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03 Pathfinder Journey


Bax03SE
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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got out for a day on some trails. It was nothing crazy, just a nice day cruising the forest roads in Wharton State Forest, part of the pine barrens in NJ. It was nice to get off paved roads for a day!
c301bb273cd1d128601d81978070ebec.jpg052b9c48df1dfa2bbe2a431ceddb5098.jpg7e94a07c71466eca1a59ecfdcc05a265.jpg


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Finally got out for a day on some trails. It was nothing crazy, just a nice day cruising the forest roads in Wharton State Forest, part of the pine barrens in NJ. It was nice to get off paved roads for a day!
c301bb273cd1d128601d81978070ebec.jpg052b9c48df1dfa2bbe2a431ceddb5098.jpg7e94a07c71466eca1a59ecfdcc05a265.jpg


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i can’t wait until i get the chance to get out. i’m up in sussex county and have the trails in stokes state forest to play in. it’s not crazy but good fishing spots off some of them too and beautiful scenery. i’m so jealous lol


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27 minutes ago, Bax03SE said:

Picked up a new toy today!1fff6a6196bc5f39792d2995e0ca2d16.jpgshould make a nice addition to the bumper


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That’ll come in handy if you go wheeling with any Jeeps :lol::lol:

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I made good headway on getting the bumper ready to mount the winch tonight. Along with fabbing up a winch mount out of 1/4 inch steel, I also welded a section of 1/4 inch steel across the radiator support. It’s tied into the frame rails at each end as well as stitch welded to the radiator support across the front. I’ve heard stories of the rad support buckling a bit under winch loads, so I figured this would help beef up the stock thin sheet metal it is made up of. With this, plus the supports I welded on to the radiator support a couple years ago while doing some rust repair, my radiator support is significantly stronger than the stock piece ever was. dcf7c076547418273d182e188e563c3e.jpg142253600eaca8096646ecd04a7247ca.jpg474d58b7479fe47fa94bfe804c6bad06.jpg6b7ecf36e666f276c03f2e7b96ab8c62.jpg3ed09c9f7ddc35d91a4210059674e708.jpg47925fe2cba1faecd89c390fd48d9a9b.jpg014add65ca65974f1ff03b3ed3364565.jpg


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With the welding all out of the way last night, I got the winch finished up this morning. I had to cut out the center section of the grill to clear the winch. It left a bit more open space above the winch than I liked and I wasn’t sure what i was going to do about it, but then I figured out my light bar would fill in the space just about perfect! I hadn’t quite figured out where I was going to put the light bar since It used to go where the winch is now, so that took care of two problems at once! 1c0f0c1f8fe4d1887c2de9e6e52ffbd7.jpgb098219dc0d0dd5a38a6fe8fc462ec6c.jpge4435a7a1fc2b10eafc9eb9dd841bd2b.jpgcff0295d11fb830f2a7f4e7b85850ce4.jpga625495b259532464fe2c01383a10e22.jpg


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14 hours ago, Bax03SE said:

I made good headway on getting the bumper ready to mount the winch tonight. Along with fabbing up a winch mount out of 1/4 inch steel, I also welded a section of 1/4 inch steel across the radiator support. It’s tied into the frame rails at each end as well as stitch welded to the radiator support across the front. I’ve heard stories of the rad support buckling a bit under winch loads, so I figured this would help beef up the stock thin sheet metal it is made up of. With this, plus the supports I welded on to the radiator support a couple years ago while doing some rust repair, my radiator support is significantly stronger than the stock piece ever was.

 

Constructive criticism here, of course, but I have concerns about the simplicity of the winch mounting you went with.  While 1/4" is an appropriate thickness, construction from bar like that will not suffice.  For one, the separation of pieces lacks rigidity and greatly limits contact points, and that applies to both the winch mount and the fairlead mount.  Two, the bumper doesn't appear to be designed for direct winch use.  The manufacturer indicates that it's "winch-ready" and "designed to accommodate a winch plate," but Jeeps use a winch plate/channel that spans the truck's frame horns; these bumpers are simply designed to not interfere with usage a plate, and don't bear the load.   I'd be surprised if the tube was 1/8"-wall; even so, not suitable for direct winch mounting.

 

At this point, I would strongly consider determining if a universal winch channel, like the one that HF sells, can be integrated instead.  You could narrow and shape it as needed, and it would provide a continuous length to put far more welds on to distribute load across the bumper, which would also add far more rigidity to the support tubes.  I'd still have concerns about where the next weak point would be without knowing how customized the mounts are, though.  But as-is, I think your first real-world pull destroy the bumper.

