Installed HF APEX 12000 Winch on my All-Pro Tube Bumper

I was planning to install a 9000# HF or 10000# Smitty, but Harbor Freight had a 25% Off coupon good for only 3 days after Thanksgiving! So I HAD to do it! I realize 12000# is overkill for a 1st Gen, but I just couldn't pass up on the deal.

I knew it wasn't gonna fit depth-wise, so had to do some cutting and welding. I looked at a few winch plates on Amazon for a Jeep XJ, which would allow me to move the mounting position forward about 1-3/4".

I then took in all the dimensions of a few plate designs, the winch, and bumper, and did some sketch-ups on my phone to get an idea of what they would look like.

I decided on this particular winch plate, which would also allow me to easily bolt on the new winch, since the front bolts position would end up directly above the All-Pro lower tube, which I obviously could not cut into. If my sketch was right, I figured it wouldn't look too bad, even if raised a couple of inches higher than the original All-Pro level.

I thought it looked good, so I went ahead and bought the winch plate for 69 bucks.

I just need to figure out where to mount the disconnect switch in the engine compartment. No room anywhere.

 

I shoved one of these in my bumper too, damn tight fit

 

Nice! That's awesome.