Step by step, with photos, how to install a Warn winch on a Jeep Gladiator, using STOCK plastic bumper.

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

WARNING, if you are going to do this, you might NOT want to use the heavy duty Warn winch plate as I did. You have to remove so much material it ends up being nothing but a fog light holder and a weak one at that. Read and look at the photos in the second installment of this project, BEFORE doing this the way I did, using the winch mounting plate that I did

First I want to thank the forum members who posted to my OP asking if this was even possible and for the knowledge that they shared. This is going to be a work in progress, this thread will be updated as I receive parts and get them installed.

I have spent many hours reading the threads and posts concerning winch's, their mounts and why folks chose to do what they did. I chose to go with these parts for three reasons, ( ONE ) Warn is a good product that I have used and trusted for over 60 years. ( TWO ) 4WP ( 4 Wheel Parts ) did a price match and sold these parts for the same price as I could get them on amazon and they had them in stock, I should be getting them within the next couple of days rather then wait over two weeks to get them from amazon. ( Three ) the Warn is priced about 250 bucks more then the Harbor Freight winch that most folks go with, the Warn warranty is 7 YEARS on all wiring, LIFETIME on other parts, the Harbor freight winch has a 90 day warranty. To me it's a no brainier to pay up front for quality that you can depend on if and when you need it. However that is a personal opinion based on my off road experience and may be in conflict with the opinion of others.

WAR103255 Warn VR EVO 12-S Winch with Synthetic Rope - 103255

WAR101255 Warn OE Rubicon Winch Mount - 101255

I chose the Warn winch mount as it looked to be the strongest of the bunch and as I am keeping the stock plastic bumper I think it will prove to be easier to work with and provide more structural integrity to the completed project. AND I know it will work with the winch without having to modify it in any way.

OK, enough blabbering, lets get on with the project. I didn't take photos of taking off the little plastic cover that goes between the grill and the bumper or of taking off the bumper bolts, all that needs to be done is pop out the little plastic buttons, take off the sway bar skid plate, disconnect the fog lights, take off the 8 bolts holding on the bumper and this is what you end up with.

This is the bumper after it's removed all plastic parts in place.

After I took the bumper off I removed the plastic parts.

Turn bumper over and remove all the plastic parts on it's front.

On each end of the bumper there is a small tie wrap clip that needs to be cut, just cut the tie wrap, DO NOT CUT the little clip you will want to reinstall a new tie wrap when your putting everything back together.

Here I have cut the tie wrap the wiring is now free of the steel inner bumper.

Here I have removed the steel inner bumper from the plastic bumper.

The bumper is now stripped and ready to have plastic removed to allow it's being installed with the winch and winch mount in place.

That is as far as I made it today. When the winch mount arrives I will update this thread with its installation and the winch itself. After the winch is installed I'll be able to see what needs to be cut off from the plastic bumper to allows it's installation. Stay tuned and I'll post updates as they happen.

Dave

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[cshoem286]

Watching to replicate … ordering my parts next week

 

[mr. cob]

Watching to replicate … ordering my parts next week

Howdy Chris,

BEFORE you order parts, you may want to read the rest of my install. Using the Warn winch plate works but it makes the stock plastic bumper pretty worthless, you have to take so much material out of it it's not much more then a fog light holder and a weak one at that. I am working on posting photos of today's work, got it all done except for the wiring will do that tomorrow if it's not pouring down rain.

Dave.

 

[Datpoolboy]

I'll be watching this thread closely. I plan on doing this but maybe I can learn from your project.

 

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

ASSUMPTIONS, will bite you in the ass every freaking time you make them. Case in point, I used the Warn heavy duty winch mounting plate as it is supposed to work with the OEM Steel Rubicon bumper. I ASSUMED that the plastic bumper and the steel bumper had the same external dimensions and form, they DON'T. The Warn mounting plate has a large protrusion on it's front surface, this may work with the stock steel bumper but I had to cut a massive amount of material out of the plastic bumper to get it to fit, this really weakened the bumper making it not much more then a fog light holder. So if your going to use the stock plastic bumper, you might want to use a weaker winch mount plate that doesn't have the protrusion in front of it.

UPS, showed up this morning with these goodies.

