If you own a Jeep and are mounting a winch yourself follow these guidelines to make it more professional, functional and attractive.
When mounting a winch on your Jeep, keep these things in mind...
- Jeeps have strong front bumpers but they are not designed to hold a winch which could be pulling up to 5 tons. So, the winch mounting plate must be strong, ideally made of iron or forged steel.
- Keep in mind the center of gravity of the winch and the amount of stress that is going to be placed on it by the winch as determined by the angle of the wire during the pull. Mounting a winch on the top edge of the jeep bumper through a plate is not going to be as strong as mounting it on the front of the bumper when pulling objects directly in front and below you. Mounting a winch on the front of the bumper aligns the stress points so they are parallel with the winch mount plate, when the cable is extending perpendicular from the bumper, thus increasing the strength of the mounting plate.
- Mounting a winch on the front of the bumper will improve the "angle of pull" only when the object being pulled is lower than the Jeep bumper. If you are pulling your Jeep out of a ditch, for instance, from a tree that is on a ravine bluff, then mounting the winch on top would be advantageous.
- The winch mounting plate should not interfere with the hood, be placed in front of the grill or affect your ground clearance.
- A 1/4-inch or better steel plate is suitable for a winch mounting plate.
- If you have a chrome bumper, or one not designed for off road, you will need to build a winch mounting bumper and then install a winch mounting plate to it.
- For pulling objects over 5 tons, an iron winch bumper and mounting plate which is attached to the chassis is recommended.
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