How big of a winch do I really need?

Check my sig for a link on how I mounted mine, which sounds similar to what you're thinking.

What I found is that in the Warn line, when compared with the 6000, the 8000 was the most affordable at "street" prices, because its the most available and therefore the most heavily discounted. And the only thing that made the 6000 weigh less than the 8000 was that it had a shorter steel cable.

So I went with the 8000 for price and capacity, then replaced the cable with synthetic, and the rollers with an aluminum hawse to keep the weight manageable.

 

I spent a lot of time routing mine and protecting the cable with extra anti-chafing materials. Also, it's on a solenoid, so it's only powered when I throw a switch.

 

Another vote for the Smitty XRC8. I had a XRC10 on my Jeep LJ and it was overkill but worked great!

 

I was figuring on getting a front receiver as well, so I can just move the winch front to back or versa-visa