Winch Bumper Build

tobyw

Member
Although I had been pleased with the winch tray I had initially fabricated for the OEM plastic bumper (pic in this thread if anyone is interested in seeing that: https://jlwrangler.com/showthread.p...ot-Steel)-Bumper&p=13618&viewfull=1#post13618 ), there had been a few too many times that I smacked the outside corner, causing the plastic bumper to fold back into the tire. Even the relatively mild BFG A/T's had no issue finding ample traction on the plastic bumper :D Anyhoodles, it was time for a more substantial solution...

I started with an old leftover bumper I had built for one of my JKU-R's a while back:

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There is about a 1-1/4" difference in the distance between the grill and the mounting flanges for the front bumper, so my old bumper would not bolt up directly... No big deal, as I wanted to clean up the looks of it a bit and go with some hidden hardware. So I made some simple 'L' shaped spacers and repurposed an old YJ transfercase drop to create some capture strips for the mounting bolts:

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Then I made some tapered corners to finish the bumper off a little cleaner and less brutally utilitarian than it had been in it's previous life:

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A little work with the hot glue gun, some grinding to smooth things out, and a dab of fresh paint:

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Should get the winch mounted back up sometime later this week, and then I'll decide on what to do for auxiliary lights... Round again or maybe an LED bar this time??
 

drhcobra

Member
Well done, you got me thinking I should make my own now. Thanks for sharing your work. Will you add a skid plate?
 

tobyw

Member
Got the winch mounted and put some WARN lights on for now, still considering LED's or even a small LED bar instead... At any rate, the auxiliary switches are just awesome, even I can wire something successfully :icon_crazy:

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JTCO

Meme King
Got the winch mounted and put some WARN lights on for now, still considering LED's or even a small LED bar instead... At any rate, the auxiliary switches are just awesome, even I can wire something successfully :icon_crazy:

Looks good. Sorry If I missed it, but what coils are you running and how much did the front end drop overall when you put all of that up there?
 

tobyw

Member
Looks good. Sorry If I missed it, but what coils are you running and how much did the front end drop overall when you put all of that up there?

Right now I've got the Rough Country 2.5" spacer lift with stock coils and shocks. The front end dropped 5/8" with the bumper and winch. I would like to find some taller and slightly heavier rate coils to replace the stock units and get rid of the spacers, but have only just started to research the options.
 

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