I have been toying with the idea of putting an ARB winch bumper on my BJ74, but they did not make one for it, basically because of the PTO winch. After exchanging a few PM’s with Simon in Winnipeg, I decided to go for it. However, it took a lot of fabrication and time.
I decided to write up the install, as I know it will save someone a LOT of time, as I did it by trial and error, and I must have put the winch in and out a hundred times!
Let’s start!
I ordered an ARB 3412130 for PRE 2007 70 series.
Put the hardware bag on the bench. I used very little from it
The first time saver is to cut out what you need in the bottom so it will clear the winch.
You need to cut out a rectangle out of the pan—leave 5 ½ inch on the left side, 1 ½ inch on the right side, and 1 ¼ in the front. And cut the pipe out. May as well do this now. Pics are of the rough cut-not yet cleaned up PIC before and after
Now strip everything off the front, including the winch.
You can reuse the factory fair lead and bolt it to the front of the ARB. You will not use the holes in the ARB, you will have to drill new ones. I just cut and trimmed the factory fairlead down to size, and fit it on the front of the bumper. Had to cut a curve in the top to fit it up into the bumper. 2 bolts on each side, 2 through the top.
You also will need to move the bottom roller up in the frame, as it is below the bottom of the bumper winch cable hole. I moved it up an inch. Pics aren't that good
You need to use the factory winch mount for the left rear side. The right rear side is a bigger piece, and you can cut an identical mount out of it for the left rear.
The ARB bumper fits snug on the outside and the top of the frame, but has a pretty big space on the inside of the frame rails. If you don’t fill this, you will have to squish the bumper in quite a bit to get it tight. I cut a couple of 3/16 plates and drilled holes in them, and bolted them to the frame. Then I tack welded them to the frame. Because of this, you will need longer bolts than came in the hardware kit. You will also need to elongate the holes in the angle iron rear mount for the winch, as the mounts have moved in, and the holes do not match up now.
For the front mount of the winch, I bolted it through the bumper. You will need to make a ½ inch thick spacer, as the winch doesn’t quite make to the bumper. Also note that the bolt spacing on the front mounts is not the same. I made this mistake, and ended up drilling the holes wrong in the front of the bumper.
That is where I am now. I had everything together, and then apart to paint and touch up. I will need to fashion a skid pan out of the factory one. I will post the pics as I work through it.
I decided to write up the install, as I know it will save someone a LOT of time, as I did it by trial and error, and I must have put the winch in and out a hundred times!
Let’s start!
I ordered an ARB 3412130 for PRE 2007 70 series.
Put the hardware bag on the bench. I used very little from it
The first time saver is to cut out what you need in the bottom so it will clear the winch.
You need to cut out a rectangle out of the pan—leave 5 ½ inch on the left side, 1 ½ inch on the right side, and 1 ¼ in the front. And cut the pipe out. May as well do this now. Pics are of the rough cut-not yet cleaned up PIC before and after
Now strip everything off the front, including the winch.
You can reuse the factory fair lead and bolt it to the front of the ARB. You will not use the holes in the ARB, you will have to drill new ones. I just cut and trimmed the factory fairlead down to size, and fit it on the front of the bumper. Had to cut a curve in the top to fit it up into the bumper. 2 bolts on each side, 2 through the top.
You also will need to move the bottom roller up in the frame, as it is below the bottom of the bumper winch cable hole. I moved it up an inch. Pics aren't that good
You need to use the factory winch mount for the left rear side. The right rear side is a bigger piece, and you can cut an identical mount out of it for the left rear.
The ARB bumper fits snug on the outside and the top of the frame, but has a pretty big space on the inside of the frame rails. If you don’t fill this, you will have to squish the bumper in quite a bit to get it tight. I cut a couple of 3/16 plates and drilled holes in them, and bolted them to the frame. Then I tack welded them to the frame. Because of this, you will need longer bolts than came in the hardware kit. You will also need to elongate the holes in the angle iron rear mount for the winch, as the mounts have moved in, and the holes do not match up now.
For the front mount of the winch, I bolted it through the bumper. You will need to make a ½ inch thick spacer, as the winch doesn’t quite make to the bumper. Also note that the bolt spacing on the front mounts is not the same. I made this mistake, and ended up drilling the holes wrong in the front of the bumper.
That is where I am now. I had everything together, and then apart to paint and touch up. I will need to fashion a skid pan out of the factory one. I will post the pics as I work through it.
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