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OEM Bumper With Recessed Winch Project

22K views 52 replies 25 participants last post by  ChuffHugginLoognat 
#1 ·
(Apologies for the multiple posts, it's the only way I could get the pics in sequence on my iPad)

I like my OEM bumper along with the gloss black facia and grill that make my tank Willys a Willys. I wasn't ready to put a heavy duty front bumper on and mess up the look. I also didn't want to put a winch mount on top of the bumper which would high mount the winch and cover most of the grill. I wanted to retain my tow hooks too. I've read the threads about hidden winches in OEM bumpers but didn't want the upside down mount and lack of access and ability to see the cable spool. By looking at those threads, seeing a photo in another forum and browsing catalogs for parts, I came up with a mod plan which I think turned out very well. I have complete access to the winch's electrical connections, solenoid, drum, and can even remove it without taking off the bumper. My process is specific to a Smittybilt X20 comp winch but should work for others. It would just be a matter of how you cut the bumper. I only have one issue and it's the depth of the OEM fog lights. The winch prevents them from being installed. I'm looking at a thinner LED fog light which might offer a solution.

It only cost me about $130 in parts not counting some tools I bought and the winch. I didn't have a grinder and 18mm and 19m ratcheting box wrench. Parts purchased: Olympic 4x4 recessed winch mount ($99) - It's the one they use for their Boa front bumper. It lowers the mounting plate between the frame rails and behind the bumper mounts. It's very well built and easy to install although some of the instructions are vague.
Or-Fab vacuum pump relocation kit ($28) - The brand doesn't matter but you need one that completely relocates the pump, not one that just rotates it out of the way and cut off a mounting tab. The entire bracket has to be removed from the frame. The Or-Fab kit is well made and the instructions are very easy to follow. Quality results easily accomplished.
 

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#2 ·
Step 1: remove the front bumper, air dam, and top bumper filler. Easy, lots of threads and info on the net on how to do this. There are four steel spacers on the engine side of the bumper mount, one for each pair of bolts. You'll need to keep and reuse two. The brackets from the winch mount replace the inboard ones.

Step 2: relocate the vacuum pump. Very easy following the kit's instructions.

Step 3: remove vacuum pump bracket. Not too difficult. I used a grinder and a dremel with cutoff wheel discs. There's some good threads about how to domthis on this forum. Basically, cut the welds as best you can. I had to use the dremel to get to the ones on the back side as my grinder's cutoff wheel wouldn't reach far. I only had a 4" grinder. A larger diameter one may make it easier. Also make a vertical cut next to the outside corners (outboard side of corner). Once these cuts were made, I used a pry bar to pop it off. It came off easily. Last step is grind smooth and paint.
 

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#3 ·
Step 4: install the winch mount. Following the instructions mostly. Install the bolts that hold the mount to the frame and the four bolts that hold the brackets to the frame loosely because you'll need to have some movement on the mount for final assembly. The four bolts that hold the bumper brackets to mount will come out and be reinstalled later.
 

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#5 ·
Step 6: Trim the bumper. I used a grinder cut off wheel and sawsall for the metal part, a jigsaw for the plastic parts, and snips for the facia. I did it in three parts. First fit and trim the metal portion then the plastic portion and then the facia. Lots of trial and error. I always cut too small and ended up having to trim larger openings. I loosely fastened the together the bumper assembly and tried it for fit with the winch and mount. I also used this time to measure for the hawse fairlead. The best info I could find was to center the fair leads opening on the rope coming off the first wrap of the winch.

Step 7: Install the fairlead. I also did this in three steps. I first measured and cut the metaI portion and used that as a template for the plastic portion. I measured the vertical as best I could on the metal bumper and marked the center. I marked the bolt holes and fairlead opening using the the fairlead itself. I made the opening in the bumper about 1/2" larger in all dimensions than the fairlead's. The biggest issue I had was the tightness of the bumper to the winch. The fairlead bolts supplied are too short to go through the fairlead and the bumper. I had to use trial and error to find the right length bolts. I found 80mm bolts to work. The issue was if the bolt protruded too far out of the back of the nut, it would press against the winch and prevent the bumper from being flush on the bumper mount. Also, I used a 1" length of 1/2" steel pipe and a washer on each end as spacers around the bolt on the inside of the plastic part of the bumper. Without the spacers to provide some rigidity the plastic bumper would deform when the bots were tightened. I used two washers where the bolts go into the fairlead to decrease the length of the bolt's protrusion.
 

