Winch behind front crossmember?

[98XJSport]

I got high centered on a sunken log. If my winch had been located where you plan to mount yours, I would have had to swim to get to the winch and it would have been totally under water and mud.

I have to agree with the other, your location just doesn't seem practicle from a wheelin' perspective.

How would you get to almost any winch in a situation like that without getting soaked?

 

[IntrepidXJ]

If you wheel in rocks it makes MUCH MORE SENSE than a winch taht sticks out. IF I can have a winch and a bumper that sticks out no more than 1" I'd be happy to have it occasionally be inconvienant.

I wheel in rocks, potentially deep rocks

i think i prefer mine for rocks. rather than recessing it behind the crossmember. i rarely ever touch the bumper anymore

 

[rstarch345]

How would you get to almost any winch in a situation like that without getting soaked?

Would you rather be wet up to the hips or have to bury your head in the water to reach down and under to get to the winch?

In this case, out the window, onto the hood, pulled the cable out and tossed it to a friend. Didn't get wet at all.

I too wheel in rocks and that includes Moab. I actually had a situation where I tried to cross some rocks that were just marginally wider than my wheels (misjudgement on my part but it happened anyway). I dropped onto my front bumper and couldn't get any front traction. If I'd had the winch under the bumper, I could never had been able to use it. Winch on top made it easy to get out.

 

[98XJSport]

I tend to not go in water unless I am prepared to go all the way in... to many days growing up on a 4-wheeler, usually went in holes or the river to clean the mud off

I would rather show up home and wet than be dry and stuck somewhere, thats what really matters.

:cheers:To each their own, I wouldn't put a winch on a bumper permanently anyways, to much crap on the roads up here.

 

[lapisxj]

My winch will be located behind the cross member also. I do not want the 8-10" sticking out like most bumpers do. Having the winch closer and lower helps with approach angles and center of gravity.

As for being stuck in water/mud, you still have to get out in that to attach your cable/rope. At that point, what does it matter if you have to reach your arm underneath to freespool the drum? Or just feed out the line with the controller.

Yea. I'd rather have it tucked in and get the extra approach angle than to have some big bumper stuck out front. That is just my preferance. The bumper I built only sticks out 1.25" FROM THE GRILL. That should be an inch or so tighter than the stock bumper.

If I'm up to the grill in water/mud, I'm going to get my arm wet/muddy anyway. It isn't going to be that big of a deal. I've had to lay on the hood to freespool and hook up controllers before and still got wet. If I were stuck in the mud, chances are I would hook a tow strap onto a buddy's vehicle before I would spool cable anyways.

When mounted feet down the engagement lever is on the top. Since this will be feet forward, I will clock the gearbox so that the lever is mounted down and easier to grab.

 

[lapisxj]

Bringing up an old thread. I started on this project and pushed it to the backburner as priorities got shifted, so goes life. :looney:

Well I had the day off so I got some work done on the bumper. A few weeks ago I had a piece of .25" plate bent up to act as my crossmember reinforcement plate. Cost $20.

Here's the passengers side frame plate, the bolt pattern is similar to the C-Rok plate. BTW, I don't normally cut out holes with the torch but this plate was a piece of hardened steel from work so drilling wasn't going well.

These are the side bolt tabs. They will be drilled and tap'd for 1/2"-13 and welded to the end of the bumper mid section. The side mounting bolts will go through the frame plate, then the unibody tabs, then the crossmember reinforcement plate, then thread into these. Right now they are just tach'd in place so I can center punch the hole locations.

Here's the crossmember reinforcement plate.

And here it is mounted up (bolts are just in to hold it up for the pict). Part of the bottom will be cut off to the angles of the front crossmember of the unibody.

And here is a view from down low.

I also scribed a line on the fan shroud to make that cut but I forgot the pict. It looks like it is going to be around 2" and will leave enough material to keep the shroud together and the lower mounting tabs intact.

More later...

 

[Markos]

Keep it going. If and when I install a winch, it will be similar to your setup (except with a factory bumper).

I'm curious, can you run synthetic rope, or will it be too warm near the engine?

 

[lapisxj]

I'm going to run steel because the cable on this winch is still good (it's taken off the winch right now for weight while building this setup). I also have a new replacement steel cable for backup that I bought a few years ago.

I suppose you could run synthetic but like you say, heat may be a problem. At least it would be out of the sun!

