New take on hidden winch mount

I originally purchased a front receiver kit and a winch craddle to get my winch mounted. I hated having to get the winch out and hook it up almost as much as I hated how much ground clearance the winch ate up when mounted. I started looking at winch bumpers, but it would mean a waste of what I already had. I decided to cut the winch plate off the receiver tube and weld it to the top of the hitch. I then just notched out the front crossmember to fit. Winch is tucked in nice and tight, I still have room to build a bumper in front of it,or reinstall the stock bumper if so inclined. Cheap, easy, and used parts I already had. Doesn't look half bad either.

Looking good Zach.

Thanks for the complement. Trying to get this thing buttoned up for some more wheeling, but between problems and projects, work, commuting, and family, it sure doesn't get as much attention as I'd like. We are either doing fordyce or dusy-erishim for labor day, hoping to get frame stiffeners in before then, plus get my ram assist mounted, convert my cooling system to open, relocate battery to the back of the xj, install a new tranny cooler, and replace capture cap, rotor, and wires. The front bumper will have to wait til winter.

Interesting approach. Will it be hard to get at the spool release? What is the hitch mounted to? It appears that it is mounted to the stock tow hook holes, or is the hitch mount behind the tow hook bracket?

The lower radiator support was already stamped out for a 6K Warn winch. What was missing was the hidden hitch kit to reinforce the bracket. It would be interesting to see someone reinvent those brackets. Nice for intermittent use.

The hitch came with those tow hook brackets. They have a 4th hole that uses a 1/2" bolt through the hole further back on the "frame". I also added 1/4" plates to reinforce the steering box and give me something to build the front bumper off of later. Original plan was to try to use the stock stamping, but the winch hit the steering box. I have no question of strength, as it has been trail tested using the craddle. I clocked the clutch lever so it faces the rear, no problem to reach under and engage it. I'll probably mount the solenoid on the grill, hidden wasn't really the goal, ground clearance and utilizing wasted space were.

That is what I was just thinking about. Looks great.

Clock the winch and you're set! Cool idea, real simple.

You can see the 4th hole tie in in this picture, and just how much ground clearance and approach angle the craddle ate up. This was before I added the 1/4" plates.

Thats AWESOME shot and great job on the mount.

Definately my favorite pic of the jeep. It's my background on my work computer. Had I not already had the parts I have, I would have bought an action fab stubby bumper as it puts the winch in roughly the same place, and costs about what I paid for the reciever and craddle.