It looks a bit like the winch may have put a bit of a strain on the vertical plate? Just the angle of the photo?
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Modified Curt front end hitch reciever + alternative installation
19
What I did was take a curt front hitch reciever and modify it so instead of it going below the bumper bar, it goes above, thus allowing you use it as a winch mount.
Step 1
Chop it up real good. I cut off the tow points and the part of the hitch reciever that gets bolted onto the fj's tow points.
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Step 2 - the slot
Of course there are different ways to cut the slot. (I used a band saw)
Drill holes for a slot
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Step 3
cut the slot out. I used a band saw.
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Step 4 - Intsallation
To get it on the FJ I had to remove the bumper, move the AC line, then chop a little bit:
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Then drill some new holes for the bolts.
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The test went well. I pulled on a tree untill it stalled, kind of scary but necessary. I've got a video of it but i need to edit out the swearing(the winch was doing weird things, turned out I had, sort of, screwed up the motor when I wired it, but I managed to fix it in the end)
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Hope that was clear... I'm not sure if anyone else would ever try this, cheap but fabrication-requiring, way to a winch mount but I'm pretty dam happy with it.
Could someone who knows alot about torquing bolts tell me what sort of torque I should put on the bolts that hold this thing on?
Here some pics of how it looks with the bumper on.
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Step 1
Chop it up real good. I cut off the tow points and the part of the hitch reciever that gets bolted onto the fj's tow points.
Step 2 - the slot
Of course there are different ways to cut the slot. (I used a band saw)
Drill holes for a slot
Step 3
cut the slot out. I used a band saw.
Step 4 - Intsallation
To get it on the FJ I had to remove the bumper, move the AC line, then chop a little bit:
Then drill some new holes for the bolts.
The test went well. I pulled on a tree untill it stalled, kind of scary but necessary. I've got a video of it but i need to edit out the swearing(the winch was doing weird things, turned out I had, sort of, screwed up the motor when I wired it, but I managed to fix it in the end)
Hope that was clear... I'm not sure if anyone else would ever try this, cheap but fabrication-requiring, way to a winch mount but I'm pretty dam happy with it.
Could someone who knows alot about torquing bolts tell me what sort of torque I should put on the bolts that hold this thing on?
Here some pics of how it looks with the bumper on.
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Ignorance fully forgiven, that is one of the advantages, of using a front hitch receiver to hold a winch. other advantages are the weight of the winch doesn't sit in the front, so it doesn't cause the front suspension to sag, very cheap, winch doesn't stay out in the weather while driving so potentially longer winch life maybe.
and also...
... with the license plate on you cannot tell its there. I basically chopped away all the black plastic grate behind the license plate.
5000 is the capacity, so the breaking strength should be well above 12 k or something, and the breaking strength of 5/16 winch rope is 12k so it should be alright.
Fine I'll list some cons,
We don't know the capacity of it so it would be good to stick with 8000lb winch and use a snatch block in bad situations, it's slightly heavy to carry from the back and then to mount - put the pin in and plug it in.
Ya I hadn't realized how much fab work would be involved either... I thought I would do it in 5 hours or sth. Took me prob 15 hours to finish. It's not very hard fab work though, just need a bit of care with the angle grinder and drill...
I think the 175 amps is for continuous draw over a lonng period of time... I feel the contacts some time after I use it to see if they get warm.
Thanks
2
Thanks for the info. I used this to do my winch setup.
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/4x4-off-road-tech/72218-new-way-2-front-receiver.html
[URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2244701740096543434NiWOqQ][/URL]
Appreciate it.
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/4x4-off-road-tech/72218-new-way-2-front-receiver.html
[URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2244701740096543434NiWOqQ]
[/URL]Appreciate it.
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