LEAVE ALL MOUNTING BOLTS LOOSE UNTIL FINAL TIGHTENING AFTER THE BUMPER IS INSTALLED FOR THE LAST TIME.

This is the heavy duty Warn winch mounting plate to be used with the OEM steel Rubicon bumper.

REMEMBER, this is a RUBICON, there are some differences in how the sway bar skid plate mounts compared to other models. What you are looking at is the sway bar skid plate mounts, after the skid plate has been removed. You will take out and reuse the two bolts holding the skid plate mount on both frame rails.

This is the rear winch mounting plate support bracket, reinstall the two bolts that held the skid plate mounting bracket do this on both sides.

Make SURE to place the carriage bolts into the rear support bracket BEFORE you snug that bracket.

After installing the rear support brackets, both sides. Then using wire ties, support the front of the winch mount plate. They send weak wire ties, I used two on each side.

The winch mount will now look like this.

Adjust the wire ties so that all the holes are in alignment.

That completes the PRELIMINARY winch mounting plate installation.

Dave

 

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

Now we move on to mounting the winch.

The first thing you do is place the winch mounting SQUARE nuts into the base of the winch, I used a small piece of scotch tape to seal the end of the nut slot so the nuts didn't drop out while moving everything around.

Carefully set the winch onto the winch mounting plate, you may have to readjust your wire ties after adding the weight of the winch so that all the mounting holes are still alignment.

Install the four winch mounting bolts from the underside of the winch mounting plate, these can be tightened down as the winch is now in place.

The winch itself is now in place, the wiring will be done after the bumper is installed for the last time.

Dave

 

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

Now comes the most time consuming and tedious part of the job, modifying the plastic bumper so that it will fit. You will notice as I start cutting on the bumper I use a marker to set the cut lines and cut out a little bit at a time. I wanted to save as much of the metal inner liner and plastic as I could, sadly I ended up removing most of the metal liner and most of the plastic to get the bumper to fit over the winch mounting plate.

I start by cutting out the center section of the metal liner.

In order for the metal liner to fit over the winch mounting plate, you have to cut the top and the bottom of the channel off, this greatly weakens the plate but it must be done.

I used my band saw to cut the channel, I used my skill saw with a metal cutting blade to cut the top and bottom of the channel.

Here I am mocking up the install, checking for clearance. Clearance checking would have to be done again and again, especially once the plastic cutting started.

Both metal liners are cut to size and shape.

Here I have taken the plastic inner bumper away from the outer bumper. The inner bumper will have to be clearanced first before work can start on the outer bumper.

Preliminary cut line, I would end up cutting two more times before I had enough matrieal removed so this would fit. This needs to be done to both sides of the inner bumper.

You can see where I tried to save the two mounting bolts on the inboard side of the tow hooks, this would have made the outer ends of the bumper much stronger.

Unfortunately, I had to recut the plastic removing the two bolt positions in order to clear the winch mounting plate.

The inner plastic parts will now fit and clear the winch mounting plate.

Here I am again mocking up the fit, everything clears at this point.

Now that the inner plastic fits, I start to work on the outer bumper plastic. Marking preliminary cut lines.

First check, more needs to be done.

I am now starting to reassemble the bumper, REMEMBER to install a new wire tie to keep the fog light wires from rubbing.

Here the metal liner and the inner plastic has been reinstalled into the outer bumper plastic.

Reinstalling the weather guards on both ends of the bumper.

The reassembled bumper, now ready to start cutting for the winch line passage.

Before cutting out the winch line access port the plastic bumper was still quite strong, however as work progressed the middle of the bumper became weaker and weaker. This was because of the LARGE opening needed for the winch mount I was using. Laying out the first cut lines.

I drilled 1/2" holes in the corners before cutting.

I had to cut three times before getting everything to fit and clear.

Final cutting done, ended up with a massive hole in the front of the bumper plastic.

Installed the fairhead, and let out some line so it could go through the fairhead, getting ready for the final fitting.

Done deal, tomorrow if it isn't pouring down rain I'll complete the wiring.

So it's done, everything tightened up, sway bar skid plate back in place, I think it looks pretty good considering the huge hole that had to be cut in the outer bumper to clear the fairhead. But it is pretty weak on the ends, darn sure would do any good in a wreck but with the huge winch mounting plate in the center it's probably as good as any of the shorty bumpers out there.

