Winch with OEM

[AngelArmorNY]

I am interested in adding a winch to my Sport S when it comes. It will arrive with the standard polymer bumpers. Are there any winch options that do not require swapping to a steel bumper? I like the functionality of a winch but don't want to add anymore weight (sacrificing payload) than absolutely necessary.

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[CarolinaGladiator]

The only way I could see adding a winch without a bumper would be to put a front receiver on then you could mount the winch to a plate welded to a hitch. The plastic bumper does not accommodate any sort of winch mount.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

I recall a member of the JL forum did this. He cut through his bumper to do it. I suppose you could use the Warn wench mount plate to make it happen but that would require you to add rivnuts to the frame for mounting.

I’ve said it before, anything is possible with the proper application of Redneck Engineering.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Curt has a front receiver and a winch plate for it. This is the route I went with mine. It took a few hours to install, but was not real difficult. I cut a hole in the plastic air dam to fit around the receiver. I'll be putting it back on after I'm done installing some lights. I'm not done, yet, I still have to connect the power under the hood. I also plan to add an auxiliary battery for the winch. I'm going to attach it to the frame behind the right rear wheel.

 

[AngelArmorNY]

Curt has a front receiver and a winch plate for it. This is the route I went with mine. It took a few hours to install, but was not real difficult. I cut a hole in the plastic air dam to fit around the receiver. I'll be putting it back on after I'm done installing some lights. I'm not done, yet, I still have to connect the power under the hood. I also plan to add an auxiliary battery for the winch. I'm going to attach it to the frame behind the right rear wheel.

Ooh, very interesting. Thank you for the info. I will try to find this product from Curt and give it a look.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Ooh, very interesting. Thank you for the info. I will try to find this product from Curt and give it a look.

The receiver is a Curt 31086 and the winch plate is a Curt 31009. I installed a Warn VR-8S. The Curt receiver is rated for 9000lbs on a direct pull, so I went with a winch rated for 8000lbs. I got the winch with synthetic rope. The VR-8 comes with metal cable is a little bit cheaper.

 

[Psycho Squirrel]

This has me thinking..... I'm trading in my JKU for a JT (hopefully tomorrow) and I've got a front hitch on the JK. I've heard that the JK bumpers fit on a JL sooo...

 

[Bobzdar]

I am interested in adding a winch to my Sport S when it comes. It will arrive with the standard polymer bumpers. Are there any winch options that do not require swapping to a steel bumper? I like the functionality of a winch but don't want to add anymore weight (sacrificing payload) than absolutely necessary.

The factory steel bumper is not too heavy, I'd be surprised if the difference between it and the regular bumper is more than 10-20lbs.

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