Warn Semi-hidden winch mount and Evo 10S winch

Installed a Warn Semi Hidden Winch mount on my 2015 Pro. Found some omissions and unnecessary steps in their instructions. Granted, I have a small hydraulic lift cart so got to cheat a bit. Some items may only apply to 2012-2015 Tacomas.

1. You do not need to take off the bumper skin (but you do need to remove the grill). It is very easy to trim the bumper on the vehicle with a small die grinder or Dremel and a little cut off wheel. (and they have you re-install it before you install the winch mount). Instructions are a bit vague on the exact cut line. I ended up pretty much taking off the whole inside lip and it is still a fairly close fit.

2. The lower grill which is being removed has 3 of the big blue clips. One on each side and one in the center. All are easily accessible from top or bottom. Once removed simply cut the center section out with a jig saw. This gives you access to all of the crash bar bolts.

3. There is a brace that runs from the crash bar to near the spats (baby front mud flaps) that isn't mentioned. 1 screw at the fender area pop riveted to the crash bar. I saved these and bolted them to the bottom of the winch mount. If you don't do some sort of brace there is no support for the bottom end of the bumper.

4. Instructions say to lay the winch on its side and rotate it after the mount is installed. Would be a PITA! And yes, if you have some means of raising the mount up into place it clears with no issues sitting upright and bolted in place (this was with an EVO 10S).

Total install time was about 4 hours going solo. It was cold and I'm old so the younger folks may do it quicker. Also I was being a bit anal so spent time cleaning up lots of stuff.

Issues? Only with getting the mount in one piece. 4WP was excellent in covering Warn's bad packing and UPS's gorilla handling. Took 3 try's but I finally got one that wasn't beat up. Somehow UPS managed to get 2 of them to exit the box and play with cement. More cosmetic than anything, but if it is going to have dents I want to be the one who causes them. Only issue with the winch was non working remote. Seems part of the battery paper stayed inside. Opened it up, removed the offending cardboard and taped up a pinched wire and all is good.

Note: If you look at the side openings before the lower plastic was cut away you can see the tin brace on the bottom of the crash bar. Not much, but it makes a huge difference in the bumper skin stability. Also for TRD models they have you remove the tow hook. I also cut of the factory tie down hook just in case.

 

Nice write up. I’ve been considering getting one of these for my 2008. I haven’t seen many of them around the forums here. What’s your suspension setup? I’m wondering how much weight it adds and if I should upgrade my springs.