Rubicon w Stock Front Bumper...considering a winch.

[ACAD_Cowboy]

To be fair a winch is like a condom, you don't need it all the time but when you do you're happy you have one. If you're going out with a group, it's not always important that't everyone has a winch.

As we have learned in other threads, some people don't believe in them at all. However others have them cocked and ready to go all the time.

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[uplandgunner]

Well I look at it this way, if you're going to go out by yourself, you need something. That Wyeth super come along is nice but it's 350 bucks and only rated at 6000 lbs . That sounds like a lot but if your stuck that's gonna be a long day even if you succeed and its a false sense of security.

having a winch will give you the confidence at a point in which you would turn around without one, but really in fact don't need it as you would get through it fine. It allows you to really learn your Jeeps capability, I think it's one of the first add ons you should get before other things such as a lift and stuff like that.

But if you are only going to go out with a group and never solo, just get a good strap and or a kinetic rope.

 

[Dainbramaged]

Well I look at it this way, if you're going to go out by yourself, you need something. That Wyeth super come along is nice but it's 350 bucks and only rated at 6000 lbs . That sounds like a lot but if your stuck that's gonna be a long day even if you succeed and its a false sense of security.

having a winch will give you the confidence at a point in which you would turn around without one, but really in fact don't need it as you would get through it fine. It allows you to really learn your Jeeps capability, I think it's one of the first add ons you should get before other things such as a lift and stuff like that.

But if you are only going to go out with a group and never solo, just get a good strap and or a kinetic rope.

I appreciate the insights. I think that I’ll enjoy getting out with a group periodically, but I think that we’ll be out on our own as often. It’s a good point about it just providing some peace of mind as well. We’re taking a course in off roading at Rauch ORV park in Pennsylvania next weekend and may follow that up with their program on proper recovery techniques so we stay safe and don’t damage anything when we are using a winch (ours or others).

of course, getting a winch means getting a bumper and my wife is already questioning why I spent $3k this week on tires, a lift and tube doors! Not sure when the budget opens back for phase 2....

 

[Blade1668]

I thought about making a winch mount for mine and using the OEM plastic bumper, but I looked at it and seen no real protection with it. I ordered one from Amazon, I wanted the lower mounting for winch but went for faster delivery.

 

[Dainbramaged]

To be fair a winch is like a condom, you don't need it all the time but when you do you're happy you have one. If you're going out with a group, it's not always important that't everyone has a winch.

As we have learned in other threads, some people don't believe in them at all. However others have them cocked and ready to go all the time.

Yeah, but is it like sophmore year condom that all the guys carried and talked about, but never really used, or senior year condom that proved a good investment to have made before needed ;-) ?

 

[ACAD_Cowboy]

Considering Im at a hydro winch up front and a hidden rear electric... I guess im at the vasectomy level of winches. That would be your dad grumbling " no more fucking surprises..." while adjusting the bag of peas.

 

[steelponycowboy]

So here is my take on this. Depends on what bumper you have. There is one that is set up to be able to use a winch with and one that is not. One thing you don't want to go cheap on is a winch mount. The last thing you want to happen is for the mount to fail when you are trying to winch yourself out of a situation. In the nearly 50 years I've been Jeeping, I've used a winch 3 times.

Having said that, don't like factory bumpers and I don't like a lot of the aftermarket ones. My Hardrock Rubicon JK has the Rugged Ridge XHD full size front bumper. It has the winch mount already built in and is about as HD as they get (https://ruggedridge.com/xhd-bumper-...learance-07-15-jeep-wrangler-jk-11540-55.html).

On the JT, I'm either going with the Rugged Ridge Venator (https://ruggedridge.com/venator-front-bumper-w-overrider-winch-tray-jl-11549-41.html) or the Rugged Ridge full width HD bumper (https://ruggedridge.com/hd-bumper-full-width-front-07-18-wrangler-jk-18-19-wrangler-jl-11540-31.html) with the HD X-Stryker bar (https://ruggedridge.com/hd-x-striker-07-18-jk-18-19-jl-11540-61.html). Any of those bumpers have great styling and have the winch tray all ready to go.

And if you get a winch, buy one with the synthetic rope. I've seen several steel cables snap and cause lots of damage.

And one more thing, my golden rule is never go off road as the only vehicle. Sometimes you can't get yourself out of a bad situation with out the help of another Jeep or two. My best example is I was leading a group around a washout in Utah over a dry lake bed that we walked out and did some recon 1st. All of a sudden I sunk down to the bottom of my tub. It took 4 Jeeps with winches to get me out. You will read at least twice a year someone went out alone and never came back, SAR finding them days or weeks later, deceased.

Be safe!

 

[SwampNut]

Everyone has different definitions of what "hard" wheeling is, and their own ability. I don't even have one on the JT yet, the plate is on the way. On my JK, the winch got a LOT of use for both myself and others. Rolling another Jeep back over, getting me out of deep mud many times, getting me out of a river, pulling a motorhome out of a sand pit, a RZR out of a ravine, a motorcycle out of a very deep mud pit, and so much more. If you're out playing a lot, and trying questionable things, you'll need it. I also occasionally like to go out alone so it provides some margin of both convenience and safety. Although the ham radio can reach from almost anywhere, it's a lot better to just pull myself out.

 

[uplandgunner]

A good winch and bumper can be done for less than $ 900.00 if you watch for sales. I did this smitty XRC bumper and X2O 10,000 with synthetic line for $900.00 It was the first thing I did with my JT. Gave me the confidence to go out and use it, find what its capabilities were and then upgrade it with what it really needed which wasn't really much. I just went to 35" tires and that's really all she'll need to do whatever I want.

 

[double J]

ruggedridge Venator bumper

 

[bastage]

Mounted but not put to a real test yet. 1100ish spent on the bumper and warn vr evo 10s.

I almost went with the exact same setup uplandgunner has.

If someone was so inclined they could probably get a nice and reliable setup for sub 500 using an eag bumper and the old badlands winch.

 

[Factoid]

Frankly, the bottom line is if you want the winch for anything other than looks, you need a real bumper. Flame on friends!

 

[steelponycowboy]

Frankly, the bottom line is if you want the winch for anything other than looks, you need a real bumper. Flame on friends!

What defines a real bumper ? I used my stock Rubicon bumper with a Rugged Ridge winch mount/tray and it was more than enough to pull another Jeep out of the deep mud.

 

[bastage]

What defines a real bumper ? I used my stock Rubicon bumper with a Rugged Ridge winch mount/tray and it was more than enough to pull another Jeep out of the deep mud.

Personally I think the Mopar 3 piece shown there is a real bumper. The plastic BS that is included however is not.

 

[steelponycowboy]

Ok, have to agree with you on that, the plastic Jeep bumpers are crap and don't belong on a Jeep.

I've seen some pretty ugly winch mounting solutions in my days, many of the homemade solutions are a disaster waiting to happen.

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