Hey all, I am in the process of installing the ARB bullbar and the Warn M12 winch on my 96 LC. I have read multiple threads that these two products are designed to work together seamlessly, part of the reason I bought these.
The Warn winch came with a fairlead that has pins and retaining clips through the rollers. The ARB bumper came with two long bolts that look like they are meant to go through the top of the bumper mount, through the rollers, and bottom of the fairlead frame. From my research, most ARB/Warn M12 combinations I have seen on this site are installed with these bolts. Parts are pictured here for reference:
The issue I am having is that the fairlead frame makes contact with the ARB bumper mount "ears", making it impossible to get the bolt through. Some photos to illustrate the issue:
This is what happens when I try to force the fairlead frame into the mounting area - I cannot get the back of the fairlead frame to sit flush against the bumper:
And this is what happens when I position the fairlead frame flat against the bumper - you can see where the frame makes contact/doesn't clear the mounting "ears":
I have seen a handful installs of Warn winches/ARB bumpers that do not use the vertical bolts, and mount the fairlead frame with only 2 bolts that go through the fairlead frame -> bumper -> into the bottom winch feet.
Has anyone faced this issue and how did you resolve it? What is the proper way to install - are the long vertical bolts required, or are the two horizontal bolts that go through the fairlead -> bumper -> winch feet sufficient?
TIA
The Warn winch came with a fairlead that has pins and retaining clips through the rollers. The ARB bumper came with two long bolts that look like they are meant to go through the top of the bumper mount, through the rollers, and bottom of the fairlead frame. From my research, most ARB/Warn M12 combinations I have seen on this site are installed with these bolts. Parts are pictured here for reference:
The issue I am having is that the fairlead frame makes contact with the ARB bumper mount "ears", making it impossible to get the bolt through. Some photos to illustrate the issue:
This is what happens when I try to force the fairlead frame into the mounting area - I cannot get the back of the fairlead frame to sit flush against the bumper:
And this is what happens when I position the fairlead frame flat against the bumper - you can see where the frame makes contact/doesn't clear the mounting "ears":
I have seen a handful installs of Warn winches/ARB bumpers that do not use the vertical bolts, and mount the fairlead frame with only 2 bolts that go through the fairlead frame -> bumper -> into the bottom winch feet.
Has anyone faced this issue and how did you resolve it? What is the proper way to install - are the long vertical bolts required, or are the two horizontal bolts that go through the fairlead -> bumper -> winch feet sufficient?
TIA