Add "Hidden" Winch To Stock JK Bumper? Pro's & Con's:

sipafz

sipafz

Caught the Bug
Add "Hidden" Winch To Stock JK Bumper? Pro's & Con's:

Getting ready to pull the trigger on a new Warn VR8000 or New "and Improved" VR8. I found some pics on the interweb that show some clean looking hidden mountings inside of stock JK bumpers. I like the look and i'm handy enough to make it happen but have a few questions:

Any known issues with mounting the winch upside down?

Any issue with having the clutch lever under the bumper other than convenience (lack there of) and a dirty clutch handle?

Anything thing else I should consider?

Here are a couple of pic for reference:

With VR8000:
IMG_3859.jpg

With VR8:
IMG_3860.jpg

I would make a custom mounting plate from 1/4, 5/16 or maybe even 3/8 thick steel and bolt it directly to the top of the frame extensions with a machined and bolted fair lead extension, kind of like shown:
IMG_3861.jpg
IMG_3862.jpg

Let me know what you guys think!
 
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sipafz

sipafz

Caught the Bug
Anyone know of any negatives of using a hawse fairlead with steel rope? I always thought that the hawse was for synthetic and rollers for steel. The new Warn VR8 come with the hawse fairlead and steel rope. I'm just not sure if that's a good thing or not?
 
HoosierWolf

HoosierWolf

Member
sipafz said:
Anyone know of any negatives of using a hawse fairlead with steel rope? I always thought that the hawse was for synthetic and rollers for steel. The new Warn VR8 come with the hawse fairlead and steel rope. I'm just not sure if that's a good thing or not?
Click to expand...

I think the VR10000 with steel line comes with a Hawse fairlead now as well. I've been wondering the same thing.
 
sipafz

sipafz

Caught the Bug
HoosierWolf said:
I think the VR10000 with steel line comes with a Hawse fairlead now as well. I've been wondering the same thing.
Click to expand...

It looks like all the new VR's 8 through 12 come with what I'm guessing is the less expensive hawse fairlead. I would think that extra line abrasion would be a bad thing, but I'm not a winch engineer.
 
hinrichs

hinrichs

Caught the Bug
only issue I could see with the clutch lever on the bottom is maybe hitting it on a large rock. I do think the hidden winch looks badass tho so I hope you can pull it off
 
Napalm

Napalm

New member
Add "Hidden" Winch To Stock JK Bumper? Pro's & Con's:

My only concern would be, since the new VR8 has an integrated solenoid box, would that hit/rub/interfere with the crash bar?

Love the new VR series, if I didn't get my gen 1 VR for half the price of the gen 2s, I just would have bought a gen 2! Hah.


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AllAmericanInfidel

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
sipafz said:
Anyone know of any negatives of using a hawse fairlead with steel rope? I always thought that the hawse was for synthetic and rollers for steel. The new Warn VR8 come with the hawse fairlead and steel rope. I'm just not sure if that's a good thing or not?
Click to expand...

If it's an aluminum Hawse the steel rope will eat through it. Those are meant for synthetic line only. That's why people typically use roller fairleads. If your going to use a Hawse, make sure it's a steel Hawse.


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sipafz

sipafz

Caught the Bug
hinrichs said:
only issue I could see with the clutch lever on the bottom is maybe hitting it on a large rock. I do think the hidden winch looks badass tho so I hope you can pull it off
Click to expand...

I'm planning on leaving the crash bar intact or just cut away enough to allow the lever to swing freely with a little hand clearance. It should be somewhat protected all be it probably a PITA to use:

IMG_3884.JPG

Napalm said:
My only concern would be, since the new VR8 has an integrated solenoid box, would that hit/rub/interfere with the crash bar?

Love the new VR series, if I didn't get my gen 1 VR for half the price of the gen 2s, I just would have bought a gen 2! Hah.


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Click to expand...

I looked into this and like the VR8000 it can be removed and relocated. I'm thinking under the hood.

IMG_3883.jpg

AllAmericanInfidel said:
If it's an aluminum Hawse the steel rope will eat through it. Those are meant for synthetic line only. That's why people typically use roller fairleads. If your going to use a Hawse, make sure it's a steel Hawse.


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Click to expand...

I'm thinking that they are aluminum and that I would rather have the steel rope damage the fairlead vs. the fairlead damaging the steel rope. I think I will drop the folks at Warn a line and get their take on this.
 
MR.Ty

MR.Ty

Token East Coast Guy
I looked into this quite a bit and in the end, to me it wasn't worth it. No matter what DIY you do it will involve drilling/cutting into the frame. Choose the wrong hardware and you'll do a lot of damage when you needed your winch the most.

Plus the crash bar doesn't hold up well to hits. I've barely bumped mine and it's frowning pretty good now. You will damage the lever if you leave it there.

Rock Hard 4x4 makes a nice top mounted winch plate for the stock bumper.
 
sipafz

sipafz

Caught the Bug
MR.Ty said:
I looked into this quite a bit and in the end, to me it wasn't worth it. No matter what DIY you do it will involve drilling/cutting into the frame. Choose the wrong hardware and you'll do a lot of damage when you needed your winch the most.

Plus the crash bar doesn't hold up well to hits. I've barely bumped mine and it's frowning pretty good now. You will damage the lever if you leave it there.

Rock Hard 4x4 makes a nice top mounted winch plate for the stock bumper.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the good advice! Unfortunately, I like hard! The frame already has one hole (circled) and I plan to drill a second hole (arrow) so I think the impact on the frame is minimal. On the front frame plates, I'm planing on slotting between the holes (parallel lines) so I can get grade 8 hardware in place and properly tightened:

IMG_3856.jpg

Your right about the crash bar not being the most rigid thing in the world. It's a risk, but my off roading is light. Maybe I can beef it up?

I looked at a lot of different solutions including the Rock Hard plate. They all accomplish the goal, but I just like the hidden look. I'm probably going to order my winch from them because they have the VR8000 on sale for $400, they support the forum and they periodically do those sport cage giveaways which is really cool.

Thanks for the input Ty! I gives me a lot to consider!
 
ChiliDawg

ChiliDawg

New member
With the winch that hidden, how are you going to spool it properly? Seems like it'd be a pain in the ass to look up underneath the bumper to make sure you have the rope feeding right.


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sipafz

sipafz

Caught the Bug
Add "Hidden" Winch To Stock JK Bumper? Pro's & Con's:

ChiliDawg said:
With the winch that hidden, how are you going to spool it properly? Seems like it'd be a pain in the ass to look up underneath the bumper to make sure you have the rope feeding right.


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Click to expand...

Well, I have absolutely no experience with spooling an automotive winch, but I have spooled an overhead 10 ton hoist once. We started by lubricating the rope with grease and then let it spool it self under a light load. It was quite easy so I really didn't consider it to be an issue. Time will tell!
 
CharlesC

CharlesC

Member
Did this today to a 10A bumper. Smittybilt 10k synthetic, hidden under stock cover plate and cut plastic cowl cover to fit around the back side. Also, located solenoid pack behind grill! Took awhile to get everything cut and fitted, but very happy with the results. Was a bit concerned with visual of spool, but the gap between the winch and the grill seems to be enough.🥃 Time will tell- IMG_0277.JPG IMG_0278.JPG IMG_0281.JPG IMG_0282.JPG IMG_0283.JPG IMG_0285.JPG


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