[drinkbrew]

are reciever mount winches any good? my bronco has the tow package with front and rear recievers already installed. i'm sure a permanent bumper mount would be better but it would be nice to be able to put it in the front, back or take it off as needed. I'm not lokking at doing any type of hardcore rock climbing or anything anytime soon but it would be nice to have a winch for those just in case situations

 

[bigbroncojeff]

i have one..... they are generally rated for a winch up to 9000 lbs and you can use a snatch block with that.... i like being able to take mine off and not have to worry about theft... plus i can move it from truck to truck/ front to rear... i prob wouldn't have bought one b/c they are around $200 for the kit (cradle and wires/connectors) but i got a killer deal on it.... the warn kit is the best quality one i have seen... some of the others don't look as beefy.... just make sure that your receiver is on extremely well... bad things if it were to give way on an angled pull that puts a dif kind of stress on a receiver than regular towing.... another drawback is how far they end up sticking off the front of the truck... i have a 6" lift with 35s and i still bash the winch cradle into the ground sometimes with steep approaches or decends...

only thing i had to do myself was get a quick connect for the small ground wire... for some reason this wasn't addresed in the receiver mount kit... and then i made a bracket to mount the sb-175 connector on the bumper that runs from the battery

here's a pic of what the kit has and some of it mounted up


if you click on this pic you can see the price i paid for the kit... the tag is on the post that goes into the receiver:toothless :chili:

 

[drinkbrew]

that is exactly what im looking for thanks

 

[Redwagon]

Could you not have just grounded it to the winch mount itself?

 

[bigbroncojeff]

Could you not have just grounded it to the winch mount itself?

i didn't try and it doesn't have anywhere that looks like that's what you are supposed to do.... plus with all the paint and mud i don't think it would be a very good ground connnection going through the receiver... it was easy enough to get some small male female ta conections and solder em on

 

[TTBlows]

The only way I'd do a receiver winch mount is custom built with at least two receiver tubes, side by side several inches apart. A single centered receiver won't take side loads well, and if you think about it a receiver typically never sees side loads that are very great if pulling a trailer since the trailer tracks w the tow vehicle.

 

[bigbroncojeff]

the way i have mine set up it may as well be attached to the bumper considering strength... two receivers would be great and yes they would be stronger but i'm not sure that it is necessary.... i promise everything used to attach mine is stronger than the 4 bolts warn sends with the winch to bolt it up to a mounting plate... i'd say they were the weakest link... receivers for towing are also designed to be jerked on when towing a trailer.... just because a receiver is rated for a 10,000lb trailer or whatever... the shock loads and jerking while towing are going to far exceede this... a winch is a steady pull

 

[b wojo]

Jeff, ground that small ground wire to the same post the BIG ground (the one that goes to the red qd connector) goes to. Thats how mine is (per warns instructions) works great. As far as using for side pulls etc... I have use mine for some pretty hard side pulls with no problem. However, you MUST have sufficient gusseting or diagonal braces on the reciever hitch. Pre made ones are esy to modify and home built ones are easy to design to do this. as for the single reciever tube bending, think about it. The reciever receptacle tube is1/4 inch wall on 4 sides. most reciver plug ins are (or should be )_ 1/4 inch wall . although I have seen some 3/16th. once you plug the two together you have 1/2 wall on all 4 sides of the "plug in" part of the reciever. I have seen many "name brand" winch bumpers that use only a sheet of 3/16th for the box or plate the winch mounts to. My thougts are that a properly designed SINGLE tube reciver is plenty strong (untiluoi get over a 10.000 lb rated winch on double or triple line pull). Again, the key to making these work is solid welding, and good solid diagonal bracing. (Flame suit on)opc1:

 

[bigbroncojeff]

Jeff, ground that small ground wire to the same post the BIG ground (the one that goes to the red qd connector) goes to. Thats how mine is (per warns instructions) works great.

well dammit... my instructions didn't address this... just reread them too.... well i'm already set... wanted to ground it to the frame/body b/c the big ground goes to the neg batt post... which i guess is pretty much the same thing anyways

ditto on the strength... i'd trust my set up before i trusted a warn brand winch bumper.... every one of those i've seen was bent up whether it had a winch on it or not

 

[TTBlows]

i promise everything used to attach mine is stronger than the 4 bolts warn sends with the winch to bolt it up to a mounting plate... i'd say they were the weakest link...

