Rear winch bumper (let the criticism begin!)

[Hubnut]

I've been wanting a rear bumper for my K5 to hold another winch. The Blazen Offroad bumper is nice, but expensive. So, I thought I'd try to build one on my own. My idea is simple. Bring two pieces of plate out from the frame and build a box around it. I will put some sides on it that flare back. I plan to weld the bottom of the winch plate to the crossmember of the hitch. Should be plenty strong. Just tacked right now. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[75GmcJimmy4x4]

well its simple.....

 

[Stomis]

Run two piece of angle under the mounting holes and connect them to the hitch. Idk my mount is a little overkill cause the guy I built it with (friends dad) is a crane mechanic and likes to see things done double right the first time but mines a winch plate that boxes the top of two 3/8ths brackets and is faced with 4" angle iron. Ontop of that theres two piece of of 1-1/2 angle running from each 3/8ths bracket across the mounting holes. The winch then bolts through them so its yanking on about 1/2 of material to buckle anything....

Idk mines overkill but your just seems a little under done.

 

[nvrenuf]

Looks like a good start, I would definitely trim of the sharp corners before they bite. I'm curious, is that the deepest the winch will go into that "pocket" @ the back of the frame? It looks like there's a little more space between the winch and tank crossmember that would allow for a little less overhang.

 

[Hubnut]

Stomis,
Sounds great. Could you point me to some pics of your set up? I'd like to see it. Thanks!

 

[Hubnut]

Yeah, it could get tucked a little deeper, but it's only about 1 inch farther off the truck than the hitch just beneath it. When I tried moving it back farther, I had issues with the bolts from the winch (in the bottom plate). I plan to slope the top sides down about 1 to 2 inches, then weld a face plate on it with gussets all around. Not sure how to make it a little prettier from above. The guys at BOR use a removable plate in theirs.

 

[thatK30guy]

When I get back to building up the '74 Jimmy chassis/S10 body, I'm planning to have Kert fab an A-Bomb winch mount for the rear. Want it to match the front but fit the rear frame horns.

 

[4X4HIGH]

It's a good start. Just remember that if you run a roller fairlead it will hang about 1.5" lower than the bottom of that winch mount plate.

 

[Stomis]

Jeeze I cant believe I never snapped shots of it before it went on. here is the only one I have. I'll try to explain it better.

The front cap is 4" C channel. Its welded on the sides to 3/8s plate brackets, thats what bolts to the frame. The top of it is your typical generic winch mount thats like 3/16ths thick.

Underneath the winch mount there are 1.5in angle iron pieces welded from bracket to bracket cross ways along the winch mounting holes. When the winch bolts down the bolts go through the angle and the winch mount therefor not only does the winch pull on the winch mount which is welded to the 3/8ths brackets but also it pulls on the 1.5in angle iron which adds a huge amount of structural integrity, which is honestly probably overkill.

Now if ya wanna snap some dead straight pictures of the bottom of your setup I'll show you on paint where I would add what piece of metal. Honestly I see that thing kinking right up if you ever got really stuck.

 

[Hubnut]

Stomis,
I appreciate honesty, what do you mean by kinking right up if I ever got stuck? The beauty of this set up is that it is all bolt on.

4x4HIGH, good point that I never considered. I will go with a hawse fairlead. I have 12,000 lb winch up front and would rely on it more than the back. However, recently I was stuck on some rocks and could have used some force out the back end.

 

[Hubnut]

I mocked up one side of the bumper with foam board. I think this will look pretty good. I have the plate for the winch face, but haven't decided how I'm going do the opening yet.

 

[Stomis]

Hey that looks real good!

Theres no reason you couldnt add bracing and make it bolt on. All I mean is I think the metal the thing is bolted to would budge and bend/kink/warp/buckle however the force would apply before you would pull yourself out.

Take some straight on shots of the underneath and I'll draw in some bracing to better explain it.

 

[Fordum]

Looks like a good start. When I was building my new truck, and discovered I would have to go hydraulic to get PTO up front, I realized that would give me most of what I needed to have a winch on the back.
Just mount a hydralic winch on the back and add a couple of lines and a valve.
Still have not gotten around to it though. For now, I just make damn sure to drive from pull point to pull point, never ever turn around in a bad place by driving forward into trouble. Always back into it, and Never pull forward toward a place you cannot go through. For instance, a 1/4 mile wide river.
Pulled up to the bank to look across and it caved in partially. Just enough that I could not back up. Didn't figure winching forward was a good idea even though there was a post out there I could have swam up to and hooked the winch to.
Back bumper winch would have been nice then.
Also, does anyone here have one of these? http://www.westernmule.com/bumper_cranes.html
It doubles as an up to 4000# winch, and is completely hidden in the bumper when not in use.
I have wanted one for Years.

Plus, looks like the guy in this picture could have used a back winch. Or maybe some brains.......

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Mounting the winch with the mounting feet down like that puts a ton of shear stress on the bolts and the housing of the winch.

Here's some reading for you


I do know people who have run winches with the mounting feet down with success but mounting the winch "feet forward" is much stronger.

What are you going to add for vertical plate in front of and behind the winch? You don't want the winch to twist the plate and crack/tear it apart.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Mounting the winch with the mounting feet down like that puts a ton of shear stress on the bolts and the housing of the winch.

Here's some reading for you


I do know people who have run winches with the mounting feet down with success but mounting the winch "feet forward" is much stronger.

What are you going to add for vertical plate in front of and behind the winch? You don't want the winch to twist the plate and crack/tear it apart.

I was going to suggest the same thing. I am currently building a new front bumper using 3" x 8" tube and my winch will be feet forward this time.

 

[Hubnut]

Yeah, I thought of that too. My M12000 on the front is mounted like that. However, the M8000, according to WARN, should be mounted on a horizontal surface. I am only following the manufacturer's directions.

 

[driney]

I have no doubts that mounting feet forward is stronger, but after looking at that link, I think he had lost a bolt before his winch broke. Even if the bolts were all there, any flex in the flat plate would have let the winch twist and induced stresses that the winch wasn't designed for. Add to that no fairlead and its not surprising things came apart. If you can mount your winch feet forward, go for it, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over mounting mine feet down.

Edit: After rereading your post, I think you were saying the same thing about twisting the mounting surface.

 

[Hubnut]

Finished some of the fabrication work on the main box this afternoon. Damn it's hot outside! I like the way it came out. I've decided against welding it to the hitch crossmember. However, I am running the rear winch bolts all the way through the crossmember with spacers for support. This will provide center support for the base plate and keep it from flexing. Any ideas how to make the top of the box a little less ugly? I don't really want to cover it. I was thinking some curved gussets at each corner to dress it up and provide more strength against wracking. I'll have the other parts cut on Monday. I like the idea of Stomis' to bolt those parts on (which I may do).

 

[Hubnut]

Seems pretty strong. Didn't distort with the jack on it. Makes a good jack point for the rear too.

 

[sweetk30]

expanded metel top cover with 4 bolts to remove it easy. will mask most of it. but let you keep a eye on it and air flow. also 2 rubber bumpers for protection of the gate to winch box.