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Hidden Winch

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Old 08-01-2014, 08:37 PM
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Default Hidden Winch

I decided my D.D./ tow behind motor home/trail Jeep needed a winch. So I combined a hidden winch mount and towbar/D ring mounts.
I started by putting it on stands and pulling the front bumper.
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Old 08-01-2014, 08:44 PM
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The next thing was to remove the original front bumper mounts and weld them up.
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Old 08-01-2014, 08:52 PM
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Next I cut and drilled some side plates to spread out the load. They also have bottom plates also. Sides are 1/4 x 6" and bottoms are 1/4 x 2". The sides attach to the original bumper, steering box and an additional bolt hole toward the rear. The bottom uses the 3 hole at the stabilizer mounts and an additional one bonded near the front.
Old 08-01-2014, 08:55 PM
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The picture
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Old 08-01-2014, 08:58 PM
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Here they are being test fitted.
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Old 08-01-2014, 09:04 PM
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Then I started trimming the sheet metal to make room for the winch.
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Old 08-01-2014, 09:12 PM
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Before I got to far along I wanted to strengthen the mounting hole so I cut and ground some black pipe to make frame sleeves. Then I welded and ground them.
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Old 08-01-2014, 09:19 PM
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The next thing to do is make a platform to set the winch on. 1/4 x 6" again. 1/4 x 7 would have been better. To get it into the available space I had to bend an offset on each side to lower it about 1 1/2 " Here it is with the M8000 Warn off my TJ. Not welded only clamped to see how it fits.
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Old 08-01-2014, 09:38 PM
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As you can see Ive slowly cut more sheet metal away. Starting to look like something. No room for the control box down here either. The side plates get some 1x2" bar stock for the tow bar/D rings. They look a little long but will stick out of the stock bumper just right.
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Old 08-01-2014, 09:44 PM
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The winch plate has been welded to the side plates. Ive added tie down rings to attach the safety chains while I flat to it behind the motor home. A brace along the the back. Then covered in epoxy primer.
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Old 08-01-2014, 09:51 PM
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I was using the winch off my TJ to fit it in. I could not afford another one so I figured Id give a Quadratec Q9000 a try. It is a tad larger the the Warn. Here is the one I ended up using. I cut and bent a fairlead mount. All to stay behind the stock bumper I hope. All the hardware Ive used is severe anti corrosion from McMastercarr. I never used it before so this is a test.
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Last edited by may pop; 08-01-2014 at 09:58 PM.
Old 08-01-2014, 10:00 PM
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I thought I took lots of pics but I missed a lot of pieces.
Old 08-01-2014, 10:08 PM
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In order to get it to free wheel I rotated the end cover on the winch. While it was off I straightened the handle, cut it off and welded a 3/8 extension to operate the freewheeling. The fairlead mount also needed to be drilled to allow it to poke through the bumper.
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Old 08-01-2014, 10:16 PM
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The original bumper is beatup on one side so I straightened it the best I could. Holes for the tow bar brackets, fair lead and free wheeling were done quickly in it. The plastic end caps also needed to be trimmed to clear the tow bar brackets. When I can afford it Ill get a nice one and redo it.
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Old 08-01-2014, 10:22 PM
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The control box had to be relocated from on top of the winch to under the hood. The best place I could find was under the right side hood hinge. A couple of pieces of scrap steel bent and welded to the mount holds it in place. I have not found a good place yet to put the controllers plug/connector. The cables from the controller to the winch needed to be lengthened so I used some #2 welding cable with crimped on ends .
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Last edited by may pop; 08-01-2014 at 10:24 PM.


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