Modified Curt front end hitch reciever + alternative installation

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.




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.