My hidden winch set up

[Colo77Bronco]

Narrowed the front bumper slightly so it fits better and built a stealth winch mount for the Warn 9.0RC and frenched in the fairlead. Will send the bumper to be re-chromed.

We also modded the frame to bring the bumper up with the two inch body lift.

 

[Yeller]

That looks fantastic

 

[ared77]

Nice!

 

[Broncobowsher]

Is that a UTV winch? The fairlead looks a lot narrower than standard.

 

[ntsqd]

^^^
What I was thinking as well.

 

[Colo77Bronco]

Nope, it is the Warn designed for Rock Crawlers. It’s smaller than standard for more mounting flexibility so it can only hold 50’ of line but that’s plenty.

 

[Yeller]

It’s a 9k winch with a short drum, I’ve owned a few of them, I think I still own 1 lol. Nice winch where space is a premium and/or weight is a concern.

I’d still carry an extension. I’ve found that the line gets too short really quickly. Nice thing about modern recovery gear is it that it is light and doesn’t take up much space.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Pricey little guy. Never knew they made that. I have not really kept up with rock crawling much in the past 15 years.
Neat they make it. I can see where an extension rope would be a real (or is that reel?) good idea. Modern synthetic rope, soft shackles and the arborist rope pulleys that are now the pulley to use with synthetic rope. I think my last iron shackle got installed on the trencher and I never took it back off. I've got a stack of those 2 and 3" flat yellow recovery straps as well that need to find a new home.

 

[Jakedog]

I can still see it.

 

[Colo77Bronco]

I was going to put Duff's license plate cover over it until it got finished and now I like it as is. This set up is significantly different than Duffs Hidden Winch with regard to clearance and approach angle.

 

[Shimmy]

looks great!! love how you did the fairlead too! details like this make the integration so clean. nice work!

 

[jamesroney]

It’s a 9k winch with a short drum, I’ve owned a few of them, I think I still own 1 lol. Nice winch where space is a premium and/or weight is a concern.

I’d still carry an extension. I’ve found that the line gets too short really quickly. Nice thing about modern recovery gear is it that it is light and doesn’t take up much space.

The good thing about having a 50 foot spool is that it guarantees the nearest anchor will be 60 feet away. Carrying an extension will only move the anchor that much farther.

I had 150 feet on my 8274, and uprooted every rock, stump, shrubbery and sapling within 149 feet of me. If I had an extension or a longer line...I would have likely de-forested the entire hill.

I have noticed that many rock gardens now have convenient bypass routes, so it is fairly trivial to have someone in a Winnebago come over and give you a tug. I think it's a Colorado / Moab thing. I've seen obstacles within 150 feet of an Interstate.

I would have inverted the winch, gone top-pull, and integrated the fair lead into the bumper. Then added a remote free-spool handle.

@Colo77Bronco this is my way of saying: "nice work..."

 

[ntsqd]

James, you're such an optimist!

And a realist!

I inverted & flipped Snowball's (FSB) winch because it fit better under the core support and within the confines of the front bumper. And Warn told me the M8 isn't designed to spool off the top (bottom in this case) of the drum. Poked some 5" diameter holes in the Barnes winch plate and rotated the free-spool housing 180° so that the lever is still on top.

 

[Colo77Bronco]

Inverted was the original plan but when mocked up this setup won.