Winch behind front crossmember?

[Goatman]

Well a few weeks ago I got to get some momentum back to this project. I'll have to get more picts as this is all I have at the moment.

Here are some pictures from another thread of the winch bumper I'm building. I went a little different direction. I did cut out the factory crossmember after bracing it. My winch is mounted horizontally on it's feet instead of vertically. The tube in the pictures will be replaced with a different design, but the pictures are good enough to see how I went about solving the same problem in a different way than you guys have.

Nice work, guys. It's good to see folks making innovative improvements.

 

[RockMonkey]

Nice work, guys. It's good to see folks making innovative improvements.

Thanks. I think I actually wheeled with you once. Do you remember wheeling with a good-looking young gentleman in a BMW-hooded buggy in Delta, Utah?

 

[XJEEPER]

Braden, who'd you loan your rig to for the Delta run? :kissyou:

 

[Jes]

Thanks. I think I actually wheeled with you once. Do you remember wheeling with a good-looking young gentleman in a BMW-hooded buggy in Delta, Utah?

Damn yuppy...

That was a fun day.

 

[RockMonkey]

Braden, who'd you loan your rig to for the Delta run? :kissyou:

There is not smiley to properly express my reaction... So I'll just use this one. :bunny:

 

[RockMonkey]

Damn yuppy...

That was a fun day.

Any day wheel'n is a fun day.
Looks like I'm kind of a one-trick pony when it comes to front winch bumpers eh?

 

[Goatman]

Thanks. I think I actually wheeled with you once. Do you remember wheeling with a good-looking young gentleman in a BMW-hooded buggy in Delta, Utah?

Ahhh.....Delta, UT. We wheeled some great trails during that week.

So, where's the Beemer?

 

[RockMonkey]

Ahhh.....Delta, UT. We wheeled some great trails during that week.

So, where's the Beemer?

Missouri, last I heard. It got too tough to fit two kids, a wife, and myself in a two-seat comp buggy. The comps got to be less fun after several years. I have some plans in my head for a future build, but I don't want to be stuck in 2WD for too long, so I decided to throw together a simple, cheap XJ in the mean-time. You know, four link rear, radius arm front, coilovers, cage... It turns out I suck at simple and cheap. :dunno:

 

[JeepJukka]

my project:

 

[Weasel]

Well I'll post mine up.

Parts are being made. The front has been cut out and everything has been cleaned up and ready to install the parts once they are done.

I can post up a pic of what I cut out of the front if anyone wants to see them. The fairlead will be recessed into the front bumper, still working on that part.

 

[1familyxj]

Sorry to bring back an old thread but I was wondering if you finished this design. I would like to see some photos of it. I am going to be starting mine either this weekend or next weekend.

Well I'll post mine up.

Parts are being made. The front has been cut out and everything has been cleaned up and ready to install the parts once they are done.

I can post up a pic of what I cut out of the front if anyone wants to see them. The fairlead will be recessed into the front bumper, still working on that part.

 

[89heepxj]

I've seen a lot of buggies with winches mounted behind axles and cross memebers. There is another advantage of it rather then clearance. I will look it up and post up.

 

[Boostwerks.com]

^^^ That is pretty much the exact setup I have built. I don't have any winch installed pics yet (no $ for the winch) but the bumper cover/mounting system is complete. I dimensioned the setup for a smittybilt 8k.

Should hopefully have the winch soon.

 

[Weasel]

Yeah I've sorta build it. I actually had to cut off the bottom section as it rubbed on the winch rope. I've got the final piece bent and ready to punch and flare the holes, works well so far. I just moved so hoping to wrap this up by the end of may.

I had to cut more off then the red Jeep above.

 

[1familyxj]

Yeah I've sorta build it. I actually had to cut off the bottom section as it rubbed on the winch rope. I've got the final piece bent and ready to punch and flare the holes, works well so far. I just moved so hoping to wrap this up by the end of may.

I had to cut more off then the red Jeep above.

Do you have photos of what you have done so far?

 

[Weasel]

Do you have photos of what you have done so far?

What I cut and initial winch fitment.

Original design

I ended up having to make my own final brackets as the supplier that was going to form them fell through as the economy dropped.

Also winch line rubbed on the lower end of the crossmember brace.

How the prototypes ended up

Here is what I finally came up with, the crossmember is made but I need to finish drilling and flaring the holes, weld on the edges and nuts. The bottom winch plate is going to stay the same with some edges welded on and a bit more bracing. Winch wiring needs to be redone.

I don't have any more pics of this project yet. But the metal that is covering the ends of the frame rails I had to cut slots into to fit the new crossmember.

 

[Bobby@Bullydog]

Well...is it done yet?

 

[aparke4]

progress?

 

[Norwegian]

Bringing up an old post.. any more input on the subject?
I need to "hide" my winch. (to keep it street legal)

 

[Weasel]

sorry forgot about this post:

Winch in and mounted:

Front Side:

Had some issues getting to engage the winch and due to an earlier screw up it would not hold engagement so I made this to lock it in place.

You can see why it was kicking out of engagement, the engagement spot was rounded off.

I'm going to be adding another layer of steel under the winch mount, sort of a cut-out x-brake welded to the existing one. .1425 isn't quite thick enough. And I never did the dimple dies on the front replacement crossmember.