Winch went on today! I couldn't find any helpful posts here so I figured I'd make one for the future DIYers with helpful tags. Harbor Freight Apex Badland 12k winch on 2009 Lx570 with an ARB bumper although i guess it's the same on the LC. I had the bumper on already and did the winch later but the bumper does not have to come off. Taking the bottom panels off let's you push it up from the bottom. You'll need a helper.
Helpful tips:
The winch is installed on its bottom. The bumper has built in gussets in the area for strength. Due to these gussets, I drilled new holes about a half inch up and ground down some of the gussets to make it fit. I didn't want to take the gusset out completely for strength. The control box does NOT have to be relocated thankfully. The supplied hardware for the winch mount is barely long enough to go through the bumper for the top holes. The supplied bolts for the bottom is NOT long enough to go through the fairlead. Get some inch longer stainless m10x1.5 bolts to do the trick. The supplied power lines will reach, but we lengthen the ground to get to the battery with another supplied section of heavy wire.
Helpful tips:
The winch is installed on its bottom. The bumper has built in gussets in the area for strength. Due to these gussets, I drilled new holes about a half inch up and ground down some of the gussets to make it fit. I didn't want to take the gusset out completely for strength. The control box does NOT have to be relocated thankfully. The supplied hardware for the winch mount is barely long enough to go through the bumper for the top holes. The supplied bolts for the bottom is NOT long enough to go through the fairlead. Get some inch longer stainless m10x1.5 bolts to do the trick. The supplied power lines will reach, but we lengthen the ground to get to the battery with another supplied section of heavy wire.
