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Recessed Winch in OEM Bumper Project Question

5K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  HoustonAE2 
#1 ·
I'm mostly through fitting a recessed winch on my 2015 2 dr Willys. I have one issue and a question I am hoping this forum can help solve. The basics of the install are using a Smitty X20 10k comp, olympic recessed (between the frame rails) winch mount and trim the bumper. The problem: the OEM fog light assemblies have a too deep installation depth. They butt up against the winch, and that's without the wire plugged in. I need about 1/2 inch just to mount them, much less plug them in. I've been looking at the Q-Tec LED fogs which appear to have a much shallower assembly. I'm waiting to hear from them on the mounting depth. Anyone have other light suggestions or creative solutions? The question: At what height in relation to the winch should the hawse fairlead be mounted? The best I've been able to find is the opening centered on the rope where it comes off the drum on the first wrap? Any thoughts? Here's a pic of it positioned with no fairlead. The final bolt tightening hasn't happened yet and I made some inserts to cover the fog holes from the back but they are not shown.

I'll post a thread showing the build once I get it completed.

Thanks in advance.
 

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#4 ·
Thanks. I've seen an install like that. They look good but I was looking for the recessed mount so I could get it out of the way of the grill and still have good access to the winch and drum. The hidden winch/upside down mounts seem have little or difficult access.
 
#6 ·

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#7 ·
Yes, the fog lights are still there. I made the plate myself. Maybe you can drill and reposition your winch on the mounting plate to allow the fog lights....or move the holding plate.

I will measure and let you know the distance from front of winch to front of inner bumper.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Went to measure distance. The distance from frame end to most forward winch mounting bolts is 3". Or about 2" from front of winch to inside plastic bumper cover. With this Superwinch model, it could have been moved a little more toward the grill, but then I did it like this, so it was easy to access the freespool knob on top of winch.

Whatever model you are installing.......space is very limited !

Just noticed on your photo....the solenoid will most likely have to be relocated, if you want to move it rearward, like I did to mine. The solenoid is next to the battery, under hood.
 
#9 ·
Went to measure distance. The distance from frame end to most forward winch mounting bolts is 3". Or about 2" from front of winch to inside plastic bumper cover. With this Superwinch model, it could have been moved a little more toward the grill, but then I did it like this, so it was easy to access the freespool knob on top of winch. Whatever model you are installing.......space is very limited !
Definitely space limited. Not much enough room on the plate to move the winch back as it's attached to the bumper mount. Pic below. Also,,it already close to the grill. I've got just under 2" between the bumper and the winch.

I was also looking at putting some spacers to extend the bumper but I'm worried my tow hooks wouldn't have a solid attachment to the frame. The the metal pat of the OEM bumper is between the frame and the hooks.

Recon has a set of LED fog lights that appear to be very short after the mounting holes. I'm trying to get a measurement. That may be the way to go.
 

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#11 ·
Not long ago I swapped to JL Rubicon (plastic, not steel) bumper. Here’s the link. It works and looks great. As for the fog lights in the JK bumper, I think the Quadratech LED ones might work. Not sure. I was upgrading my lighting while doing the new bumper install. The connector for the q-tech lights comes off the side instead of the back and they may have given enough to install them. Here‘s a link to the JL bumper install

 
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