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Winch ideas needed for a stock JK front bumper

65K views 29 replies 21 participants last post by  tkhawk01 
#1 ·
Does anyone have a stock JK front bumper with a winch attached? I'm really wanting a winch, but my budget isn't large enough to be able accommodate both a fancy new bumper and a winch. I was thinking of getting an inexpensive winch such as a smittybuilt or a HF winch for the time being and then getting a new bumper later. Anyone done this yet? pics and list of parts needed would be nice.
 
#2 ·
search function is your friend there are plenty of threads on this already
good luck finding what you need, btw harbor freight makes a cheap plate and there will be some required trimming
did a search and didn't see much on it. I found a good thread on how to do it w/ a tj, but nothing else really useful for a jk... if there are 1000 threads on this already, my mistake. I'll try searching for different key words.
 
#3 ·
Bam!
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=443109

thats what your looking for! I had it bookmarked so dont feel bad you couldnt find it.

ps: Im a little excited, just ripped out the carpet for the first time and took a hose to everything. Cant believe I never done that sooner. Carpet will never be put back in now.
 
#6 ·
rough country sells a mount, it bolts right up, if you don't already have other things on your Jeep like I did...I needed to keep my stock bumper because of my RV hitch tow mounting system...also, the RC is $240...which is about half the price of many front bumpers, so you won't save that much money...I love the mount though, very sturdy, even after I modded the heck out of it...
 
#9 ·
SharkBite,:thumbsup:
You need to do a write up on this setup! That is one of the best I have seen Yet! Very Clean looking. Now if I would or should I say Could have done one like that I would have kept my Stockers on Both JKs:tea:
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the kind words. It really wasn't that hard. The stubby part with the plastic "welding" was harder than the winch install. The winch plate is just bolted in upside down with holes cut out of the front bumper for the cable and fairlead mount. Of course it is a little more involved than that, but that's the general idea.
 
#11 ·
That looks great, what kind of winch plate did you use and do you have any pics of it w/o the cover on so I can get an idea of what you did exactly. I didn't know a factory bumper could look so good. Good job! :thumbsup:
 
#12 ·
I have to say that is by far the best looking modified stock bumper and winch setup I have ever seen SharkBite.

To the OP, consider an aftermarket bumper. It is not necessary to spend $1,200 to $1,400 on a bumper from AEV, Fab Fours, ARB, or any of those other high priced outfits. You can get good a bumper for around $400. That still may be out of your budget, but I am just saying you can get a good bumper without breaking the bank.
 
#13 ·
x2 what Prot said...sometimes the price of a winch mount is as much as cheap bumper.Smitty's makes bumper with winc mount for $300.
 
#15 ·
I didn't take any pictures without the cover, but I used the universal mounting channel from Harbor Freight($30). I set it in between the frame rails upside down and marked where it needed to be trimmed to fit. I used a torch, but you could do it with a saw. It didn't take very much trimming to work. The only other one like mine that I have seen cut out the hole big enough for the entire fairleads to fit inside and mount directly to the plate. I made the hole smaller and mounted the fairleads outside of the plastic cover and used cut pieces of square tubing as spacers with longer bolts. It's a little cleaner look IMO and it helps hold the cover in place since you lose the original cover bolts when you make it a stubby.
 
#17 ·
For the really budget challenged (aka tight), Harbor freight sells a $300 (2 years ago) 8000 lb winch that is really a Ramsey. My son put one on his YJ and I have one on my JK. I have used it for self recovery about 4 times, more bushes than I can count, and the best of all I pulled a wheeled skid steer up a muddy incline. Not bad. The only issue I've had is the control contacts get oxidized and sometimes need a tap to engage.
 
#19 ·
You can buy a plastic welder or just use a soldering iron like I did and you basically just melt the seams back together where you cut it. You can use some of the leftover pieces and fill in the grooves and smooth it out. I have a Word document with some more of the detail on it. If you decide to try it PM me your email and i'll send it to you.
 
#20 ·
Your winch and bumper mods are amazin'. Can you post a parts list with vendors? Maybe copy and paste the plastic repair info into a posting. This is exactly what I want to do! Assuming I can keep the tow plate for the RV Blue Ox tow bar. We need your insight on this, best one I've ever seen for a JK that needs to stay fairly close to stock. Thx for posting!!!
 
#21 ·
Thanks for the kind words. There is no real parts list to speak of other than the Harbor Freight universal mounting plate, assuming you already have the winch. PM me your email and I'll send you the details I have typed up. If you have specific questions after that I'll help you out however I can. I have sent the info to about 20 people over the last 3 years and I have never heard back from anyone actually doing it. Hopefully someone will do it and post up some pics. I see this original thread is from 6/09. I have since traded the black 07 for a red rock 10, and swapped the stock stubby right over to the new one, still going strong!
 
#25 ·
I purchased a new winch and winch plate to mount into my stock 08 JK bumper. Question re the fairlead. After you cut a rectangular hole in the factory metal bumper behind the plastic covering, and drilled a pair of bolt holes in that metal to match the bolt holes in the fairlead; I assume then you just bolted the fairlead to the factory metal using long bolts with the added square tubing as a spacer between this factory metal bumper and the plastic covering? Seems all very logical but just want to make sure this is all that was necessary. This means the fairlead mounting (bolt) holes in the winch mount steel plate are not used at all when the fairlead is placed exterior to the plastic bumper cover. One more question; is it hard to rewind the cable in a fairly neat manner, onto the winch spool without being able to see it as well as would be the case with a above bumper winch?I am thinking about placing a few LED's under there to make it easier for all operations of the winch. Maybe then add some sort of underside slide slots to allow a metal-type mirror to slide into place so that I can look down while standing in front of the JEEP just enough to see/assist with reasonable rewound cable layers. Gene
 
#28 ·
Even if you could do what you are saying I see a potential for you losing some fingers or even a hand. Concentrating on a mirror close up is a good way to get your hand sucked up into the cable. Your hands need to be out to where they are visible at a safe distance. It just takes a second or two for tragedy to happen. Anyhow good luck whatever you end up doing.
:cheers2:
 
#30 ·
I never got a response so I winged it. I stayed a little wider than it sounds like most do so that I could retain the bolts that hold the plastic on. I took the plastic off and cut the metal part out past the holes. I then remounted the bumper, used some cardboard to determine the rough shape I wanted, and then laid it out on the bumper using painters tape. I used a jig saw for the majority of the work and then a dremel and sawzall for the parts the jig saw couldn't reach. I used a cheap plastic welder kit from harbor freight to stitch it back up. I then used a heat gun and a scrap piece to try to add texture back to the joint. I found sandpaper does a decent job of adding texture back. I couldn't get the texture just right so I think I'm going to paint it with bedliner. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
 

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