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My Front Winch Bumper Build Thread

24K views 90 replies 32 participants last post by  Timbo269 
#1 · (Edited)
Finally decided to tackle a big project to put my skills to the test, along with my welding/grinding/fabricating skills.

I will be making a Front winch Bumper for my ZJ, over the next...while. I guess when ever I get time. Spring break will provide lots of opportunities, which is next week. I just ordered my Winch from www.WinchDepot.com and should recieve that next week probably monday. $299.95 shipped, however they have it listed for $284.95 shipped so I will see if I can get that price instead. For some reason it goes to 299 when you add to cart. Winch is pictured without the control box.

Smittybilt Winches - XRC8 Winch

* XRC8 Winch
* Line Pull: 8000 lbs.
* Voltage: 12V
* Motor: 4.1 hp
* Remote Control: 12 Ft. Lead
* Gear Ratio: 265:1
* Size: 21 in. x 6.22 in. x 7.28 in.
* Weight: 80 lbs.
* Wire rope: 92 Ft. of 5/16
* Fairlead Roller
* Type of Winch: Electric

"The new Smittybilt XRC-8 Winch encompassses all the best features you would want in a winch. Every XRC-8 (8000 lb) winch features a 4.1HP Permanent Magentic Motor and a Planetary Gear Sytem with 265:1 gear ratio that will deliver you power and reliability without hitting your pocket book."



Anyway, for those of you with ZJ's know there arent many options out there besides CRB (not winch version), and Kevins Offroad (Very nice, yet run about $850 shipped). And, the recently discontinued Hanson Offroad Bumper line. Since this is not a TJ, you have to find your own mounting points. I have chose the framerails. I will grind out the frame rails to acieve the flat part (will see picture).




One I finish Grinding that out I will use 3" x 2" x 1/4" Angle Mild Steel in there. 2" being width, 3 inches being height. The gap when fully cut is 5" x 2". I will then take my nuts that match up with the threads of some grade 8 bolts, and weld them to the angle steel in the correct places. This way I can tighten the bolt without screwing around with a wrench too.

The Angle Mounts will stick out probably a foot or two from the flush part of the bumper fascia, and here is where I will mount my winch. I will have a plate of steel the length of the gap, and probably about 7 inches wide, 1/4" thick. I will weld this fully to the angle iron with some angle left still. gussets and all types of supports will be put into action. For added security, I will drill 2 holes on each side, 4 total through the winch mounting plate and through the angle iron on the top, but to the left and right sides. I will put grade 8 bolts in here, with nuts on the other side. This ensures that if the welds fails for some reason :rolleyes: the bolts should catch it. I will also weld a fair lead mount on the front face of the mounting plate. The entire mounting system will be 1/4" Steel.

From here, I have yet to decide what to do. I figure if I make the rest of the bumper with 1/4" steel it will be heavier than the Jeep itself (not really, but darn heavy) and I would rather have the stress go to the mounts when pulling, not just from every day driving. So I was thinking 1/8" for the rest of the bumper? I already have tow points in the front, so I do not need D-Ring mounts. The rest of the bumper would just be for show anyway, with some possible mounts for my Hellas.

Thanks for reading. All input appreciated greatly. I am only 16, not an engineer so dont completely cuss me out lol.

Let me know what you think
-Pat
 
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#3 ·
I wouldn't weld the fairlead to the bumper face as they need to be replaced on occasion as the rollers wear, and cutting welds to replace a "minor" part is never fun.
I thought fairleads mounted with 2 bolts?
 
#7 · (Edited)
Yup, ordered and already shipped on its way to me. It will be cool for sure!

rustywrangler, hopefully I will do a good enough writeup for people to follow. I hate writeups with no detail. I will take pics as I go.

As of now, I really cannot decide whether or not to mount the winch plate on the brackets and then the rest of the bumper separate, or to have brackets, with a bumper separate as one piece and then have the winch plate on there.

Both have advantages/disadvantages. With the winch on the mounting plate, I will trust it a ton more. However, the bumper would be harder to mount steadily onto the brackets to a point where its fairly easy to remove.

With the winchplate on the bumper itself, it would be easy to mount and such, however I would need to make the entire bumper 1/4" to prevent bending.

With the winch on brackets I would do all the mounting 1/4" and then the rest of the bumper 1/8" being it is just for show anyway.

What do you guys think? Any Ideas?
 
#6 ·
I like how you thought to open up that front crossmember. Gonna follow this thread, father-in-law is gonna want a bumper at some point.
 
#8 ·
just for show? wtf pat, you know youre gonna want to ram ****!

having a steel bumper just for show kind of defeats the purpose..id say winch and bumper seperate to give a stronger, sturdier support that is more reliable...but hey, thats just me
 
#9 ·
Grant, 1/8" is plenty to ram things...especially those that roll on 4 casters and weigh around 40 lbs aimlessly in parking lots.

I am leaning towards the winch/bracket setup very much, its more of just finding a way to mount the rest of the bumper too.

By just for show, I meant that I will not be welding D-Ring mounts to it being I already have Kevins Front Tow Pointz. There will be no major force applied to it.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I am not sure what you mean by that USMC, Basically from this pic:



You can see that there is room in there, however those bolts that are in there do have to go back in. I know for sure the right side wall nut plate is removable, and I would assume the bottom one is aswell. These were involved in the Radiator Supports/Tow Pointz. I really would love to run some 2"x4" in there, but I do not know how to get the bolts and nuts to line up without lots of hassle.

