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?

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.Very nice job. Forgive my ignorance but is the idea to be able to move the winch to either front or rear when needed? Or is this just a way to mount the winch in front?
... with the license plate on you cannot tell its there. I basically chopped away all the black plastic grate behind the license plate.this is the exact concept that i was thinking about doing. didnt realize how much cutting and fab was involved. it would be nice to have the flexibilty of winching front or rear or not even have the winch on at all. i was told you were limited capacity wise, cant match 8000lb winch to 5000lb hitch, but we all have towed or pulled more than "stated" capacity. got some finish photos of what it looks like complete?
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.I hope the 175 amp disconnects will be enough. I've seen numbers as high as 408 amps on a 9,500 lb winch at near stall.
DEWFPO
ThanksLooks Great, good job!