BJ74 chassis rail question

[LowFour]

I'm putting a new bar on the front of my BJ74, to take a winch (an Ironman 9,500lb). Haven't got the new bar yet, but I've just taken the old one off. Looks like a previous owner of this truck welded a bit of box-section tubing into the end of the RHS rail - see photo

Can't work out why it was put there in the first place, the rail looks sound. I was planning on grinding it out of there. Mainly because it gets in the way, for bolting stuff to the rail, and also I figure they left the end of the rail open for a reason, so moisture and general grunge doesn't build up in there and lead to rusting. Those little Toyota engineers don't make reliable cars by accident.

What do you ih8mud people think? Would grinding it out weaken the rail? Should I just leave it there? Thanks for any responses, Peter

[TwoThirtyDirty]

It's stock from Toyota...leave it.

[LowFour]

Looks like a homemade weld job, and it's only in the RHS rail, not in the other side

[Gold Boy]

Originally Posted by LowFour

Looks like a homemade weld job, and it's only in the RHS rail, not in the other side

it's the same on my 74.

[LowFour]

Weird, thanks for that. Does anyone know why it's there? I've got to go to work, won't be able to reply for a while

[LowFour]

BTW do any Aussies have experience with the Ironman winches? I can get one retail in Darwin for AUD750, pretty cheap. 3 year replacement warranty. From what I've heard they sound reliable and do the job.

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by LowFour

BTW do any Aussies have experience with the Ironman winches? I can get one retail in Darwin for AUD750, pretty cheap. 3 year replacement warranty. From what I've heard they sound reliable and do the job.

They are chinese made but I think they strip them down and replace the crap parts or maybe they get them done properly there now.
A friend has one on his Defender and is happy with its pulling power.
The 3 year warranty is attractive but most winches die from lack of use rather than component failure.

Premier winches are similar and are supposed to be good also.

You may want to read this ,its a 4 way comparison of winches including a Ironman 9500lb

4wheelingOZ Products Page

[LowFour]

thanks Rosco, goes to show you get what you pay for - but there's no need to pay for a Warn if you're not using it every day.

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by LowFour

thanks Rosco, goes to show you get what you pay for - but there's no need to pay for a Warn if you're not using it every day.

It sure does ,but dont get Crushers started on his Warn XP that blew up
That article is also 2 years old and there are even more options out there now and much of the junk has disappeared.

Another option may be to find a used warn that is rebuildable but I sense you want something that is plug and play and the 3 years warranty is hard to resist.

[70sguy]

Originally Posted by LowFour

Weird, thanks for that. Does anyone know why it's there? I've got to go to work, won't be able to reply for a while

It's there to reinforce the frame rail where the steering box mounts.

[crushers]

LOL!!
low profile winches are for NUBEs... unless of course you use it to pull out suzuki's

the chinese products are improving. i have one of the 2000 lb baby winches for quads and moved 4500 lbs (single line) and it never even got warm. i was impressed.
so
maybe
the chinese low profile are better than the warn and ramsey low profile.
maybe

Originally Posted by roscoFJ73

It sure does ,but dont get Crushers started on his Warn XP that blew up
That article is also 2 years old and there are even more options out there now and much of the junk has

[tlcruiserman]

Originally Posted by LowFour

Weird, thanks for that. Does anyone know why it's there? I've got to go to work, won't be able to reply for a while

I have that on my troopy, pickups, 70 series, and 74 series. I am pretty sure it is there for reenforcment if you have extended bumper, or winch bumper. Mostly extra strength.

Cheers,

Michael

[prado t]

I am saving my 8274 so I use a slow 24v WARN M-8000 (beginner winch) on my 74. It gets warm no matter what I do. Last weekend trying out the my MARKs low range gears we spent along time getting a ford of of the trail. The M8000 ran continious for a little over an hour with 2 five minute breaks (cool down) up a 30 degree trail. Rosco is right winches fawk-up because of lack of use or not keeping the revs up on the alternator AMP-DRAW. I still believe the strongest winch is the worm and roller Ramsey

[LowFour]

a friend of mine who uses winches on vehicles in his work says they routinely (once a month) put the truck in first and winch it along a flat, just so the winches get a bit of use. Not a bad idea for occasional weekend warriors like myself.

[LowFour]

thanks for the replies about the box section in the chassis rail. Glad I posted here before I whipped out the grinder, I was very close to doing it.