Time to whip out the plasma cutter and finish reinforcing the winch mount! In this post we add two additional attachment points and cut out the winch plate and fairlead mount.

I didn’t mention it in Part 1 but the reason I put a receiver hitch in the middle was because about 5 years ago I created a DIY hitch mounted snow plow operated by winch. Well I still have and use it but the winch got salt in it and locked up. So my plan here is to build a new mount for the plow blade and just use this winch to raise it up and down. Works good in my head, guess we will see.

Reinforcing the new crossmember

In the picture above you can see I had some weld on D-rings laid out to see how I liked them. After thinking about it for probably too long, I decided to put a receiver hitch on either end of the crossmember instead. This way I can put a shackle, tow rope with hitch pin through it, trailer hitch, vice on a hitch mount… whatever I want. Also It would add some nice reinforcement between the winch and the frame.

Making the winch plate

Typically the solenoid pack gets mounted directly on top of the winch. It came with brackets to mount it there which would have been super easy. Due to the location I put the winch, aesthetics, and wanting to still be able to get some air to the radiator, I decided to relocate it. The closest spot to where I didn’t have to extend the control wires was right behind the winch. In part 3 I will build a new bracket for it to mount to.

TIP: When you have an edge that is going to be outward facing or visible, try to put the factory edge out. It will always be straighter than what you cut by hand.

TIP: Keep your scraps! Metal doesn’t expire or have a shelf life as long as you don’t let it get too rusty. The red bin in the pic above is for my plate steel, I also have one for round tubing and one for square tubing.

Typical winch bolt pattern is for bolts on a 4.5″ x 10″ rectangle. Be aware though that winches on the outside of that rectangle are NOT symmetrical. This is because the motor is on one side and the gear reduction is on the other. You can see in the pic below I trimmed the grill symmetrically and there is a big gap on the right side where I could have left some more meat on there.

Definitely not done yet, but I wanted to post some detailed pics so you all can get more ideas. I still need to weld on the top plate, mount the solenoid pack, wire it up, reinforce the mount to the frame, build a skid plate and the rest of the bumper. This post series is going to be at least 4 or 5 parts long. Oh well, it will keep me busy. Not like I have big plans or anything for the next couple of months :shrug:.

Hope you enjoyed. Now YOU, go outside and work on something!