I found a heavy duty old winch bumper on craigslist the other day and bought it for $60. I took it home and was not expecting it to work and it didn't. but then I looked at the bumper closer and it had removable frame mounts. I took them off and flipped them to the opposite side and it was a perfect fit. I had to trim about an inch off the factory frame mounts (which nothing mounted to anyway) for the mounts to be flush against the frame. I used 6 long bolt that go all the way through the frame to secure it. I was also able to keep my factory tow hooks which 2 of the 6 bolts mounted through. The tow hooks are by far the lowest thing on the front now. Some idiot welded a brush guard on the bumper that is off center and it will probably be cut off soon. So total for the project was about $70-80. (minus winch of course) Here are some pics.
Winch Bumper added cheap
- Thread starter anw7405
- Start date
DetroitDarin
Scratching a 10 year Itch
GREAT job! "on the cheap" is always best!
WrenchMonkey
Mechanical Animal
Very nice! I love it when a plan comes together...
That just might have been on purpose: Winches aren't symmetrical, the end with the motor is bigger than the end with the clutch. If the guard was just to protect the winch, it might have been done like that to match.
Of course, it would kill my OCD like that, I would have made the driver's side larger than it needed to be so the thing came out even. Or, like you said, just cut it off!
Robert
That just might have been on purpose: Winches aren't symmetrical, the end with the motor is bigger than the end with the clutch. If the guard was just to protect the winch, it might have been done like that to match.
Of course, it would kill my OCD like that, I would have made the driver's side larger than it needed to be so the thing came out even. Or, like you said, just cut it off!
Robert
Expedition.Report
Explorer
Once you fix that "grill guard" you'll be in great shape!