Hiden Winch. Well, Sort of...

After reading a few other builders winch mounts and wanting my own i finally tackled and finished it. Thanks to the many threads for the guidance and a few good friends for helping with the parts.

Here we go. This is for a Smittybilt XRC 12,000 unit on a 2004 Double Cab V6. My goal was to tuck it behind the bumper.

The finished product.



The switch connector location.



Started with a Curt front hitch and welded two mounts to be able to remove the winch and leave the hitch if wanted.





Then i had the winch mount plate parts plasma cut and welded up.





And added some beefy clevis lugs.



Put all together and it looks like this.



Then i starting thinking about the bumper. There is the cosmetic bumper and the actual bumper. I took the actual bumper bar and cut it in two to sculpt around the winch. This provides "some" protection but the winch and hitch are the real bumper now.





And of course the wiring. You can see here i re-located the controller plug with a cable i made.





Anyways. I hope you like my build. The rest of my 4x4 conversion can be found in this thread.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/matthews-jade-green-4x4-conversion-and-other-upgrades.579846/

 

Looks great! Very clean.

 

Just how hard is it to reach the lever to disengage the winch so you can free spool the line out??

Hard to tell from the pictures

 

With those fab skills I suppose you can just make your own skid plates that bolt in to this beast.

 

I think that looks really clean.

Since you have the receiver there, you could make a block and tackle pulley mount to throw in there if you needed to increase your pulling and minimize angle of pull.

I haven't (luckily) done a lot of pulling, so if there is a better way, I am sure someone will correct me. But here is what I was thinking:line goes out to tree and around anchored pulley; comes back and around receiver mounted pulley; line goes back to hook on tree strap. That should double your pulling power I believe. By using a rec mounted pulley, you keep the stress of the pull going right to the center of the frame of the truck/winch system.

I'd just take an old receiver and weld some sort of hook or loop to which a piece of chain with pulley could be attached. I know you have the hooks on the hitch frame, but having a center mount point keeps the pull direction straight.

 

It is easy. My hand is not the biggest hand out there but easily fits. The leaver is at the same level as the "Smittybilt" label which is visible in the bumper slot. The harder part was accessing the remote plug. There was no way to do that which is why i re-located it to the front of the bumper.

 

Thanks. I had help from fiends. I have yet to re-mount my skid plates. Soon...

 

I am building out my recover gear now. I hope to never have to use the winch but am ready. Your sketch seems reasonable if you had two snatch blocks and a good anchor to the truck like the hitch. My biggest challenge is where to store the recover gear. Behind my rear seat is already packed with my ropes and straps. Not alot of room inside a Double Cab. Kicking around ideas under the frame.

 

It is a good idea to always practice things in the hope you never need to use them in a critical situation

 

Hey @Kwikvette, here’s anoher guy making one, lol

 

I ran into this thread last night and said "fuck me"

 

Yur timing is impeccable.

 

Yeah well at least my ARB arrives tomorrow!

 

Perfect application for a "rear pull" adapter that fits in the receiver. Chunk of square tube with a snatch block type pulley in the end or a provision to hold an entire snatch block.
This lets the winch line run over the pulley and under the truck to an anchor allowing a "backwards" pull.
Obviously not for deep mud and requiring some modicum of care to avoid damage to the line.

 

@Dirty Pool do i understand you in suggesting a pulley in the hitch receiver that lets the winch in front wrap around and go back under the truck to pull from the rear? Interesting and some care would be needed.

 

Yep, a pulley mounted to a short length of 2" square tube that would fit into the receiver like a regular ball mount. Maybe a roller instead of a pulley to allow for even line spooling. Easy to make, install and remove, would not interfere with other uses of the receiver.
I have seen several fabbed up methods of achieving a rear pull but they were much more involved. I once entertained a series of "guides" under the truck similar the type used on the bow of boats for anchor/dock lines combined with a pulley integrated into a home built skid plate. Much more work than the receiver mount.

 

1 Snatch block will double two will increase things by a factor of 4

 

That is correct. He does have some overkill with a 12k pound winch. He has many many problems if he needs to use double snatch blocks to get himself out.

OP, I like what you've done. It's nice work.

 

Yeah, with that kind of force, you’re going to start ripping bumpers and frames apart, lol... start with a shovel...

 

Thank you @Jeremy Martin. 12K is overkill but while looking for the 9K unit i stumbled into this one for less money so why not. I hope i never have to pull myself or anyone else out of a mess that bad.