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#6 ·
Step 8: final assembly. Remove the winch. Take out the front two bolts that hold the brackets to the mount. Leave the rear two in but very loose. The bumper has to be installed as a completed assembly because of the fairlead bolts can't be accessed with the bumper mounted. The fog lights and wiring connectors are two deep to fit. They protrude against the winch keeping the bumper from being mounted. They're about 1 1/2" too deep. Recon has a set of LED fogs that may fit. I will try them if I can get some measurements. I made some discs out of plastic and painted black to back fill the opening and held them in place with screws. I positioned the wiring harnesses out of the way and held them with zip ties.

Fit the bumper on the frame. Tighten the lower bolts first. They are nearly flush with the winch plate and barely have room for a socket to fit on them. That's why the bracket has to be loose so you can get the socket on and off with a couple of taps with a hammer. I found this out the hard way. To tighten it with the winch installed I could only get a crescent wrench on it and could not get enough rotation or torque on it. I had to remove the winch to get to it. Luckily this install allowed the winch to be lifted out after disconnecting the wiring, removing the solenoid, and removing the grill. After those lower bolts it was clear sailing. Reinstall the winch and tighten the winch bolts. Next, attach the upper bumper to mount bolts. Install the forward two bolts that hold the brackets to the mount plate and tighten all four. Tighten both bolts that hold the mount to the frame. Install the outboard bumper attach bolts, don't forget the OEM spacers on the back side. Attach the wires to the winch, install the grill, and reattach the solenoid. I couldn't find much info on torque values but used the best I could. Winch to mount - 35 ft/lbs, bumper to bumper mount - 65 ft/lbs. The rest of the winch plate brackets and assembly at 55 ft/lbs.

Step 9: Finishing touches. Reinstall the air dam. I had to cut a couple of slots to fit the mount bracket arms through the air dam and use some zip ties to hold the center portion on because I lost the holes when I trimmed the bumper. I cut the plastic filler that sits behind the bumper to fit and reinstalled. I found some gloss black door edge trim at Pep Boys that really cleaned up the cut edge of the facia. My only install do-over would be to have radius corners where I cut the facia instead of right angles. The trim would fit better.

I welcome any questions/comments in this thread or in a PM.
 
#13 ·
Right on Brudder! After weighing my front bumper and finding it was a whopping 37 lbs and add to that the rear tops in at 17 lbs I couldn't surround my family and myself in 3/16 and 1/4 inch metal fast enough.

And I have a recessed winch to boot. Feel a lot better now.

Run away as fast as you can from the stock POS'
 
#9 ·
Excellent write up. Well done and looks great. I subscribed so that when I'm ready to tackle this project I can follow your detailed instructions.
 
#22 ·
8274 is a front mounting winch. Nobody makes a direct bolt plate for it. Warn makes a plate for a plate type adapter, not really the way I wanted to go.

I will end up fabing my own. Not a big deal, I can shear 1/4" A36 at work, tack it on the jeep, then pull it and burn the welds in.

Just knowing where the x20 sits in relation to the grill is a huge help. I didn't want to tear mine all apart just to find that no friggin way is it gonna work.
 
#24 ·
You may be able to lower the plate by adding aa piece to the attachment bracket, but I think that would also drive the plate rearward the width of the added material. Depending on your winch, it might not fit. Also there would be an issue with the bolt underneath (about even with the rear mounting bolt in the pic that goes through the vertical part of the frame. The bolt hole is only about an inch above the bottom so there is not much room to maneuver that way. You would have to figure out a way to relocate that attachment point.

