mr. cob
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Dave
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2022
- Threads
- 20
- Messages
- 132
- Reaction score
- 151
- Location
- Washington State, Granite Falls
- Website
- mr-cob.smugmug.com
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021, Gladiator, Rubicon, Snazzberry, MANY others
- Occupation
- retired
- Thread starter
- #1
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
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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