Looking into the Possibility of a 2" Front Hitch for Winch

I am slightly winch curious, and as I was looking into this I thought a winch on a 2" hitch I could place in the front or rear depending on the situation is better than having one permanently mounted in either spot. I don't do any crazy offroading but would like the capability to get myself out of a jam since I'm usually alone in the backcountry. Experience with this or toughts greatly appreciated.

 

I thought about doing this. Even went as far as running heavy cables to the rear that could support the high amp needs of a winch. Found a deal on an ARB front bumper and installed that, and finally decided to just slap a winch in. I didn't really have a workable place to carry the winch when not mounted. And my rear hitch was often occupied. Since installing said winch, I've never used it for recovery (pulled some bushes out with it at my house was it). A full set of 4 maxtrax has saved me time and time and time again without the need to use my winch. I'd invest in those long before a winch.

 

Its been done on here many times. A couple anderson plugs and a hitch mounted to the top of the crash bar and protruding through the lower grille.

 

I’ve thought about this too. There are front hitches on the market, but I’ve never found a high clearance bumper with a hitch. It would likely need to be a custom
fabrication. Also a hitch likely isn’t the best place to attach a winch from an engineering perspective unless you always winch straight forward. I’ve given up the idea.

You can however winch with a hi-lift jack if you have a lot of patience.

 

4xinnovations.com has a hidden front receiver.
I'm all wired up front and rear.
Finished coating the hitch. Now I just need to install it.

 

What amp breaker are you running, or you just doing it solid but with a battery cutoff switch and no breaker/fuse?

 

Solid with a cut-off switch shown in lower right of engine photo.

 

Yeah, I saw that there and thought maybe that was it. I ran the heavy wires to the rear for years with no fuse or anything... looking back that wasn't very smart. I used it with a Blue-Sea ML-ACR to charge 2 house AGMs in my bed.

 

I did it. Yea, I'd like it if it sat up a little higher, but it's not been a problem. I've gotten into and out of the hunting club I belong to without a problem this year. I'll take it off in a few weeks after hunting season is over. I don't know how much longer I'll keep my 17 year old truck. I didn't want to spend a lot on aftermarket bumpers and this makes it easy to remove when I sell it. I'll spend more money on a newer truck to look nice.

Instead of spending $70 for quick disconnectors I spent $6 on jumper cable ends. I only connect them to the battery when needed.

Most guys who set up to use the winch from the rear buy a long, heavy duty set of jumper cables for the wiring. It wouldn't be hard to set up to be able to use from front and rear.

I'm also going to replace the wire rope with synthetic. Mostly because it will be about 20 lbs lighter.

 

I did with a set of 30' battery cables and cut the alligator clips off.
Used a 175amp Anderson plug and mounted it in the passenger side cubby.

 

Have you used that yet to winch with? Winches can pull well over 400 amps. My 10k says it pulls 440 amps at 8K pound load.

 

My 12K says close to the same thing but a cheap ammeter says less than 100A when pulling pretty hard. I'm a spark chasing nerd...also, most winch manufacturers don't recommend a fuse due to the amount of current draw and only suggest a disconnect.

 

You sure the ammeter can register the full amps? I've watched the rubber coating on heavy cables melt off on extended winching, lol.

 

The cable can handle it. The Anderson plug would probably go, 1st.

 

No I'm not sure at all honestly. Just what I was reading at the time...very possible it was much higher.

 

The duty cycle on my winch is 5%
45 sec at max rated load, 15 min of rest.
How long do ya need to pull at max?
That setup can handle it.
Spend the extra on the bigger winch.

 

I appreciate all the input; I have two Maxtrax and thankfully I have not needed them; is there a huge difference having four? This may be the way to go...

 

for me, 2 full sets have been more than 2x as effective in getting me out. I'd probably says it's 3x as effective.

 

I will note, the mass majority of my use has been in sand, then next would be in snow. I haven't used them much in the mud on the truck, but have used them in the mud with my sxs to good effect. I have doubled them up to ramp up stuff too, that I didn't have clearance otherwise.