Topic: Front tube bumper with multi mount winch

[robinhood4x4]

I thought I'd post my bumper over here too, I can't let bandit have all the fun.

Ever since one particular snow run with my friend, I've wanted a multi mount winch.  However, I knew the drawbacks too...I didn't want it sticking out too far.  So I came up with a way to tuck the winch in as close as a normal winch bumper but yet still able to move it to the rear hitch.  By the way, this is the first time any of us bent any tube.  The bends came out surprisingly well.



I hot hitch material (sort of) and welded it to the winch mounting plate then fabbed a cradle to wrap around the mount.  The winch mount sits in the cradle with 2 hitch pins securing it to the rest of the truck. 


The winch slips in from the top.


Here's the finished product


To move it to the back I use 2x2 tube and slide it into the winch bracket.




And then just plug it into the hitch receiver in the rear.






I still need to get the wire and wire it all up.

Here are more pictures of the build up:
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/gallery2/Front%20bumper/
This is best viewed with IE so you can see the thumbnails.

Edit: and yes, the tranny cooler is moving soon and the bumper is held on with a total of 8 bolts.

[jimbo74]

nice......

[vanguard]

I hope you have homeowner's insurance because I'm stealing aspects of that design. 

[robinhood4x4 [OP]]

Steal away, that's why I posted it.   

[BigMike]

Very nice!!!

[RustyToy]

Did you guys read that post with the engineer with the tube bender that he built and all that... This one I think is just as good. Right on!

[TheBandit]

I said it on the 4x4wire forum and I'll say it here too... awesome work!

The drop-in winch is a great idea. Innovative and practical!

I like how the suspension morphed from IFS to SAS during the bumper progression.

[yotaboy79]

id suggest some locking pins or removing it when not using it, other than that it looks good

[Rockdiver]

Nice   Points on being original with the mounting plate.  Now I want to redo mine.   Is that a mtech bender?  if so how are you figuring your bends if you dont mind my asking?

[TheBandit]

Is that a mtech bender?

Looks like a JD Squared Model 3.

robinhood, I hear you know Allan in SLO. He and I were roomates last year. We will have to wheel together one of these days.

[rocktoy83]

Your front bumper with multi mount winch looks sweet  good job   

[toy87]

i am very impressed well done!!!

[Crawler677]

all i have to say is,




i want one   

also, the recovery points all tucked away in there are a nice touch, throw some shackled on there and youll be allset, but i'm sure you already knew that lol.

does the winch rattle at all when you hit bumps or is it good and solid?

[robinhood4x4 [OP]]

Wow, all of the sudden a lot of replies!

-Just picked up the locking hitch pin the other day. 

-Not sure which bender it is, it's my friend's.  Not quite sure what you mean by "figuring" the bends.  Overall, to make the bends we did a mixture of guess & check and measuring & math.  We would hold up the tube to the truck and then take length and angle measurements.  From there we used math to figure out what the arc length would be and where to start the bend.

-Bandit, this is from 2002 at pozo.  Allen, Kevin and I were in Solar Car for about a year.  They were freshmen and I was graduating.


-The winch doesn't rattle, at least I can't hear it above all the other noises my truck makes.  The fit between the pins is pretty good and there's hardly any movement.  One guy in my club was impressed with the fit.  Of course it was purely accidental because I'm horrible at drilling holes in the right place. 

If I could do it again, I'd make the winch load from the front instead of the top.  Less lifting that way.  Hmm...wait, on second thought, with the controller box mounted on top of the winch that wouldn't work...

[happakidd]

Wow thats an old picture, my finger still hurts thinking about that trip. Bumper(s) look great, I just started building an '88 runner and will probably steal a few of your ideas Look for my buildup on pirate, I should start it in a few weeks

[Stinky]

bumper looks good...thats a really good idea with that....on a second note...if i made a bumper like that does it automatically sas my truck for me too...hahajust found it funny how it went from ifs to a sfa..haha   keep the good ideas comin...

[CTENG in KS]

Yeah!  That is pretty slick!