OK after just spending 610 dollars on new pro comp xtreme mud terrain (got rid of thornbirds). Ineed your help i got the money coming for a new winch and bumper. I am really wanting the xrc8 by smittybilt its cheap 284 n freeshipping on winchdepot.com I was wanting some opinions andhelp finding a good fairly cheap bumper that will hold this winch. I am from central illinois so mud and rocks will be mostly what i see. Links and you jeep gods knowledge would be awesome.

Grrr you rich people.

We have mud and rocks here in Illinois?

Yeah its suprising iknow a little place with sand and it is not a beach haha when i said rocks i meant redbird in indiana lol.... an hour and a half away.. oh and mud Drive 3 hours south andlook at all the cornfields and little streams theirs a lot of mud...Also I'm not rich i am a manager at ARBY'S and a full time student.

as far as bumper it just kind of depends on what style you like I love my SRC from smitty built. got it on Ebay brand new for 250 shipped. I like lots of lights attached to my rig, so this has 4 extra tabs for them. low prof you can find quite a few at a good price. did you have any in mind?

yeah i like the rock crawler ones you know the real low profile ones....

If you want something a little different, do what I did. I cut down the stock bumper with a sawzall, welded shut all those Godforsaken holes that Jeep feels are necessary, smoothed out the welds, and repainted it. Bought a brand new heavy duty 1/4" inch winch plate from Rough Country for $81 shipped off of eBay. I had about roughly $25 in materials in modding the stock bumper.

Here are a few pics.....

That looks really good... dont have a welder though...

jeeperman makes some nice low profile ones, with a good price too. there's another question what price range??

under 400

I cant remember where, but I saw a "winch showdown" between all the big companies with every test possible. If I remember correctly, the smittybilt one died after repeated stressful pulls. If you are getting a winch because you might get stuck once and use it, then I would get that one. But if you are going to use it 10 times every trip, you might want to spend some more money. Just my opinion.

ok thank youi have jsut read in a coupleof the other threads that the 2 companies that make the electric winchmotors our from china so dont basically all winches have same electric motor (not incldingmilemarker their hydraulic)

Not the "same" electric motor but as far as i know they all have electric motors unless you tie the cable to the engine fan .

Hmm what drives the milemarker hydraulic pump?

I got a Rockhard 4x4 Parts winch bumber last month. I love it. It comes with 2 tabs, front hoop and winch mount. I paid $340. Check out their web site.

hey you stole my idea!!! but at least now i know it looks AMAZING!!!!