That is why I was thinking of :



I would trim to accommodate that angle steel there. The 2 nut plates, technically pull at the same time being there is an L bracket for the radiator support hugging the rail (90 degrees) that bolts into all 4 bolts. So I should be safe in just mounting to the 2 bolts in both sides right? (Other side is identical)

Other than that, I don't know what to do.

???
 
#13 ·
Well, I just thought of something a lot better. It's 12:35 AM and this bumper thing is driving me nuts, I just want to get a solid plan so I am ready to work thursday when I have the day off (ironically enough) I get a day off, and spend the whole day working on other things lol.

So basically, assuming when I take out the 4 bolts per channel both plates can be moved, I will just make something like this:



That way, there is plenty of support when pulling from all angles, and I use a total of 8 bolts in the rails alone...All Grade 8.

My steel supply does not show a 2x4 channel, only 2 x 4 x 1/4" rectangle tubes. I would do that, but how am I supposed to get the nuts inside there?
 
#14 ·
UPDATE:

Got to work on it tonight, I will get more steel tomorrow for the winch plate and a start on the bumper part. Mounts are done, I went with the 4 side ones which should be plenty. These are also tied to the lower 2 via the KOR Radiator Support/Tow Pointz.

Bottom Nut Plate that came factory was welded in, so I had to think of a new plan (opposed to the angle steel in the rails) Its all 1/4" Steel Plate, all Grade 8 hardware, cut to fit, nuts welded to stay in place. I will have to drill out more holes tomorrow when I get the rest of my material. Winch also comes tomorrow. Seems to be a strong mounting point, I am sandwiching the frame at every screw so it should help that way also.

At least I can stand on it and it doesnt break! LOL i hope it doesnt.

Onto the pics:







 
#15 ·
Are you going to weld the nuts on a little more? Those tacks might break loose leaving the nut to spin inside the frame. Looks pretty good so far. From the first few pics, I thought you were only going to use 1 bolt in the side of your plate.. but the last pic showing the 4 bolts per plate looks pretty good.
 
#16 ·
Thanks. I would weld the nuts more, however every time you weld them they get harder to use. The large amount of heat tweaks the bolt just enough to have it hard to screw in the screw. I would love to do more, but do not want to risk not being able to screw in or out.
 
#17 ·
Sorry, at almost 1 AM I aint too good at making things make sense so ignore my last post.

For welding the nuts onto your mounts, all you have to do is get a tap and run it through the nuts to fix the threads when you get them all burned on. Thats what I do and I have never really had a problem with any of mine.
 
#20 ·
I am working on it right now, picked up my 3x4 angle for the winch plate mount, some more grade 8 hardware, and also the 10 x 30 x 1/4 steel sheet for the winch plate. I did some test welds on some 1/4 scrap to see if my welder can handle it and it seems to work alright. Winch should be here any time now. Will post updates later tonight for sure.

My check engine light came on today too.... :(
 
#21 ·
Made some progress yesterday. I got the new winch version









 
#22 ·
I got the angle mounted up, its 4x3" steel angle 15 inches long in pics, will be cut. then, 10x30"x1/4 steel plate for the winch. It will protrude all 10 inches, it seems to fit well there. I will be putting the 4 1/2" bolts through the winch plate aswell. Onto the pics.










 
#23 · (Edited)





 
#24 ·
I could not lay down a full bead being my fuse breaker would go off if I held a bead for more than 5 seconds...
 
#25 ·
I would be led to believe that the row of tacks is not gonna hold up to that winch. I would would grind those off and have it welded with a full bead. Since your beaker keeps poping, you can't get enough heat into it to get good penetration. Either fix your power source or have it welded somewhere else. It would be a shame to see that come off under load.
 
#26 ·
Yeah, thats what I was thinking. I dont know what to do, I was thinking of even buying a cheap stick welder for $100 and using that....
 
#29 ·
X2

You may just need to get a different breaker/wiring in your garage. You are obviously pulling way too much current. All I know is that it needs to have a full weld on there. It appears to me that you aren't penetrating at all. You need full penetration and filler metal to have a weld equal in strength to the metal you are using. The way it is now will not hold. Most welding shops won't charge you more than a few bucks to do those two welds.
 
#30 ·
BTW It looks like you've got a nice little project in the works. Good luck and keep us all posted. And lastly, It might not hurt to weld both sides of the winch mount, but it shouldn't be necessary.
 
#31 ·
Thanks for the tips guys, I plan on calling the local welding shop to ask them if they could run some beads for me for a low cost. I am taking a break from the garage right now. Today so far I did as much grinding as I could with the grinding wheels I had left, I got the winch holes lined up. 3 of 4 worked, so I only had to change 1 hole and that was ghetto measuring too lol.

I also got the drivers side 1/2 bolts through so far, and am working on the front tow point right now for the drivers side. Cutting all of this with the wheels sure is a pain, I wonder how much the welding shop would charge me for it oxy cut too....hmmm

Gotta make a trip to northern tool tommorrow for another grade 8 bolt, one of the threads was messed on one. update and pics either tonight or tomorrow sometime.
 
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