Winch mount options - corrosive winter conditions

[Eniam17]

I'm looking at winch mount options for my lr3 and am undecided between a terrafirma hidden mount and something like an arb or platinum open full winch bumper. I like the clean look of hidden mount but am not thrilled to have limited or no access to the winch and to have it tucked underneath getting blasted with salt 5 months a year with no good access to clean it. I've heard the warn zeons are more corrosion resistant but not sure if thats true. Also have heard mixed reviews on them fitting in the hidden mounts on these vehicles .
Any input from anyone who has a hidden mount and is in similar conditions? Or any of you experts can chime in and tell me if I'm worrying about nothing. The cost difference and weight difference don't matter : this is my daily driver but I only put 7-8k a year on it max. Thanks for any help.

 

[Dmarchand]

I have been using a terrafirma hidden tray and Zeon 10K on my LR4 for the last two years. I'm just south of you on the north shore. Has held up very well. I actually believe that being tucked farther back, the winch gets less spray than it would otherwise if you cover the fairlead and use some kind of undercarriage skid plate.

 

[Fivespddisco]

I love the clean look of the hidden mount but the aftermarket bumpers provide extra pertection. Its a hard call but both options are winners

 

[Eniam17]

Thanks Dmarchand, I like the look of that alot. You bring up a good point about the hidden winch mount keeping it protected. Did the zeon 10 fit in there ok, I didn't realize that winch would work with the TF hidden tray.
How was the install overall for you.

fivespddisco - whichever way I go i'll be buying it from you, Erik has been great helping me out with some details. Thanks

 

[Fivespddisco]

Thanks Dmarchand, I like the look of that alot. You bring up a good point about the hidden winch mount keeping it protected. Did the zeon 10 fit in there ok, I didn't realize that winch would work with the TF hidden tray.
How was the install overall for you.

fivespddisco - whichever way I go i'll be buying it from you, Erik has been great helping me out with some details. Thanks

The zeon 10 will fit
and thank you for the kind words

 

[brickpaul65]

On the hidden options, how do you reach the free spool lever? That has been my concern on those. Granted, cash flow I am willing to dedicate is also a stopper at the moment...

 

[Dmarchand]

As JM pointed out, it fits fine. To reach the freespool, you just need to trim the plastic a bit more in the lever vicinity so you can reach in. It is a decent balance of not going full bull bar/steel bumper but having recovering capabilities. At some point the plastic bumper will get damaged enough offroad that I'll replace it with an ARB or whatever comes out.

 

[Eniam17]

At some point the plastic bumper will get damaged enough offroad that I'll replace it with an ARB or whatever comes out.

This is what I was thinking too; and making me lean toward the full bumper - the front end of these things are so plasticy and complex that one good slide into a tree and i'll have 1k worth of damage anyway so why not spend 1200 on a bumper now and be done with it? Easy for me to say that now, but i'm still the one having the problem pulling the trigger on anything I suppose.

 

[Fivespddisco]

This is what I was thinking too; and making me lean toward the full bumper - the front end of these things are so plasticy and complex that one good slide into a tree and i'll have 1k worth of damage.

I had this happen to me. I crunched the front bumper and I got lucky because it did not smash the $1200 headlight.

 

[Dmarchand]

I agree, the only reason I went tray for now was I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to the front end design which I like on the D4. Was also hoping someone would develop a more aesthetically pleasing bumper.

 

[Eniam17]

Stupid question I guess but how do people access the plug for the winch control or is everyone using a wireless winch with the hidden mounts?

 

[Dmarchand]

Detach and move the solenoid pack to the engine bay. Pic below shows it mounted in front of the RH air box. I have the wireless controller but wired or unwired works. Just enough room in that area and you won't need to move anything.

 

[jerdog53]

Well I am glad for this thread! I will be doing the hidden winch mount tray myself as I to like the lines of the rig and want to keep it that way. Hadn't given much thought about access to the free spool lever and or the solenoid box location.

 

[Eniam17]

Detach and move the solenoid pack to the engine bay. Pic below shows it mounted in front of the RH air box. I have the wireless controller but wired or unwired works. Just enough room in that area and you won't need to move

Ok thanks, So when using winch I would just open hood and plug in winch remote if not using wireless . Since this is more of an emergency setup I wouldn't mind that. I wouldn't want to have to deal with that as frequently as I winch witch my classic though .

 

[Dmarchand]

Ok thanks, So when using winch I would just open hood and plug in winch remote if not using wireless . Since this is more of an emergency setup I would mind that. I wouldn't want to have to deal with that as frequently as I winch witch my classic though .

Yes, exactly it. You could take it a step further and wire the winch port somewhere on the grill, etc.