That's not really an issue from an engineering perspective........even tho I'm not an engineer it's apples to oranges. 4 bolts holding the bottom of the winch flush to a winch plate vs a lever arm, ie the receiver draw tube under the winch which is mounted forward of your bumper.

receivers for towing are also designed to be jerked on when towing a trailer.... just because a receiver is rated for a 10,000lb trailer or whatever... the shock loads and jerking while towing are going to far exceede this... a winch is a steady pull

Not buying this argument. Of course receivers are going to see shock loads, but they're momentary. What works better for removing a press fit bearing? Pounding the crap out of it or steadily loading it up in a shop press? A quality winch will slowly but surely side load a receiver until it folds, esp w a snatch block.

The reciever receptacle tube is1/4 inch wall on 4 sides. most reciver plug ins are (or should be )_ 1/4 inch wall . although I have seen some 3/16th. once you plug the two together you have 1/2 wall on all 4 sides of the "plug in" part of the reciever. I have seen many "name brand" winch bumpers that use only a sheet of 3/16th for the box or plate the winch mounts to.

You're focusing on the strongest part of a receiver mount rather than the weakest. It's not going to fail where the two overlap, it's going to fail just forward of that; again, it's a lever arm. Ditto for the argument of 3/16" winch plates - COMPLETELY different loads are exhibited. Bending 2x.250" wall square vs ripping four 3/8" bolts from 3/16" plate are not at all similar.


Now, that said, a single receiver will probably work fine 90% of the time. But for absolute strength something more is required. If you were gonna build from scratch it wouldn't make sense to do anything but go for the better option..........and in fact ANY basic welding shop probably fabs more receivers than anything else, and can easily make something like this for anyone.

 

[bigbroncojeff]

not saying it's stronger and the best option for everyone

but i need something i can move from truck to truck as well as front to back.... plus reduce the risk of theft

Not buying this argument. Of course receivers are going to see shock loads, but they're momentary. What works better for removing a press fit bearing? Pounding the crap out of it or steadily loading it up in a shop press? A quality winch will slowly but surely side load a receiver until it folds, esp w a snatch block.

a shock load would remove something just like a press if it is the same amount of force.... but i dont think i can squarely hit a bearing with my hand and a hammer and have as much force as a hydraulic press though... when removing a bearing you use a press for precision... not because steady loading works better thank shockloading when it comes down to applied energy... you cn't just walk around hitting shit with hammers... but that doesn't mean that shockloads don't create tremendous amounts of force:shrug

like i said i agree with you on there being stronger was to mount a winch.... but i have complete confidence in mine even on side pulls or when using a snatch block.... if i ever bend or break it i'll be sure to post it up.... i'll prob. sell the mount and go with a larger winch before that ever happens

edit: might add that i have broken the press thimble before on the end of the cable which comes on the winch while using a snatch block... didn't even get a creak from the set up at as full of a pull as i can imagine but then the thimble let go

 

[OnceWasChuck]

I was going to use a receiver mount front and back for mine, but didn't want to sacrifice the ground clearance. I'm on 33's with no lift and trying to keep the truck as low as possible for the tires I want.

