my 90 series hidden winch mount install

[J66P Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close J66P]

I think they all use the same mounting points, so yes, they would get in the way.

that looks absolutely spot matey

[ianafloat Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ianafloat]

I wishnthese were available in Australia, I just bought a which for my 90 series and I am looking for the same thing.

[J66P Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close J66P]

I wishnthese were available in Australia, I just bought a which for my 90 series and I am looking for the same thing.

I will try and get a shipping quote for you and let you know, a few guys from over there have enquired so maybe worth while doing abit of digging around for a decent shipping cost, will uopdate as soon as I have one

[J66P Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close J66P]

Delivery by FEDEX which is the cheapest I can find is just under 150 GBP

not sure if you guys could get it any cheaper the opposite way, weight is 22kgs, size is 580mm x 560mm x 280mm

[Sarmad Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sarmad]

Awesome.
Just what I have been looking for and posted up in the General thread.

A few questions/concerns that come about;
a) I'll have to fabricate a winch mount, won't get one here in Pakistan. Any tips!
b) Would any particular size winch do? I have a factory 80 series winch I plan to install.
c) You added a 2nd battery? Is connected in a manner like + of battery A to + of battery B ? Or does the + gets connected to (-)?
d) my concerns about the Airbags too - what have you done finally ?

[Sarmad Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sarmad]

The winch mount sits a bit lower, and further back, than a typical winch bumper mount. This seems to put the winch more toward the vertical centre of gravity, which can have an advantage. When you typically start winching with a bumper-mounted winch, you'll notice that the front suspension gets pushed down. That's because the raised height and mounting system acts as a lever, applying downward force on the front and upward force on the back. With the lower mounting, this effect is reduced, or possibly even eliminated. That means better winching on soft ground. As for the approach angle, it seems about the same as the stock plastic bumper. It might be a bit worse if a roller fairlead is mounted—I'll let you know.

Installation does require some work, but nothing too difficult. The main challenges I ran into were:

1. Grinding down the tabs on the front chassis mounting. I ground the two inner tabs, and then cut the two bottom tabs, using an angle grinder. I wanted to make sure the bottom tabs didn't come into contact, so I shaved off an extra millimetre or two...



I have a question. Do these plastic bump stops trigger the air bags in any way ? Does one have to be careful in removing them?

[BlueRock Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BlueRock]

2020 update: After 9 years, my Warn Tabor 9K winch died. I looked into replacing the motor, but I would have had to import this from the US, which would not have been very cost effective. Also, my research indicated that winch cables are poorly specified (with hardly any safety factor), so it made sense to increase the strength and capacity.

So, I upgraded to a Warn VR EVO 12 winch. This offered a number of advantages over my previous winch:

(a) increased breaking strength of cable: 14,400 vs 10,000 lbs
(b) increased pulling power: 12,000 vs 9,000 lbs
(c) waterproofing and increased reliability, plus a much better warranty
(d) lower current draw (e.g., 400A vs 500A at max load)
(e) built-in wireless capability

This effectively makes single-line pulls easier, safer, and more reliable.

The new winch was slightly larger than the old one, but it still fit into my existing hidden winch mount, with 1 cm to spare on many of the edges. The winch mount itself is more than adequate for the increased capacity.

The control box didn’t fit into my existing custom bracket mount, but I managed to fit it on top of the winch, in its default location. Although this is a solid mounting position, it has the disadvantage that I can’t easily see the winch cable on the drum—something that is important during re-spooling. I have to shine a flashlight / torch into the fairlead, in order to see it. I might try relocating the box, at some point, but it’s not that important.

Here’s the setup after installation, but before installing the winch cable:



And here’s the setup after first installing the winch cable on the drum. The control box has been temporarily removed, along with the upper brackets, in order to allow easy access.



And after completion:



The wireless capability is a blessing, given the difficulty in accessing the control box once the bumper and grill are installed.

BlueRock