if the bumper is real strong you could do it if you can find a place to locate it not in the way of anything.
I'd want Class III hitch as part of it. I assume this can be done without taking out spare tire. Maybe by the time I'm done I have to lose tire, who knows. Seems like it's kind of in the way of getting to the frame but they must have had a way of putting in the hitch.

I think all you have there add'l is to provide for the license plate lights.
Strong rear hitch can be used to pull truck out as has been mentioned
Solid tubular bumper will protect better against rear-end hit on the other hand you want bumper to bend vs the frame bending, I'd think so there might be such a thing as too solid
I'd think with tubular (or C-channel, or something) you could get pushed with no harm

on the front ultimately maybe I want a bull bar or front skid plate/bumper I'm just thinking one thing at a time that's truly usable

in the ideal world I find something that is bolt-on and maybe I add some bracing or something but what I'm saying is the hitch/bumper/any reinforcement I see that as all part of the same thing
I do not have cutting torches and welding equipment
it could be custom fabricated it would cost a mint
and I don't even know what the spec would be that's what I'm trying to scope out

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

There are winch mounts that fit into a 2" receiver. There are class 3 hitches that bolt to the frame and avoid the spare tire. I made a custom front 2" receiver for my truck from cutting and welding a regular rear receiver, and a fab shop could do the same in 2 or 3 hours. Then you can store the winch wherever makes the most sense, and use it front or back. Having a front receiver also makes moving a trailer for parking much easier. And there are light duty snowplow that can be used in them too.

 

[James Morse]

Now this is cooking with gas.
Winch can go in cargo box until needed which also keeps it protected from elements.
In this scenario you can be pulled out by someone else, or you can in some situations pull yourself out. And either direction.
I see the beauty of front hitch for maneuvering a trailer.
I'm checking the light duty plows thanks.

Does the front hitch interfere with bumper/valence or did you get rid of bumper? Pics please or are they on here somewhere?
Is trailer wiring sufficient gauge to run winch or do I need to mess with add'l wiring?
Then you have to run wiring for the winch for front, right? Probably fused.
What strength are you using for cable (which I imagine it has to be) for the winch?
It sounds like doing the rear hitch and doing the rear bumper are 2 different things, does that sound right? There's no tie-in between them, or, is there a situation where I'd ever want to somehow connect them?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Wiring; I use 25' jumper cables with the end converted to ends similar to Pic in link...

winch electrical cable ends at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

A custom bumper can have integrated receiver. Mine are mounted underneath stock bumpers. Im not sure i have pics on this phone but i have posted pics of my setups before. An old 84 b-2, my white 93 ranger, and my 06 dodge 1500.

My winch cable is stock (3/8" steel?) on the 10,000 lb winch.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

This new phone sucks. I can't figure out how to upload pics. The settings are fubar.