8274 upgrade question

[lovetoski]

I am rebuilding my 8274. I've upgraded to the warn 9.5xp motor. Otherwise it's a stock winch. I've seen in some threads that people add two reinforcing bars between the main housing and the floating end. I can see that these would stiffen up the whole assembly, but my question is how important are these to the function of the winch? Except for welding on the tabs (which I can't do) it looks pretty straight forward. Is it worth doing?

 

[1911]

Guessing from your signature that you're using on it your 60? I wouldn't think it would be necessary to reinforce it, but my only 8274 experience is on my 40, and your truck weighs a little more. Now if you're going to be recovering a dump truck, or using your 8274 to hoist your 60 straight up a cliff or something, maybe it would be justified.

 

[lovetoski]

It is on my 60 (or was, and will be again, after I rebuild it).

 

[Enigma]

One of the fella's here on 'mud has a great video on 8274 upgrades:

 

[onlyonedr]

My winch is bolted to a custom bumper that I built using a piece of 8" channel for the base and braced with 1/4" at the winch mount. Under heavy load it still flexes somewhat and I bet that it is "pinching" the drum between the plates. I think it is a worthy mod and one that I intend to do sometime.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

If you are lengthening the drum, it seems like a worthwhile mod. Otherwise, I'll bet it's fine. I mean, have you ever heard of it being an issue with a normal drum? While it's a cool mod that looks good from a distance, it likely is not needed outside of winch competitions.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

If you can see that your winch mount is deforming under load, you really need to stiffen the mount, not the winch.

 

[lovetoski]

If you can see that your winch mount is deforming under load, you really need to stiffen the mount, not the winch.

It's an ARB bull bar, so while I haven't looked, I'll assume it's not flexing.

 

[lovetoski]

I'm not doing winch comps, and will stick with the stock drum, so I'll pass on this mod. Thanks all for the advice!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

It's an ARB bull bar, so while I haven't looked, I'll assume it's not flexing.

Sorry, was referring to @onlyonedr , not you.

 

[Enigma]

And if your money tree has done well this year, I'd suggest buying a Gigglepin.

http://gigglepin4x4.net/gp80-series-mk5-twin-motor-winch-479-p.asp