Another winch in a plastic bumper.

[ChrisNLA]

Parts:
LOD Signature Winch Plate
Harbor Freight universal fairlead mount
Two hawse fairleads from Amazon

Bolted in LOD winch plate and Smittybilt X20 winch, bolted HF fairlead mount to the bottom of that, and cut out all the plastic and metal in the center. Kept trimming till look and clearances were right.

The two Amazon hawse fairleads will be sandwiched behind the visible fairlead / bumper and in front of the HF fairlead mount. I need to find two bolts for this so I will post when done. This will create a solid aluminum sandwich up front that is very sturdy for the cable to pass through and hold the plastic in the center rock solid. The two together were a perfect fit between the plastic and the fairlead mount.

Outside wings seem as solid as before. All the metal and plastic is still in them.

Plan to finish it off with the bright silver Mojave skid plate underneath.

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[ChrisNLA]

The two bright aluminum fairleads will be sandwiched in the bumper as shown once I order the correct length bolts. That will create the spacer that makes the entire front / center solid.

 

[Sarge502]

So I was originally going to go this route after seeing the other thread on this. Plus, I actually like the stock bumpers look overall compared to some of the god awfully gawdy looking bumpers I often see. However, I ended up snagging a stock steel version (Rubicon 3-piece) for a decent price and they being stock, dont take away from the overall look. Which is kind of the direction I'm going with my rig.

But I must say as someone who was going to try this, it looks like one of the better jobs I've seen. Good stuff.

 

[ChrisNLA]

So I was originally going to go this route after seeing the other thread on this. Plus, I actually like the stock bumpers look overall compared to some of the god awfully gawdy looking bumpers I often see. However, I ended up snagging a stock steel version (Rubicon 3-piece) for a decent price and they being stock, dont take away from the overall look. Which is kind of the direction I'm going with my rig.

But I must say as someone who was going to try this, it looks like one of the better jobs I've seen. Good stuff.

Thanks! I couldn't find any affordable steel bumpers locally, and I only have about $240 in this. I like that it's a bit of a conversation starter too. If I find another very cheap or free plastic bumper I may snag it and cut a new plastic shell that fits a little tighter around the winch for an even cleaner look.

 

[mdyucca]

Looks great/good work. What is benefit of mounting solenoid pack off center?

 

[ChrisNLA]

Looks great/good work. What is benefit of mounting solenoid pack off center?

Wasn't enough room to mount it center without having to cut a clearance notch in the bottom of the grille. It's pretty tight.

 

[mdyucca]

Got it. From the picture showing bottom up it looked like plenty of clearance with the grill.

 

[Z16DNA]

Parts:
LOD Signature Winch Plate
Harbor Freight universal fairlead mount
Two hawse fairleads from Amazon

Bolted in LOD winch plate and Smittybilt X20 winch, bolted HF fairlead mount to the bottom of that, and cut out all the plastic and metal in the center. Kept trimming till look and clearances were right.

The two Amazon hawse fairleads will be sandwiched behind the visible fairlead / bumper and in front of the HF fairlead mount. I need to find two bolts for this so I will post when done. This will create a solid aluminum sandwich up front that is very sturdy for the cable to pass through and hold the plastic in the center rock solid. The two together were a perfect fit between the plastic and the fairlead mount.

Outside wings seem as solid as before. All the metal and plastic is still in them.

Plan to finish it off with the bright silver Mojave skid plate underneath.

Great Job; I hope to follow in your footsteps

 

[Divided_Wood]

Nicely done! Looks even cleaner than mine. Good choice of winch, too... mine has hauled me all over.

 

[Jaxmax]

Looks really nice, stacking the hausers is a great idea, welcome to the light weight plastic winch install club! It is nice getting compliments on it from other Jeeps.....Jack

 

[ChrisNLA]

Very nice! Why did you go with the LOD plate instead of Warn or something else?

The Warn has a built in fairlead plate on the front and I was concerned it may protrude too far forward for this this project (like beyond the front face of the plastic bumper). The Warn plate also costs substantially more ($315 from a quick look). I have around $240 total into this project for the LOD winch plate, the fairlead mount, and the two hawse fairlead spacers.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Welp, Lowes had the M12 x 1.75MM x 70MM bolts (Grade 10.9 for max overkill) I needed to reach through all the fairleads. So that's done.

Just gotta spool cable now!

 

[3VOLVE]

Super clean install makes this look like it was factory. Your attention to detail is ??

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

Nice job taking your time with cutting the bumper cover. If someone didn’t know any better, they’d think it came like that from the factory. ?

 

[Freems]

Awesome Job!

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