The fairlead is nearly even with my with install. There might be enough room to lower it some. Mine is right in the middle.
 

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#25 ·
I am planning to do this project on my Jeep but since you had some issues with this installation , don't you thin this winch mount could resolve some of the issues you had?
I think this mount plate is sitting lower so you may not have to cut the bumper and it may help installing the fog lights.
Spartacus Winch Plate; 07-16 Jeep Wrangler JK - Bumpers - Jeep Parts
I am still debating between olympic and rugged ridge mount plate.
 
#27 ·
I am planning to do this project on my Jeep but since you had some issues with this installation , don't you thin this winch mount could resolve some of the issues you had? I think this mount plate is sitting lower so you may not have to cut the bumper and it may help installing the fog lights. Spartacus Winch Plate; 07-16 Jeep Wrangler JK - Bumpers - Jeep Parts I am still debating between olympic and rugged ridge mount plate.
I'm not sure if that plate will work. Depends on how it mounts. The Olympic plate I used mounted solely to the frame so I could work the bumper mod around it. If the Spartacus mount athens to the Spartacus bumper as well it may not.

The only real issues I had were access to some of the mounting bolts. I had to disassemble and do it in a specific order and there was no problem.
 
#28 ·
I may give that a try. Only issue would be with the OEM tow hooks or more specifically the holes in he bumper where the tow hooks are. If I put spacers to move the bumper out, the tow hooks would not align with the holes. I don't want to put spacers between the tow hooks and the frame, seems like it would weaken the mount with it not being flush against the frame bracket.
 
#29 ·
Great job! I have a tank Willys also and I admit I like the look of the gloss black facia on the bumper. I haven't been too crazy on the idea of scrapping it and adding an aftermarket heavy bumper. I also wasn't crazy on the idea of blocking half of my radiator with a winch added on top of the factory setup. The money saved on buying a new bumper can pay for the winch. Nice work!
 
#35 ·
I've been looking for this thread! :thumb:
I've suggested this a few times referencing your work, but couldn't find the thread.

IMO, this looks awesome. Would also look killer with a stubby kit.

Great job!
 
#36 ·
I've been looking for this thread! :thumb: I've suggested this a few times referencing your work, but couldn't find the thread. IMO, this looks awesome. Would also look killer with a stubby kit. Great job!
Thanks. I love the way it turned out. Pretty nervous doing it. I'm a complete jeep noob and taking a grinder and sawsall to a jeep with less than 4000 miles on it was a leap of faith. Lots of good info on this forum though. I combined the work of others for this specific project. What made it easier to take was knowing if I goofed it up too bad I could get a replacement takeoff OEM bumper cheap.
 
#37 ·
I purchased Spartacus winch mount plate and smittybilt xrc 9.5k.
Spartacus mount plate also has brakets for vacuum pump so i don't need to relocate it inside.
It seems xrc is smaller on both ends comparing to x2o which I hope helps with fog light installation.
Will post pictures when I finish the project.
 
#42 ·
Every thing is easily accessible. No need to jack or lift.

How much time it takes is very subjective. It took me about four days. But that is without any guidance, doing it in stages, going to the store to get additional tools (didn't have a grinder or a big enough ratchet, etc) and having to to remove and reinstall again. Disassembly of the OEM bumper and relocating the vacuum pump didn't take long. I did that then but the bumper back on because I wasn't going to get back to it for a day or two. Also mounted the winch plate on another day, then put the bumper back on, etc. Most of the time spent was cutting and recutting the bumper. I had to use trial and error method because it was difficult to measure just what I needed. Also, after I cut metal parts, I would prime and repaint and let that sit overnight before I reattached it. I could probably do it in a long day now, but probably over a couple to let the paint cure.
 
#40 ·
I just got my Warn VR yesterday. Waiting on the Olympic plate to attack my bumper. Still want to see if I can lower the plate a bit, I don't mind doing some alteration/ chopping and welding but my concern is the roller fairlead position if I lower it.
I'll post on here once mine is installed if I have anything to contribute to the thread.
Thanks for the write up.
 
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