I've decided to go with a winch on a 2" hitch mount for my winching needs. I'm looking for a front bumper with a 2" receiver. So far, I've come up with this: Olympic 500 Series Rock Bumper. It looks like you can add stuff to it, but their website has a bunch of dead links for the bumper accessories, and is not very easy to navigate.

It looks like the receiver sticks way out from the bumper. I'd hate to slide into someone and get sued over the 2" square hole in their trunk. Does anyone know of any bump pads or blocks that mount to the bumper that would stick out past the tube?

What other bumpers are out there with front hitch receivers? Ideally, I'm looking for something I can slap a stinger on, and maybe a lower bar for light mounting. Any suggestions would be helpful.

What makes you think that you would be sued more for a 2" hole, than a complete rear-ender--thats your fault ?








JIMBO

x2.

The 2" receiver might even help your case. I'm sure any decent lawyer could successfully argue that the 2" of metal actually helped LESSEN the overall damage to the complainant's vehicle.

MTH, what d'you say?

disregarding any circumstances of an accident, a 2" tube concentrates all the force of the vehicle into a very tiny surface area. It would punch through, even at very low speed. If that force was distributed over the entire bumper, it may not do any damage at all. Even a couple 4"x4" bumps sticking out from the mounting points would provide a lot more surface area than a receiver.

But that's only one small part of my query, and not anywhere close to the top of my priorities. How's the bumper working out for you, Jimbo? How easy was it to install? Does Olympic make stuff specifically for it, such as bull bars/stingers?

Thanks for the pictures.

What size winch is that JIMBO? Looks like a 3K for pulling quads

It uses the same mounting criteria as the stocker and weighs about 5lbs more than the stocker and


Other than the holes for the stock fog lights, I don't know of any other accessories that OLY makes forem !

JIMBO

YUP, light duty only !


JIMBO

Are there any issues with the Rubicon disco unit? I saw a couple of pictures with the sway bar fully exposed. I don't have my Rubi yet, so I can't put my eyeballs on it for myself to see how that whole system works, or any possible interference front-end aftermarket parts might make.

Do you think I'd have any issues running a 10k winch in that receiver?

I don't understand what you mean by "issues" !


If you're going to opt for a 10K winch (100lbs) why would you want a mobile unit ??

You can't use a front BUMPER HITCH, for a winch greater than 3500 lbs cap.--it's not structurally strong enough--if you want a winch that strong in front--getta winch bumper-the OLY hitch bumper isn't designed for HD winching !

JIMBO

The winters up here are kind of gross, lots of salt and nasty spray. I didn't want to have to worry about the winch and cable getting all nastyfied. Will a rear class III do the job for a 8k/9k/10k winch?

I'm kind of new to this aspect of Jeeping. All I know so far is how to get stuck. My education begins on getting unstuck.

The rear will supportit, because the rear hitch uses the frame crossmember for position/attachment, so it would support a recovery winch--not the front, unless you get a frame mounted hitch in the front, but


Then you have 0/00 cable hookup and protection, it ain't simple-

It'd be better/cheaper for you to learn how to pilot your jeep a little better !

JIMBO

I don't understand what you mean by: "Then you have 0/00 cable hookup and protection, it ain't simple-"

For the kind of narly I get into, I've only gotten stuck once. I just tend to wheel alone, so I am planning recovery gear before the new rig comes in. To be honest, I doubt I'll ever get a Rubicon stuck where I go. Perhaps I'll get a little braver and try some mud... but I'll definitely have a buddy with me the first time I try it. I'd still like a winch, and I'm looking at jacks/mounting options. Already have the tow straps

Now I'm atta real loss-


What have you been doing with your TJ ??

Do you think you're gonna get stucker, with a new jeep ??

--JIMBO

Braver, anyway.