I sat down after work last Tuesday night and designed a removable winch mount for the top of the front/rear bumper that's good for a 12k winch, with a good factor of safety. Requires a clear area (essentially winch plate) that measures 9.25" front to back. Was hoping to get the rear one built this past weekend, but got sidetracked and didn't make it that far. I can post up pics when I get a chance to build it (hopefully next weekend), or I can post up my calcs and a couple of quick sketches if you guys don't want to wait. Lemme know. :thumbup

 

[Davids78Bronco]

Sure, post it up. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd sure be interested in seeing what you've come up with

 

[TTBlows]

a shock load would remove something just like a press if it is the same amount of force.... but i dont think i can squarely hit a bearing with my hand and a hammer and have as much force as a hydraulic press though... when removing a bearing you use a press for precision... not because steady loading works better thank shockloading when it comes down to applied energy... you cn't just walk around hitting shit with hammers... but that doesn't mean that shockloads don't create tremendous amounts of force:shrug

Agreed, but if you're pulling a 10k lb trailer and it's applying a shock load perpendicular to your vehicle you've got bigger problems. 99% of the loads a receiver sees when towing are straight on, either accelerating or braking. And sure, the trailer is not always perfectly in line w the tow vehicle, but it's tracking w the vehicle unless you've jack-knifed or something else very bad.

I don't doubt that your mount is fine, I just take issue w the reasoning that because a receiver can tow an XXlb trailer it can surely hold up to winching at every possible angle.

 

[OnceWasChuck]

A'ight, I drew this up in a hurry because the sketches in my calcs sucked. :brownbag

Basic idea is, take a winch mounting channel and fillet weld two 1-1/4" square bars full length to the bottom. Spacing between the centerline of the bars and mounts for mine is going to be as shown, but you can vary it, just make sure your winch channel is strong enough. Take two matching lengths of 2" square quarter wall tube and cut the top out of all but the back 2". Match drill the bars and tubes so they'll fit as shown, with four standard 5/8" hitch pins. Fillet weld the tubes full length down to your mounting surface (plate, top of winch bumper, whatever) as shown, I'd suggest putting the front of the tube flush with the bumper since you'll have to reach up under the winch plate to get the hairpins in the front two hitch pins. The back two hitch pins are harder to get to, so they're located out from under the winch channel where you can see 'em and get to 'em.

I haven't had a chance to build it yet, was hoping to this past weekend but didn't get that far. This is sized as compact as I could make it for a 12K winch, but you could make it bigger in most any dimension if you had the room and wanted it. Just make sure you've got good 3/16" or better fillets everywhere shown, and as least as much meat as is shown above and around the hitch pins ...

One note, I drew the ends of the bar and tube staggered below to make the drawing more clear, but they should actually be cut flush. Take the demensions for the hole locations off the tube as shown and go with it. Click for bigger pic:


Comments, suggestions, questions, and flames welcome. I haven't built it yet, so this is still in the "design" stage and was cooked up in about two hours of playing with the calculator. :toothless

Hopefully I'll have time later this week to get a better drawing done.

 

[nu_bronco]

or I can post up my calcs and a couple of quick sketches if you guys don't want to wait. Lemme know. :thumbup

I would like some pics also. Lets see what you have in mind. I am thinking of making one but wanted some more pics so I could chose a good design.

Boy, that was quick. you beat me to asking.

 

[drinkbrew]

I finally got a chance to get some better pics of my front hitch mount, it ooks like it just hooks to the bumper on the inside. does anyone know if this is stock of afteramrket and what kind of load it could handle or if it is safe for a winch?

thanks
jason

 

[b wojo]

thats a one off job there and not very strong. the po probably used it to move trailers or something. I would NOT use that to winch off of.

 

[drinkbrew]

thats a one off job there and not very strong. the po probably used it to move trailers or something. I would NOT use that to winch off of.

thanks, once i took the pics i noticed it was just welded to the bumper so i was worried about the strength

 

[bigbroncojeff]

thats a one off job there and not very strong. the po probably used it to move trailers or something. I would NOT use that to winch off of.

yeah... that's def not a good one to hook a winch too:shocked