Hidden Winch Kit

[Jevman]

Are the Hidden Winch kits still around for the FSJ's, I'd like to keep the 3 piece bumper with out extending it out and tuck the winch up under even if it means some frame mods, I have leaf springs to deal with. Is there a low profile 10 or 12,000 lb winch that would work better than others such a Ramsey?

[Yeller]

I made mine, I found a Ramsey 8k that I had fit just barely.

I’ve not seen any kits.

[Jevman]

Thanks Yeller, you mind if I ask how you attached it to the frame?

[Stuka]

I am not aware of any pre-built kits that placed the winch behind the bumper without extending it forward.

There were a few (factory and aftermarket) that pushed the 3 piece bumper out and the winch sat behind it, but in front of the radiator support.

Yeller's setup is pretty cool!

[Yeller]

Thanks guys. I’m not sure how well this would work on a newer truck or wagon, with my link and coil set up I don’t have the leaf springs to deal with. The winch fits up behind the front crossmember with 2 tabs added to the crossmember that you can see in the picks. On the bottom of the frame rail there are 2 5” long tabs that have 2ea 1/2”bolts into the winch mount that is more of a box. The winch it mounted foot forward, not down. I thought I might have more pics but this is all I had.

The winch barely and I do mean barely fits between the steering box and the frame rail. It’s also not in the center, it’s off to one side a bit. With everything black it is subdued enough to not visually bother me, functionally the winch and truck don’t care lol.

[Jevman]

The way you did that looks great, I mounted the winch plate to the bottom of the cross member temporarily and then mounted an Apex to it, it's to big and is in your face. I'll find a different winch. The stance of the Jeep is just slightly lower in the front and I have the leafs to deal with so maybe I would be able to incorporate leaf spring brackets into a mount where i can still bolt the springs on and raise the front end a 1/2" or so, question for you guys, How much movement do the shackles have in front of the 12 and 6 o'clock position when in movement up front? ( Can anything be in front of them? )

[Stuka]

I think you could still do a mount similar to Yeller's, but you would have to mount to the inside of the frame, instead of to the underside.

[sierrablue]

Over on IFSJA there used to be somebody making a cross member piece that went below the existing cross member and added ~1.5" of lift, as well as a receiver, which allowed for a receiver winch, etc.

Personally, I'd do it the way this one is done: https://www.drivingline.com/articles/ra ... lle-rally/
I like Yeller's but I also like having that open spot of clearance that goes away with that winch being that low.

[Yeller]

Mine doesn’t hang down any lower than the steering box, the plate is right up against it. If it hits your not getting the front axle past it. It is only about 4” in front of the edge of the tire too. I’ve wheeled the truck on some of the more difficult trails in Moab without dragging anything other than the rear bumper. I’d stand my approach angle up to anyones that has a front mounted winch and did not cut the grill to move it back. I really wanted to mount a Warn 8274 to the front but the only way I was happy with how it fit was to cut the grill and o wasn’t doing that. Not defending what I have, just rationalizing the thought process behind the why it is the way it is.

[sierrablue]

No, it's a good setup don't get me wrong. Personally I'd keep the winch up higher and just remove the center of the bumper; then you don't need to do any cutting either.

When it comes to deep snow in parking lots, every little bit of drag you can get rid of helps...I've had it up to the tops of the wheel cutouts in the fenders w/o getting stuck, but with any more stuff dragging... (obv that snow wasn't packed super tight)

[Scotty54]

I too wanted to retain my 3-pc bumper and fabricated a hitch bracket to mount to the front cross member. I also had a bracket made to connect the front cross member to the pass side frame, and still need to do the same for the driver side. I only have a 2.5" lift so a behind-the-bumper setup wouldn't work for me. The photo shows right after install and not wired yet. It's all done now and works great!

[Jevman]

Thought about that also and it looks nice and works. I am still fixed on hiding it the most I can though, they make some short drum winchs that may work well to, I'm going to do some checking

[Yeller]

My plan C was a short drum competition winch that I have on my buggy but the 8k fit so I chose the longer line with the bigger drum. 35’ on the comp winch doesn’t get you very far lol.

Plan A was a Ramsey 9500, it didn’t clear by 1/4”. Plan B became pull the winch off my bronco and use it and put the 9500 on the bronco.