front reciever winch to low!

[sixer]

.Hey JEEPERS:

Has anyone modified a front reciever winch to mount it higher. Brackets, adapters, fabbed mounts etc. anything will help, wy winch is the first thing to dig into the banks and Im tired of pressure washing the mud out of the rollers and cable.Im using a hidden hitch front reciever with a 9500 lb. winch..
Thanx.
JEEP_THE_PLANET
SIXER

 

[xj joey]

thats the downfall of that set up. great for keeping the winch out of the elements and from being stolen but stick out so far it acts like a bulldozer. if u raised it u might run into over heating issues cause it would be right in the air path to the radiator.

 

[88rockxj]

why not incorperate it into your bumper? i put one in my front bumper to keep my approach angle good

 

[88rockxj]

thats the downfall of that set up. great for keeping the winch out of the elements and from being stolen but stick out so far it acts like a bulldozer. if u raised it u might run into over heating issues cause it would be right in the air path to the radiator.

thats funny, the reason i put a hitch in mine is for the exact opposite. bumpers big enough to fit winches on them stick out way far and act like a "bulldozer", mine doesnt stick out what so ever.

 

[Frankkl]

If you want a higher hitch in the front, get the draw-tie one.

 

[2xtreme]

My winch is portable. I made my own custom receiver mount so that the winch sits on top of the bumper.

This design posses several other issues though. First it is VERY heavy (my winch isn't light either). Second it does block the air flow (obviously more than most winches). I don't have any cooling issues, but it does have an impact on the temp that the jeep runs at after climbing a hill on the freeway (mine is trailer so this isn't much of an issue).

If I was to do it again I would make the tray mount to the top of the bumper with 4 bolts so that it could be easily removed with just the 4 bolts (assuming it needs to be "portable".

Just my .02
Michael

 

[thederrick106]

I run a reciver and mine doesnt seem to stick down to far... do you have a lift?

Here is mine:

I like this set up and when i get a winch i will be fabbing a mount like this... I dont think this sticks out to bad, and it would fine on my XJ... I am at 6.5" of lift with 35s so i dont think it will be doing to much digging in. If it does I prolly wont be climing up it any ways:roll:

 

[Goatman]

.Hey JEEPERS:

Has anyone modified a front reciever winch to mount it higher. Brackets, adapters, fabbed mounts etc. anything will help, wy winch is the first thing to dig into the banks and Im tired of pressure washing the mud out of the rollers and cable.Im using a hidden hitch front reciever with a 9500 lb. winch..
Thanx.
JEEP_THE_PLANET
SIXER

Yeah, get a winch bumper.

You guys with reciever mounts stick up for them...................but, you never hear a guy with a hard mount say he wished he had a reciever mount.

Hmmmm.....??

 

[vetteboy]

Yeah, get a winch bumper.

You guys with reciever mounts stick up for them...................but, you never hear a guy with a hard mount say he wished he had a reciever mount.

Hmmmm.....??

My receiver-style bumper one wasn't bad.

However I crushed one of the side wings in on that bumper, and on the next one I build I'll be doing an integrated winch mount. I didn't use the portability as much as I thought I was going to, and having to cart the winch back and forth from the hatch got old quickly. Also, half the time I needed it, it wasn't installed anyway so I had to get out and climb through mud/water/crap and try and get the hitch pin there.

The idea has some good points, but not enough for me to want to do it again.

edit: As for the receiver-under-the-bumper, I wouldn't even wanna consider running one of those. I smack enough stuff down there as it is.

 

[thederrick106]

Yeah, get a winch bumper.

You guys with reciever mounts stick up for them...................but, you never hear a guy with a hard mount say he wished he had a reciever mount.

Hmmmm.....??

Not sticking up for my reciever by any meens.. works good for what i need it for which is a solid tow point.. also acts as a front crossmember... personaly if i had the money I would have a winch bumper and a winch.. but i dont so a 100$ reciver it is.:flipoff:

I think a winch mounted in a winch bumper is the best way.. I went for the reciever becouse that is what i can afford...

 

[88rockxj]

Yeah, get a winch bumper.

You guys with reciever mounts stick up for them...................but, you never hear a guy with a hard mount say he wished he had a reciever mount.

Hmmmm.....??

actualy thats why i have one on mine, ive had more then one bumper with a hard mount for winches and they stick out atleast 6 inches from the front grill, they get smacked on steep verticle ledges hence wanting a reciver so my bumper is closer to my grill giving me a better approach angle. hmmm.......

 

[Goatman]

actualy thats why i have one on mine, ive had more then one bumper with a hard mount for winches and they stick out atleast 6 inches from the front grill, they get smacked on steep verticle ledges hence wanting a reciver so my bumper is closer to my grill giving me a better approach angle. hmmm.......

