Rock Hard Winch Plate

[Empty Pockets]

I’m sure that this has been covered before but, for the life of me, I can’t find it. I would appreciate some honest feedback on the Rock Hard winch plate for the JT plastic bumper. I really don’t mind the plastic for my use, which is relatively light. It will take small knocks and bounce back. I also don’t see many steel bumpers that I like. I’m not big on the raised corners, exposed tires, agressive look of so many on the market today. And I WILL NOT pay the stupid price MOPAR wants for a stamped steel bumper and then have to spend even more for a winch plate. So, please give me some feedback from genuine hands-on experience with this unit. Thanks!

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[johnparjr]

I saw this post on the JL site and I watched the video very interesting as I like the stock bumper

stock-sport-to-winch-equipped-for-500.31675

 

[Empty Pockets]

Thanks!

 

[WK2JT]

I thought about going this route also, but my biggest concern was the loss of all that frontal grill area for cooling. Might not be as big of an issue as I think in my head, but it just seems like it would.

 

[mx5red]

FYI...
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...el-bumper-not-a-knock-off-pretty-legit.47692/

pretty good deal on steel “Mopar” bumper. I’d go that route.

 

[Kev_bo]

A little late to the party from the initial posts......but if anyone going forward wants to think I about it, I just installed the Rock Hard 4x4 plate on my JTO with a Warn Zeon 10s.

We'll see what happens on the first heavy pull, I will definitely be standing away from the front end lol The weight savings hanging off the front of the truck, accessibility, and cost was the lure.

-Lots of jump cuts on the RH4x4 install vid so you do not get the full picture of order to tighten/install portions
-The rear braces only tie into the frame via 1 x M10 bolt either side, and TBD on how well the tow hook compression method works
-RH hardware used SAE hex wrenches for top bolts, but metric nuts on the bottom of the mounting plate
-100% install plate super loose before replacing bumper, tolerances are extremely tight. Lots of shaking and swearing to get bumper fitted back on
-The back of the plate has a lip on it so you have to route the negative up and over depending on Winch make and edges are sharp, so I used some more cable protection where rubbing those edges
-The RH tow hooks have a sharp edge on them, will have to be very careful use soft shackles or straps if using
-The 18mm bumper nuts between the frame after you put the RH brackets makes the space for a wrench very tight, takes some patience

 

[cranbiz]

I had the Rock Hard winch plate on my JK. It worked just fine. I had some tough pulls with it and it performed well. I sold it to someone else when I replaced my bumper and as far as I know, it's still working well. I didn't notice any cooling issues with the JK.

My Gladiator has a knock off Chinese (Mopar) steel bumper with a built in winch plate. It's not going to see the type of pulls my JK does but I have used my winch to pull bushes, move trees out of the road and winch my motorhome's trailer hitch back into position for welding and have seen no deflection.

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