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Hidden Winch Design Proposal


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Preliminary side plate mounting locations. I based the mounting locations from the front-bottom bumper bracket bolt at the front of the frame. The actual plate needs a bit of refining so it is not dimensioned.

 

Mine:

 

 

Don't have the hole on the frame behind the steering box included. But, as you can see, we have quite a few different dimensions. One that I found particularly interesting was that you placed one of the steering box holes 3/16" above the front-bottom bumper mount hole whereas I had it on the same plane. I'll have to take another look at that.

 

Just so you know, I have cut this bracket out of 1/4" steel and test fit it on one of my MJs and it fit very nicely:

 

 

I suppose I should test fit this on my other MJs to make sure it fits on those!

 

-Tim

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I would not doubt that my initial findings are skewed. I used a tape meaure and an over sized triangle to find the dimensions, both of which were cumbersome. Unfortunately I had left my precision drafting instruments at home. I was honestly surprised it actually fit when I tried for the first time.

 

I may make a foam core cut out of your bracket just to see how it fits on my truck this weekend.

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Any of these a good deal after the mail in rebate? I don't know much about winch pricing...

 

http://www.quadratec.com/Showcases/WARN ... rm2011.pdf

While I can't view that document on my phone, I will say I really like the new VR 8000lb'er and will probably be plunking down the cash for it this week to get the rebate. Its only $100 more than the XRC8 and it is a Warn.

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The document is the Warn rebate for $80 off a new winch.

I e-mailed Warn and they said the VR8000 can mount feet forward. It is also a bit shorter than the XRC8 and M8000, which is a bonus due to the space constraints behind the cross member.

The VR series winches can be mounted foot forward. They come from the factory with the end housing and motor orientated for foot down mounting but you are able to rotate the gear train end housing every 72° (every two holes) and the motor every 90°, if you need to.

 

Now to buy it. All websites list the winch for the same price. 4 Wheel Parts offers free shipping while most others charge $50-$70.

 

I took a second look at my hand drafted measurements an noticed a few discrepancies with my drafted version. The corrections bring several of our dimensions equal to one another while some of the others remain different, but close.

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Neat idea and great work.

 

Opinions on how the winch would do in such a mount in the rust belt where the road salt flows like water in a flood?

Haven't had a problem with the Super Winch on the front of my TJ since installed a few year back. Although I do keep it covered 85% of the time.

 

I noticed that my folks 93 XJ has some sort of rubber type splash guard attaching at the cross member going from side to side and back. I would like to incorporate something like this on my MJ. I think if the rear splash guard was installed in conjunction with the front bumper, most salt spray would be deflected from the winch.

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Finished up my recessed winch and figured I'd throw up a few pics to see if it helps you with any ideas. I have an '86 so the rails are a bit different and I have more holes drilled in my passenger side (the drivers side and passenger side are mirror images on mine). If you have any questions, I'm more than willing to answer them. There are a lot more pictures and most of the steps I did in my build thread.

 

You can kind of see the wings in this picture.

 

Side shot showing how far it sticks out.

 

Bolted all up, 13 bolts hold it in in total. Still need to wind the cable up on it and figure out an easy access place for the box.

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