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Sport-S stock bumper and a winch....educate me
- Thread starter texanjeeper
- Start date
- Watchers 13
SamJ3
Well-Known Member
Key parts and approximate costs:Love the looks of this. Wondering the total cost of everything?
Wondering how similar my '23 Sport S bumper would take to this? And I don't have the tow brackets, so that might make it easier? I just don't have that recess in the center.
Just starting to think about adding a winch, and love it sitting behind the stock bumper.
Zeak winch, $290 (standard bolt pattern, so this is buyer's choice.)
LOD Signature mount plate $160,
Rugged Ridge spacers (to elevate the winch to center the fairlead in the bumper), $28
Poison Spyder fairlead mount (to move the fairlead forward to meet the front face of the bumper), $55,
Battery disconnect switch (because you don't want live 2/0 power cables snaked around the vehicle, and you don't want the winch to trickle drain the battery if it has a wireless receiver) $14.
Many of these items are no longer available through Amazon, but you can hunt for equivalent items. Harbor Freight might be a good source for most of these. The only 'must have' is the LOD plate - the other items can be swapped out for similar items from other makers.
I expect that the newer bumper would work out fine - it might even be a bit easier. I anticipate that the metal support structure is identical or similar. When trimming that, try to take off only what you need.
The absence of brackets will definitely simplify the job. (The brackets require slight trimming at the rear side where it meets the inboard sides of the frame rail.)
The different bumper may require different offsets to center the fairlead in the bumper. You may need different spacers and/or fairlead bracket (Or none at all.)
Also, depending on the winch model, you may need to drill holes in the plastic grill to feed the power wires. Or, you can get a winch that feeds the wires from the side instead of the back side of the top mounted solenoid.
SamJ3
Well-Known Member
Zeak Winch has since been rebranded to AOTOWO. This message arrived in my inbox today:
"We apologize the brand 'ZEAK' has been discontinued... We are the same manufacturer with Harbor freight Badland winches. They forced us to quit the North American market. We are mainly based in China with a small group in the USA, working on the 'ZEAK' project for 4 years. We understand customer needs and strive to provide the best service. For the long run consideration, our team decided to rebrand a winch brand 'AOTOWO'."
For what it is worth, I've had my Zeak 10,000 lb winch for 2 years, and it still runs strong and smooth.
"We apologize the brand 'ZEAK' has been discontinued... We are the same manufacturer with Harbor freight Badland winches. They forced us to quit the North American market. We are mainly based in China with a small group in the USA, working on the 'ZEAK' project for 4 years. We understand customer needs and strive to provide the best service. For the long run consideration, our team decided to rebrand a winch brand 'AOTOWO'."
For what it is worth, I've had my Zeak 10,000 lb winch for 2 years, and it still runs strong and smooth.
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