cdjflyslow Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Hey guys I have been wanting to get a wench for a while for my 97 but the cost of a bumper has always held me back. Found out recently my neighbor is handy with metal and he is willing to build me something relatively cheap. I have reviewed the posts I can find but some of the older ones don't bring up the pictures. So my questions are: if I don't care about looks (this is just a trail rig) whats the simplest way to mount a wench up front? Is there some practical reason to build a whole bumper or can I get by with just a mount and leave/modify the existing bumper. Can he just weld it on or should have him build the brackets I see in some posts ? Any tips, links or pics of your solution would be appreciated. thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megaton Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I'm in the same boat! I'm going to go with a modified xj Cherokee bumper. Any way you do it, you'll have to fab brackets that tie into the subframe where the tow hooks are.The mounts for the stock bumper are to weak.There are some good photos in CDN_S4's build thread of the brackets you'll need.You could mount a winch platform to the brackets and cut the stock bumper to fit.It depends on how much fabbing you want to do. Good luck! Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDN_S4 Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Megaton is right. You can't safely attach a winch to the OEM bumper/brackets. They are too weak! They were designed to crumble and absorb an impact I think. Having recently gone through this process I would recommend building a bumper for it as otherwise your winch will sit out very far forward of the OEM bumper if you keep it. That will cause stresses on the metal over time. Also keep in mind, this will add a lot of weight to your front end. Your will need to upgrade to stiffer springs. Winches are pretty damn heavy all by themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Here's a wench bumper on a Jeep 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDN_S4 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdjflyslow Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 LOL, i feel stupid now! that's probably why my searches are not turning up much! thanks for all the input guys. Still hoping for some pictures of a relatively simple DIY solution. Ill try searching again with the correct spelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawairish Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Ha, no worries. A wench bumper could still be pretty cool, though. If you don't necessarily need the bumper and just want a winch, you could buy a universal winch mount and work that into your solution. There are a couple forum pics of what others have done to add a winch behind their OE bumper/cover. I'll try to find those threads later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDN_S4 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 a relatively simple DIY solution. THIS is your problem lol, there is no such thing when it comes to the R50. This is the abandoned bastard child that nobody loved....except for us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawairish Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 That's putting it mildly. Somewhere on my list of projects is fabbing a bracket/brace to make the winch tube bumper for 1st-gen X/Frontiers from Addicted Off-road a bolt-on solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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