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DIY winch bumper...

H

HeepExJay

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Upstate NY
Hey all, my first post here, although I have been reading on this forum for months now, and gotten a crap ton of help from guys on here. I wanna start by saying that I have looked online for weeks trying to find "plans" for a winch bumper, to no avail. I am cheap, and poor, but I like nice things, so I am a DIY kind of guy. So I built my own bumper. I made a cardboard mock-up and saved the cardboard cut-outs in hopes that some guys may be interested in making on like mine, so I could share my design, which I was looking to do. Anyways, I'll try and post A pic. Any feedback on my craftsmanship is welcome, positive or negative. And I want to say that, yes. The bumper is made from 1/8" plate, which I know will not last of road, it is a "prototype" it you will. However, the bumper mount brackets(which are based off from that .PDF file floating around here) and the winch plate itself is all 1/4" steel. So it should hold while winching, just not a small tree, or any heavy bushes for that matter. anyway, I'm done talking. Just wanted to throw this out there, thanks!!

-Josh.
 
Need an online hosting account like photobucket. Upload them there, then link them into your post.

Looking forward to seeing the pics.
 
Yeah, I'd love to see what you did, I'm building one of my own too. Didn't know there was a PDF of the brackets, I'll have to search for that. Thanks
 
The PDF of the brackets wworked perfect for me too, I'm not even sure who created it, but I owe them a big old' thanks!! Saved a bunch of time.
 
I can only see the last pic, but looks good so far!
You want to right click or control click those images on photobucket and copy the URL, then



Or "Go Advanced" reply, click the little yellow & grey mountain, paste it in the box that pops up.
 
How much does it weigh without the winch? Have you noticed any sagging or weird handling up front?
 
ResizedImage_1363889198705_zps295d50b8.jpg



Its really not that heavy, maybe 110lbs. Or so. Like I said tho, its mostly only 1/8" steel tho. I noticed no sagging, and no issues driving on the road either. I have 4.5" RCX springs, with I think 180 spring rate, which is kind of stiff anyway.
 
I kinda like the idea that some of it is .125 steel, especially if it's a DD. Mine is, and I've wondered what would happen to the rest of my Jeep if I hit something hard with a really stout bumper. Maybe it would help save the unibody if the bumper deformed slightly in a hard accident, instead of just transferring all the energy back into the rest of the vehicle...

Anyway, to stay on topic, the bumper looks good, I like the winch tucked down inside like that.
 
I never thought of it like that. Good point that it could save uniframe. Mine is a dd right now, if only had this jeep about a month or so. Got it bone stock. Having had a chance to wheel with it yet, still need some vital components to get it right, but its a weekend warrior. And thanks. I worked hard on this, never done anything like it before either. Just bought a welder and figured it out as I went. The welds seem strong, held together a lot with 1/2" grade 8 hardware too. I designed it so the winch plate is totally desperate, and can be removed.
 
Looks fine vs your average winch bumper.
Looks nice for a DIY winch bumper.

Placement is always a trade-off of factors. If you went a little more aggressive placing this you approach angle would be better but you'd have had some more cutting/clearancing to do.
 
What is the measurement of the bumper face top to bottom? It look taller than the average winch bumpers which are usually made from 2" X 6" tube.

I like the idea of the winch sitting down in the bumper and not sitting up in front of the grill. I look like the winch handle sit up higher than the bumper. Is there a way to hide that in the bumper then make removable cover to hide it?
 
Frijolee, when you say mounting more aggressive, and more cutting, do you mean cutting up the grille/fenders to get it to sit up higher?

Techno, it measures a tad over 7" in the front, I do dislike it being that big in front, but I wanted my winch completely out of the way. And I also thought of creating lid, probable hinged to hidden it all together, but the engage handle does stick up, and there would not be a very good way to cover that, I could probably figure something out, and probably will. I also plan on mounting the plug for the winch control in the bumper also. Would actually like to run 2 controls, one optional outside, and then one permanent in the cab.
 
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