To winch or not to winch?
 

I am in the market for a new bumper since the stock one is bent up. My rig doesn't see lots of trail use yet as its on a 4 inch IRO lift and 32x11.5r15 KO2s. I am not looking to go any bigger. I was originally looking at the JCR Vanguard bumper but I may go with a Crusader bumper with no winch opening. After watching Matt's off road recovery on YouTube I am not sure its needed and if it will ever even get use. Should I pony up for a winch mount bumper and as Matt puts it have a 40 pound weight on the front or go light. Matt seems to hate winches, which is interesting since he recovers people. But he does fine with recovery ropes. Interested in seeing what people think?

I love watching Matt"s Offroad Recovery videos, and yeah he does fine.
However there are a few things to remember.

His Jeep is purpose built for getting others out of trouble.
He does get stuck sometimes when the conditions are horrible.
He uses his friend Cassy, who does have a winch on his XJ to bail him out once in a while.
Now do they use the winch on Cassy's rig a whole lot? No, not really.
But Matt knows when to employ other Jeeps in potentially difficult situations.

Do you need a winch bumper?
Only you can make that decision.
I can tell you it is nice to have one when you need one.
If you go out on trails by yourself (not a great idea by any means), if you do get buried, or go off the side of the road it can be a life saver.
Not only that, but you are more equipped to help others if the need arises.

If you don't get a winch bumper, most off road clubs do want you to at the very minimum to have recovery points front and back.
That is minimal for trail runs with most clubs.

If you go off road will all terrain tires a winch is important.

Yes, Matt has some nice vids. He does on occasion get suck himself. Do I need one, sure, which is why I have one. I have only used it for myself once when backing down a long very rocky trail would not have been advisable. And 50 miles from help too. Do you wheel with others? If you do, one will get stuck guaranteed. I have to confess that I use mine more for moving things around than anything else. So there is no reason I can think of not to have one

I was faced with this same decision after I purchased my XJ last October and just could not justify spending the money right now for a winch that I know I will not use much. I installed a JCR non-winch bumper in order to get some retrieval points and have not regretted the choice. Then I ran across a thread here about a hidden winch and I'm now considering buying the mount and a winch and mounting the winch behind my JCR bumper. I would just add that I really enjoy Matt's videos!
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/hi...-mount-232026/

All good points. I am leaning toward a winch bumper now. Since I don't want to deal with buying a non winch and regretting it. Might as well spend the extra few bucks to get it. I do like the flush look to the non winch bumpers and Steve has a point about modifying one to have a hidden winch. I just don't think I'd bother to go that route. Seems labor intensive.

My wife has a winch on her JLUR, so it made that question pretty easy to me. If you know someone with a winch, or wheel with someone who has a winch, I wouldn't even bother spending the extra money, adding unnecessary weight to the front end, and putting a giant slab infront of a radiator that already doesn't like cooling our babies as well as it should without restrictions. Yeah... easy choice for me.

My thought for many years. If you off road often...get a winch bumper and have that thing ready all the time. Off road occasionally.... get a front bumper with a receiver, and have the winch removable. I like storing mine inside for longevity purposes. Even when I wheeled a ton, grabbing the winch out of my trunk was never that much of an inconvenience...or I put it on in anticipation of needing it.

I just bought an ARES front bumper, and he installed a 2" receiver on it for me for $25 extra (that's nothing!). Yeah...when it's installed, it reduces approach angle more than a built in winch bumper, but really not a big deal in most cases in my mind.

I think you'll be happy either way...but I prefer my receiver mounted winch.

-Nick

My JCR front bumper was ordered with the optional 2" receiver and I currently have the tag on a plate that is inserted into the receiver. I have been seriously considering a receiver mounted winch which I could use on the front or the rear of the XJ as well as on my pickup. A receiver mounted winch seems like a nice compromise.

I just finished up a winch/bumper install on my Jeep. Looks great and I feel very confident knowing its on there (I've been known to venture off by myself). However, I just put $1,000 into a winch and bumper setup. Food for thought.