This will work until I can find a real steel bumper at a price I am willing to pay, until then I will have a functional winch and for that I am a HAPPY CAMPER. With luck I'll finish wiring this up tomorrow

Dave

 

[Jaxmax]

Dave, thanks for all the photos, my assumptions were as you stated wrong, I have ordered a JCR winch plate instead that doesn't stick out past front of frame, and will fabricate a Hauser mount maybe as simple as a piece of steel across the front. My Warn winch is much smaller and only 16" wide, guess I'll know when I'm halfway through the install. Your thread has been very helpful, thanks!.....Jack

 

[mr. cob]

Dave, thanks for all the photos, my assumptions were as you stated wrong, I have ordered a JCR winch plate instead that doesn't stick out past front of frame, and will fabricate a Hauser mount maybe as simple as a piece of steel across the front. My Warn winch is much smaller and only 16" wide, guess I'll know when I'm halfway through the install. Your thread has been very helpful, thanks!.....Jack

Howdy Jack,

If you don't plan at some point to get a stock steel winch ready bumper, your on the right track. I do eventually want the stock steel winch ready bumper I just don't want to pay an arm and half a leg for it. For years as I have made mods to my vehicles I have documented the process for myself and to hopefully help others who may be thinking about doing the same thing.

I have been thinking about this and I might have come up a simple way to reinforce the massively cut out front center section of the plastic bumper. If my idea works out I'll be sure to add it to this thread.

Dave

 

[ScottBeach]

Why not use an over bumper mount if you have a plastic bumper? As long as you don't have a diesel I can't see it impacting cooling and keeps the bumper whole.

 

[aqcjeepGlad]

Why not use an over bumper mount if you have a plastic bumper? As long as you don't have a diesel I can't see it impacting cooling and keeps the bumper whole.

That's an option, but I prefer the look of the winch behind the plastic bumper and the minimal weight of the plastic bumper. The warn winch plate is as stout as most stubby bumpers with just slightly less coverage. Works for me. YMMV

 

[McRuss]

I'm about to start this project, a Badlands 12,000 lb winch on a 2020 Overland. The snow is almost melted now and temps up into the 40's. No heat in the garage/car port but can do it. Not sure what the "little plastic buttons" are or where to find them but will be looking soon. I've not looked under the bumper for bolts but that is coming soon too.

 

[aqcjeepGlad]

Howdy Jack,

If you don't plan at some point to get a stock steel winch ready bumper, your on the right track. I do eventually want the stock steel winch ready bumper I just don't want to pay an arm and half a leg for it. For years as I have made mods to my vehicles I have documented the process for myself and to hopefully help others who may be thinking about doing the same thing.

I have been thinking about this and I might have come up a simple way to reinforce the massively cut out front center section of the plastic bumper. If my idea works out I'll be sure to add it to this thread.

Dave

I actually did not cut out the center of the outside plastic skin. I shimmed the bumper winch plate out just a little bit and the plate sits just inside the skin like the metal of the bumper that I cut out did. This helps to support the ends.

 

[NC_Overland]

That’s kinda funny how much of the bumper you have to remove. My warn winch plate fit great behind the metal bumper. The good news is that it would be easy to install it or one of the knock offs after that winch plate is installed. I don’t remotely regret the warn winch plate. High quality and bolts right in.

 

[ChrisNLA]

That’s kinda funny how much of the bumper you have to remove. My warn winch plate fit great behind the metal bumper. The good news is that it would be easy to install it or one of the knock offs after that winch plate is installed. I don’t remotely regret the warn winch plate. High quality and bolts right in.

This 'winch in a plastic bumper' method is probably one of the worst ways to go about it (no offense to the OP). This plate just isn't a good selection for this custom job.

To your point, it's great if someone wants to find a whole steel bumper later...

The LOD plate like I have fits behind the plastic cover, so you are only cutting a slot for the line to feed out of, and of course an opening in the top for the winch. Now, either way you are cutting the steel channel out of the middle as well as the plastic reinforcement, so it's still just a weak fog light holder in the end.

I still want to find a nice fresh plastic bumper for mine and re-do just the plastic shell. I want to clean and tighten some of the cuts I made on the first version.

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