So I'm new to the jeep world by almost 2 weeks now. I just got my smittybilt 9.5 from the ups man today, amd was looking at how to mount it to my bumper, there is 2 sets of holes in it and the outer set matches up with the winch, but the sway bar pushes the winch to the outer edge and there is no room for the fare lead. I have some 3"x3x⅜" angle iron and I was wondering if I cut a piece, and made a bracket for the farelead if that would be strong enough or not, and if I realy want my fare lead being out in front being the fist thing to get hit. Or do I just need to bite the bullet and order a inch plate as well. I kinda like the bumper, just not sure on how it all mounts up
Winch plate or make it work?
- Thread starter Johnnyrtheplumber
- Start date
That bumper requires a fairlead mounting plate similar to this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01844HSAS/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Yeah, you can build your own mount. The 3 x 3 angle should be strong enough, there's really no load on the fairlead other then some side loading and the 3/8's thick angle should handle it just fine, as long as your welds are good.
All fairlead mounts should be designed and built using the premise that at some point, the winch will be lifting the front of the vehicle off the ground and that load will be increased by the axle or axles being hung up on a rock or stuck in the mud. The mount needs to withstand vertical loads, and front to back loads to keeps the fairlead mounting bolts off of the case of the winch.
Good to know, I was thinking of giving it about a ¼-½"from the bolts to the housing