Winches, winch mount bumpers, 2nd gen ?

Basically the question is which winch (within budget that is)
Annnnd
Any other options for winch mounting bumpers in the front.

My birthday's coming up and I've been eyeballing U.S. Offroad's winch mount
(https://www.usoffroad.us/store/#/product/60)

It's nice and stealthy, which is what I'm looking for, (and also the only one I've seen) but I haven't picked out a winch yet. As much as I'd love to have a ComeUp my budget for myself wouldn't allow it.

 

Bump

 

That's some good stuff there.

Later.

 

We also have combo packages with various winches, shackles and lights: https://www.usoffroad.us/store/bumpers/winch-mounts/combo-packages/tacoma-2012-2015/ (we have some for the 05-11 Taco too).

You can view some of our customer installs here too: https://plus.google.com/u/1/collection/cO2tPB

We are also now a stocking distributor of Mean Mother winches, you will find our full line of Mean Mother products here: https://www.usoffroad.us/store/meanmother/

And yeah...it's an FJ article but you might want to check out the review of our bumper and MM winch in this month's 4WD Toyota Owner mag: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-dEIzxGLXn9VVFGbnBiTy1OXzA/view?usp=sharing

 

How much weight does all this weigh including winch? I have OME 887's up front so just curious???

 

Everything you could ever want to know is on the product page: https://www.usoffroad.us/store/bumpers/tacoma-2012-15-winch-mount-bumper/

Such as... and this is gross, not net... subtract about 25-30lbs from the number below, stock bumper tube, etc.

WEIGHT EXAMPLE

Winch mount bumper: 63.00 lbs
Winch with no rope: 52 lbs
85' x 3/8" AmSteel rope: 3.6 lbs
Aluminum hawse: 1.5 lbs
Coating and fasteners: 1 lb
Total weight: 121 lbs

 

That's really cool. Any idea how much this reduces a 3" lift?

Later.

 

Around 3/8" but go read this. https://www.usoffroad.us/bilstein-5100-shocks/

 

@Pelfreybilt offers a hidden winch mount that goes behind your stock bumper, if you want stealth and aren't worried about needing armor. Tyler does great work and his wife Satin provides great customer service.

A hidden front hitch (CBI, Mobtown, etc...) is always an option too. That's what I did (as well as a few others here). I can use my winch on the front or rear of my truck and store it in the bed (or the garage) when I don't want it on the front of the truck.

 

How does everyone feel about smittybilt? Specifically this one.

This is what I have in budget but I'd rather save up, buy the winch mount now and get a 'better' winch later on.
If it's not reliable I'm not going to buy it but don't bandwagon me either.

 

I got the US Off-road bumper and mounted an Engo E9000S winch on it.

Got a lift from Headstrong Off-road with it. OME 886's with ARB910000 shocks, and Deaver 3-AAL in the back.

Took about 4 hours to do both in my garage.

 

Check out this winch shootout article. It's what caused me to go with the Engo.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/129-1107-massive-multi-winch-shootout/

The douche canoes at Four Wheeler magazine gave the win to the Warn even though it didn't finish the competition, and their bias was pretty obvious. But thy include all the data and are pretty fair to each brand during the testing (if you ignore the conclusion).

 

I have the US Off Road winch mount with a Warn M8000 on stock shocks and springs. I swapped out the wire rope for synthetic and it didn't drop the front too much.

It looks awesome (lots of looks from other Taco drivers), works perfectly, and isn't obtrusive. If you're going to go this route, I suggest doing the winch and mount at the same time. You do not want to go back in there later on to add the winch. It's just easier to do it right, once.

 

@1R0NMAN811 thx for the article, I actually read it a few months ago but totally forgot about it! It screams superwinch or t-max but the price for the engo is tempting plus it didn't do terrible compared to the top 3...

 

No worries. I got the Engo on sale at 4wheelparts.com and free shipping. Have already used it a few times and won't buy another brand.

 

@1R0NMAN811 not even comeup, superwinch or warn?

 

Not speaking ill of the other brands, I'm just sold on Engo. And their customer service is top notch.

 

@1R0NMAN811 good to hear!

 

Hello,could i install with out winch?

 

That usoffroad looks like a pretty good combo deal. I was thinking of going with an ARB and aftermarket winch, but that set-up looks pretty dam good.