With the winch on.....or off. What vetteboy said is the reality, to have it ready when you need it, it should be on there, then you have a lousy approach angle. We've had to take receiver mounted winches off so a rig could get to a climb, then put the winch back on so they could winch up. A major PIA.

BTW, there's no cooling issues with the winch mounted up on top of the bumper, it doesn't restrict airflow. Airflow is the result of area and pressure, and the area of the grill is the same and so is the air pressure. The air just goes around the winch......there is no ram air effect.

 

[88rockxj]

With the winch on.....or off. What vetteboy said is the reality, to have it ready when you need it, it should be on there, then you have a lousy approach angle. We've had to take receiver mounted winches off so a rig could get to a climb, then put the winch back on so they could winch up. A major PIA.

BTW, there's no cooling issues with the winch mounted up on top of the bumper, it doesn't restrict airflow. Airflow is the result of area and pressure, and the area of the grill is the same and so is the air pressure. The air just goes around the winch......there is no ram air effect.

i just personaly do a lot of different types of wheeling and i dont use a winch as much as maybe you guys do, i really like not having my bumper stick out very far . i also like the option of using it in the back, me and my cousin do a lot of things together and go in on tools etc together so we share a winch and it can be used on a combined total of 3 rigs between the two of us. once i build a set of unviersal type cables we will be able to use it on ANY vehicle with a hitch. if i used my winch more then once every single time i went wheelin then i would definately get tired of lugging it up to my bumper, but at the same time were kids at heart and we find it fun to use the winch so its not really annoying to us to have to stop and take our time winching. we also dont do trail runs with large groups of people that are in a hurry and/or were not good friends with and we also like to wheel during the weekdays when others are not on the trail. my toy based buggy im very very slowly building/collecting parts for will have a hard mounted winch, but it wont hinder my approach angle like it does on an xj.

 

[88rockxj]

youre definately right about it killing your approach angle when its on there compared to a hard mount, i dont have it on there unless i need it. PITA for some, espeacialy if you regularly wheel very hard trails like the hammers then it would get old real quick lol.

 

[2xtreme]

Just my opinion and observation. When I first got my winch it was portable for several reasons (it was used on several vehicles and was shared by the family). I built a custom mount so that it could be mounted on top of the bumper and has worked VERY well (if it was hard mounted on my bumper it wouldn't be any less obtrusive unless it was set back behind the grill). I do have cables and it can be put in anyones receiver front or back in the case of an emergency.

Now that my Jeep get's wheeled harder and the winch is used more often and it is not used by others often. If I was to "start over" I would have hard mounted it to the winch bumper.

What I have learned is that the people who use them all the time and who wheel difficult stuff in general would prefer it hard mounted.

Those that like the option of it being portable (there are several very valid advantages) typically have a good reason for it being portable and probably are not as likely to use it every time they are on the trail.

The difficult part is getting the best of both worlds. I think that mine is a reasonble solution if that is necessary. I think most of us agree that it is probably not necessary for as many people as think that it might be necessary. I hope that makes sense

Michael

 

[Fullsizexj]

Where is the advance tech here, I read it all twice looking for it, danged if I can find it

 

[sixer]

Hey thanks for all the input, and pics. I know a bumper is the way to go
but funds are limited.I don't mind running my reciever into things by I would
like to protect the winch more ( reciever=150.00 winch=800.00) and yes I keep it mounted all the time ,don't like carrying it or installing it, so keep the ideas comming...
As for the advanced tech remark I was hoping someone might of fabbed something
that would work for my dilema...
Sixer
1993 country edition
4.0 litre aw4 trans
dana 30 dana 35 3.55 gear
2" lift 31x10.5 pro comp mt
trimmed front rear fenders
dual batts.
cold air kit plus chip
rock sliders and skids
lockers on my wish list

 

[trainwrexj]

i built the bumper on my rig that i sold so that the winch actually sat below the grill, as far back as it would go. it only stuck out 2" past stock, and everything was hidden. i mounted the solenoid box behind the grill, and if someone was motivated enough to try and steal it, it would have been quite a chore to try and unbolt the entire bumper just to get the winch out. worked well for me for the 3 months i had it like that before i sold it.

 

[XJ_ranger]

So you asked a question about fabricating new mounts to raise the hitch... claiming the hitch is cheaper than a bumper...

So I assume you would take ideas from here, and fabricate mounts - if someone had them... and save some coin...

If you can infact fabricate new mounts for the hitch, why cant you fabricate a bumper to do what you want for around the same $150 figure that you gave for your hitch?


You can fab mounts that move the reciever up, but you cant fab a bumper to hold the winch?:wierd:

 

[OlyWaXJ]

I built this for a buddy out of mostly scrap.So cost should'nt be an issue.

OlyWa