 

 

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22 minutes ago, hawairish said:

 

Constructive criticism here, of course, but I have concerns about the simplicity of the winch mounting you went with.  While 1/4" is an appropriate thickness, construction from bar like that will not suffice.  For one, the separation of pieces lacks rigidity and greatly limits contact points, and that applies to both the winch mount and the fairlead mount.  Two, the bumper doesn't appear to be designed for direct winch use.  The manufacturer indicates that it's "winch-ready" and "designed to accommodate a winch plate," but Jeeps use a winch plate/channel that spans the truck's frame horns; these bumpers are simply designed to not interfere with usage a plate, and don't bear the load.   I'd be surprised if the tube was 1/8"-wall; even so, not suitable for direct winch mounting.

 

At this point, I would strongly consider determining if a universal winch channel, like the one that HF sells, can be integrated instead.  You could narrow and shape it as needed, and it would provide a continuous length to put far more welds on to distribute load across the bumper, which would also add far more rigidity to the support tubes.  I'd still have concerns about where the next weak point would be without knowing how customized the mounts are, though.  But as-is, I think your first real-world pull destroy the bumper.

 

 

No worries at all on the criticism, I appreciate the feedback since this is my first venture into a winch set up. I’m not sure the thickness of the tube portion of the bumper, but the main cross frame is just a smidge under 1/4 steel. I didn’t measure it with a micrometer but I’d say it’s 15/64 or 7/32. I had a winch in mind from the beginning with this bumper, so I also boxed it in from behind before mounting it and added some triangular braces in a few places to tie a few parts of it together more. The brackets are all 15/64 steel and it ties into the truck with a total of 12 contact points. Of course I may be wrong still....but I feel pretty good about the strength of the bumper itself and the mounting points. I think you have a good point about the winch and fairlead brackets not being substantial enough so I think I’ll go back and add some more cross reinforcement between the two and also tie it back into the bumper more to spread out the load where it contacts the bumper. 

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Well, after giving the feedback/criticism some thought, I decided to pull the winch back off and add some reinforcement to the winch and fairlead mount. I’m sure it still isn’t the best design, but I do feel a lot better about this being able to spread the load out across more of the bumper. I was going for a minimalist design at first, but I agree it was a bit too minimalist....cba6e6807af292108398eae448962f70.jpg8b53da6802f8f0064468f442f151347a.jpgbb868df1d72bc32b675c04894b4235a8.jpg9605236f23da7fbbaf2a58fcaf07a9a2.jpgc70c7875844bcccdd396eb3c13e9c924.jpgf90a6cd686801c11669f3bc7b02de112.jpg68dbece8e8433c9e7934fe9249df46e2.jpg


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Thanks for heeding the suggestions.  I think that's improved...still some concerns, but improved.  Only other thing off the top of my head is about the bolt holes on the tube...looks like they're threaded?  Tapping holes is a noble solution for many things, but if it's just a bolt going into it, I'd devise a way to get a bolt and washer on the backside instead of relying only on the threads for a winching situation like that.

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5 hours ago, hawairish said:

Thanks for heeding the suggestions.  I think that's improved...still some concerns, but improved.  Only other thing off the top of my head is about the bolt holes on the tube...looks like they're threaded?  Tapping holes is a noble solution for many things, but if it's just a bolt going into it, I'd devise a way to get a bolt and washer on the backside instead of relying only on the threads for a winching situation like that.

You have a keen eye for detail I’ll give you that!! The holes are not threaded, it’s just the way it looks from marks left by the step bit that was used to bore out the holes. But,  my dad and I said the same thing....we both looked at it and said it almost looked like a threaded hole, lol. It’s bolted on with grade 8 bolts/nuts/lock washers. 

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I know it’s not the same as the stresses from a winch pulling, but for a basic strength test I’m happy to see the bumper has no problem supporting the weight of the truck (at least the front of it). This is just lifting from the round tube on the front of the bumper. I took it slow, but it lifted both wheels with no complaints. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but the drivers wheel was off the ground just enough to spin it by hand. 1d2cf740af05f2d25301d7b7c6d44951.jpg


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  • 3 weeks later...

I feel a little guilty not sharing, so I figured I’d update everyone that I ended up selling the R50 this weekend. I had been splitting daily driver duties between the pathfinder and my Charger, and since switching jobs last year I’ve found myself really in need of a truck. The result was that while the pathfinder did its best to fill the job of a truck, the Charger just sat around 90% of the time not getting driven. Anyway, I decided to trade in the Charger on a 2019 Ram classic, and sold the pathfinder. I like this forum so I’ll still be around if anyone has any questions! And here’s the new rig. bf2147a449481059283baa17690bed78.jpgc8d2d6bd13bbdf27f3bf05267e74e08f.jpgI literally brought it home from the dealer and backed it up to the trailer to head to a dance competition, lol.

 

 

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It’s funny how much work it took to fit 33’s on the pathfinder, and this has 33’s stock and they don’t even look that big on it! 

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6 hours ago, PathyDude17 said:

well shoot. hopefully whoever picks up your pathy finds NPORA 

I almost felt like I needed to leave it with my own personal users guide lol, with a list of requirements for ownership including membership on here! 

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