New winch bumper quesitons

[JMacs]

Hey all. I’m buying my first winch and am have some questions for the seasoned veterans out there. And maybe I am overthinking some of this a bit, but that’s what I do. Quick spoiler, the questions are about the bumpers, not the winch.

I like the semi-hidden winch mount bumpers. There are three that I have found. CBI, SOS, and Warn. The plan is putting a Smittybilt winch on it with synthetic rope.

First question: The CBI and the SOS mounting point for the hawse fairlead is not perpendicular to the ground. (The SOS more so than the CBI.) So unless the truck is nose up in the air, the rope is going to rub across the fairlead at an angle the entire time. I know a rope across my hands doesn’t take long to give a nasty bit of rope burn. Is this a real concern? Or am I overthinking this?

Next questions are about the bumpers themselves.

What kind of experience has everyone had with these? Some of my thoughts as I look at each. (pictures taken from their websites. Not trying for any copy-write infringement here.)

SOS ($870). Good looking bumper. Reasonable size access holes to get to the winch and engage / disengage it. Looks like the biggest angle between the fairlead opening and pulling the rope straight out.



CBI ($950). Again, good looking bumper. Like the integrated mount for the lights. But how do you get to the winch to engage / disengage it? The complete lack of any documentation on-line concerns me a bit.



Warn ($850). Not the best looking. Fair amount of confidence with the Warn name standing behind it. Straight pull for the cable. Again, how do you get to the winch to engage / disengage it?

 

[rayra]

They're pretty much always going to rub. Few pulls are straight and level ahead. And even then, you get a couple layers down on the drum and your line angle is going to rub anyway.

 

[leeleatherwood]

CBI > *

 

[verdesard0g]

You absolutely need to be able to see and touch the rope on the spool. Most hidden winch mounts do not allow that.

 

[JMacs]

verdeard0g, playing devil's advocate. Most of the standard bumpers I've seen don't allow that either. Or maybe it is just the pictures on line, .... Are you watching just to make sure the rope doesn't spool up on one side?

 

[verdesard0g]

Not just that but also (probably more often the case) to make sure it wraps evenly with no voids between wraps where the rope can fall between

 

[Warn Industries]

If you have any questions about any of our bumpers, including our Semi-Hidden Kits, please don't hesitate to sent me a PM.

Andy

 

[JMacs]

Thanks Andy!

 

[Metcalf]

You absolutely need to be able to see and touch the rope on the spool. Most hidden winch mounts do not allow that.

With synthetic line you don't really have to worry about this much at all. It is nice to be able to see the drum to make sure you aren't bunched on one side when pulling at an angle, but spooling is not that critical.

 

[Metcalf]

I would be aware that the lower leading edge of the the winch mount can see much more impact abuse off road.
The thimble ends can also cause a lot of leverage if you happen to hit them first....or when backing off a ledge.

 

[Howard70]

If I was buying a new bumper to house a winch (I've used 5 on 4 trucks over the years) I'd rank design considerations like this:

1. Minimum effects on approach angle.
2. Perpendicular fairlead (hawser or roller).
3. Access to engagement lever (engaged / neutral) of winch.
4. Access to line on drum.
5. Weight of the bumper.
6. Aesthetics.

We recently did a pretty heavy pull to get our truck out of a muddy rut across a track. I was amazed at the amount of wear the synthetic line experienced pulling across the hawser fairlead, but we drive a heavy (13,500 lb on that day) truck. Makes me want to reduce the angle of the line across the fairlead as much as possible. Because I can't predict what that angle will be, a perpendicular fairlead seems the best compromise to me.

Howard

edited to specify synthetic line

 

[JMacs]

So outside of the SOS, how do you get access to the engagement lever? Opening the hood seems a little bit of a pain. Is there something I’m not seeing on the others?

 

[rayra]

If I was buying a new bumper to house a winch (I've used 5 on 4 trucks over the years) I'd rank design considerations like this:

1. Minimum effects on approach angle.
2. Perpendicular fairlead (hawser or roller).
3. Access to engagement lever (engaged / neutral) of winch.
4. Access to line on drum.
5. Weight of the bumper.
6. Aesthetics.

We recently did a pretty heavy pull to get our truck out of a muddy rut across a track. I was amazed at the amount of wear the synthetic line experienced pulling across the hawser fairlead, but we drive a heavy (13,500 lb on that day) truck. Makes me want to reduce the angle of the line across the fairlead as much as possible. Because I can't predict what that angle will be, a perpendicular fairlead seems the best compromise to me.

Howard

edited to specify synthetic line

You also have to be careful when fitting a fairlead plate that it matches well with the cutout in the bumper / winch mount. Any misalignments may leave the synthetic dragging across a sharper edge of the whole cut in the mount plate, than the smoother rounded opening in the hawse plate.

 

[JMacs]

INSTALLATION HELP!!

I am trying to get everything installed this weekend. I bought the CBI and a Smittybilt G3 winch. Anyone out there with this set up? How did you end up mounting the winch controller? I was about ready to lift it in place, but when I looked at the wiring coming out of the controller, it looks like it is going to try and occupy the same space as the power steering cooler. If I take the wires out of the controller and below the side-side bracket, it looks like it might work. But then the wires are between the bracket and the rope. If I mount the controller on the side, it looks like it might fit, but there is a cooling return line (?) that will be a complete ********** to work on. Any ideas?