How do you use/spool winch in hidden winch or slimline bumpers?

I ordered a Body Armor Hiline bumper and I’m second guessing it now. It looks like this.. (and I did get a light bar so those wholes won’t be open)


Do you have to pop the hood and access the winch through the engine bay? this should be similar to SSO, CBI, etc but some have additional holes in the bumper.

How would I watch to spool this up nicely?

 

I have a CBI bumper with cutouts, still its a pita to flip the clutch on my Smittybilt X2O winch through it. Almost easier more convenient to access it via opening the hood and reaching over the grille.

 

This is one of the many many form-over-function bumpers that are available out there. It sure looks cool, but that comes at a cost of useability. If you don't use it all that often, it's not a big deal.

If you're doing a ton of winching, this is definitely the wrong bumper, at least in its present state. If you find you use it a lot, I'd recommend cutting the top portion of the bumper so you can reach the clutch easier.

Then there's the question of what to do with your control box. Depending on how it fits, often times you have to relocate the control box to inside the engine bay unless you want to cut into the grill or something. Again, it offers a cleaner looking installation, but comes at a price of having to open the hood any time you need to winch. If you have a wireless controller that's a different story (although I've heard enough stories of batteries going dead all the time, to the point that they aren't charged when you need it, that I will likely never own a wireless winch controller).

 

My Relentless low pro bumper has big access holes that make it easy to plug in the controller and work the free spool lever. That one looks like you’ll have to do it by popping the hood and reaching down. Not a huge deal if you’re not winching a lot but not the most convenient thing either.

 

My winch it´s really hide, I have to open the hood to connect winch control.