 

[vetteboy]

I've been running mine in that spot for a few months now:

Works great, it fits well there but you have to keep a close eye on the way it spools in to make sure it doesn't over-wind in any one spot.

 

[Lowrange2]

I've been running mine in that spot for a few months now:

Works great, it fits well there but you have to keep a close eye on the way it spools in to make sure it doesn't over-wind in any one spot.

Looks good. What'd you mount that one to?

I might have to give it a shot there and build a new bumper.

That Smittybilt winch is SLOW! Well, mine is at least. It works tho.

PS. Got a lil oil leak don't ya?

 

[vetteboy]

I basically cut out the front crossmember and welded/bolted/formed in a new one. The winch pretty much fits in exactly one spot under there.

It is pretty slow but it hasn't let me down, the only time it annoys me is when I've got a bunch of cable spooled out and have to free spool it back in.

Actually the reservoir for my power steering pump blew up and sprayed the entire side of the engine while I was driving.

 

[HaleYes]

I basically cut out the front crossmember and welded/bolted/formed in a new one. The winch pretty much fits in exactly one spot under there.

It is pretty slow but it hasn't let me down, the only time it annoys me is when I've got a bunch of cable spooled out and have to free spool it back in.

Actually the reservoir for my power steering pump blew up and sprayed the entire side of the engine while I was driving.

Why are you free spooling it back in?

 

[lapisxj]

I'm going to run steel because the cable on this winch is still good (it's taken off the winch right now for weight while building this setup). I also have a new replacement steel cable for backup that I bought a few years ago.

I suppose you could run synthetic but like you say, heat may be a problem. At least it would be out of the sun!

Well I may have to change my original plan. I have a buddy that is upgrading winch roap and offered it up to me. I'll also be getting a black annodized aluminum hawse fairlead from him as well. Guy's name is Jordan and he runs www.jrtoffroad.com so I guess I'll see how the roap holds up under here...

 

[lapisxj]

Well I made a little more progress the other night. I got all the holes drilled in the center support plate and everything seems to line up pretty well.

 

[WB9YZU]

That's a nice looking setup.

The newer XJs came with what appears to be a cutout in the lower radiator mount for a small winch, on the back side, but I haven't seen a stock winch plate for the newer ones, or even an aftermarket one. I believe Warn doesn't make their mount anymore.

The winches I have purchased in the past recomend strongly (actually they say "Do Not") not mounting the winch vertically like that. I suspect it is because in that configuration, you have 4 small grade 5 bolts in pull as opposed to shear.

Vetteboy's mount avoids that issue, being mounted inside the engine bay and all.
I still wonder what would happen if you tweek that mount. That's your lower radiator support.

 

[lapisxj]

That's a nice looking setup.

The newer XJs came with what appears to be a cutout in the lower radiator mount for a small winch, on the back side, but I haven't seen a stock winch plate for the newer ones, or even an aftermarket one. I believe Warn doesn't make their mount anymore.

The winches I have purchased in the past recomend strongly (actually they say "Do Not") not mounting the winch vertically like that. I suspect it is because in that configuration, you have 4 small grade 5 bolts in pull as opposed to shear.

Vetteboy's mount avoids that issue, being mounted inside the engine bay and all.
I still wonder what would happen if you tweek that mount. That's your lower radiator support.

My winch will be in the engine bay as well (similar to Vetteboy's). Look back to the start of the thread. The difference between his and my setups is that I'm not going to cut out the factory crossmember, only drill a few holes and cut clearance for the roap.

 

[andrew2516]

Looks good guys...it seems like a lot of work only to make it complicated when winching though.

 

[Ba-Riedo]

Looks good guys...it seems like a lot of work only to make it complicated when winching though.

Its a lot of work to have a better approach angle on the front.

-Alex

 

[andrew2516]

Its a lot of work to have a better approach angle on the front.

-Alex

x2...there are some pros and cons to any project, I guess its just how it is going to benefit you specifically.

 

[vetteboy]

My winch will be in the engine bay as well (similar to Vetteboy's). Look back to the start of the thread. The difference between his and my setups is that I'm not going to cut out the factory crossmember, only drill a few holes and cut clearance for the roap.

Your plate is pretty similar to how mine ended up, except I have angle on the top & bottom so that it helps resist bending. The flat plate itself isn't going to do much in that respect.

I didn't cut it out entirely - the top half is still there.