winch front and back

h.curtis · Nov 30, 2003

I didn't want to steal the other thread and yes I did a search. I was wondering why people don't go with receivers front and rear with a winch that plugs right in either one? To me this is the best of both worlds having the option to pull yourself out front or back. Another plus is you can keep it off to save the weight when not using it. What am I missing? Is it just not cool or does it have other drawbacks?

Curt

Jes · Nov 30, 2003

I guess it depends on where you live and what kind of trails you run but all the receiver mounted winches I've seen simply hang out too far and too low. If you run it on the front the whole time you're always getting hung up on it and if you're not running it on the front and get stuck in a funky situation(deep mud or a jumble of big boulders) you gotta wrestle with 80+ pounds installing it. Sounds like more trouble than it's worth. As far as mouning a winch on the back my question is why? Isn't the idea to go forward on the trail? I have never been in a situation where I needed to winch backwards and if I were I'd have someone behind me with a winch anyway so I don't see the need. Also you'll have to devise a strong incab mounting system for the winch when it's not in use as the thing could kill you in a accident or rollover if it were loose in the cab.
Just some thoughts.

Jes

Edit, just read the other thread. I happen to agree with what Goatman said.

h.curtis · Dec 2, 2003

Good points Jes.

Wish they made a light version of the ARB winch bumper, but I just can't get into all the weight on the front of my Jeep. I like to keep my rig light.

Thanks for the imput.
Curt

dmillion · Dec 2, 2003

some do!

That's the arrangement I have and it works great. It doesn't get hung up on anything, because you don't leave the winch hanging out there. You leave it in the back of the Jeep (or at home when you're not going anywhere that you might need it) and only put it on when you need to use it.

dennisuello · Dec 2, 2003

Re: some do!

dmillion said:
That's the arrangement I have and it works great. It doesn't get hung up on anything, because you don't leave the winch hanging out there. You leave it in the back of the Jeep (or at home when you're not going anywhere that you might need it) and only put it on when you need to use it.

read Jes' post. sometimes you just can't get the winch from the back or even put it in the receiver. once i was wedged literally between a rock and a hard place: big boulder right under the front bumper (would have blocked the receiver if i had one) and the rear was against a rock wall taller than the jeep (which would have prevented me opening the hatch).

mattb · Dec 3, 2003

Just to add my postive experience with a bumper mounted winch, I've got a couple things to add. First, as has been pointed out many times, having the reciever under the bumper is bad. The bumper is usually what you're stuck on, or sunk down to.

Having said that, most offroad or custom fab bumpers (like mine) have the reciever in line with bumper. Placing the winch not much lower or farther out than a typical non-hidden mount system.

So based on that a reciever mounted winch can work, but I wouldn't recomend it for someone who's going out just to offroad and do a challenging trail. I use my jeep and my winch for exploration. I spend days out in the desert and mountains around here often with no other vehicles and don't seek out "hard" trails. If I'm bogged down in sand, mud or snow and see I've got another mile of the same I'm perfectly willing to move the winch around to the back and take another road.

Anyway like everything else it depends on what you want to do.

Matt

h.curtis · Dec 3, 2003

Don't know how strong these are. This would be sitting pretty high on my Jeep since I have an RE 5.5 and will be running 33's.

http://www.tomken.com/partpics/large/tmf0625b.jpg

http://www.tomken.com/cgi-tomken/tomken.cgi

curt

TOZOVR · Dec 3, 2003

TOZOVR said:
Not to bag on the Multi-Mount too hard but you'd be better off building a custom bumper and hard mounting it.

Ever try to slide that pig in when you over the bumper in water or mud? I have on my bro's bronco...it sucked...

You can leave it on, but then your departure angle suxors.
As far as keeping it in the back until you need it, that is fine about 1/2 the time. The other half of the time the hitch is too close to the ground because of the angle and we couldn'y physically get the winch and multimount slid in.

Not bad for an occasional off road rig, but if you're serious, get one that allows it to be mounted close to the body, front or rear.

h.curtis · Dec 4, 2003

Geez TOZOVR, the reciever is all the way up in the bumper and with my lift and tires, that is pretty high up there and you still think it is just too low.

On the other hand, maybe a reciever is just a bad idea any way you cut it. I just hate to add all that weight with an ARB bully and winch. Plus the expense of all that. I am a firm believer in being light for many reasons.

Curt

winch front and back

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