ARB bullbar/Warn M12 install issue (1 Viewer)

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There are literally thousands of 80 Series with ARB bars running M10K/M12K winches. If Warn changed out the fairlead, that's on them, not ARB.
My M12K bolted right up with the supplied roller fairlead.
And, frankly, it would take less time and effort to simply grind a few mm off the top ears of the fairlead and be done.
How would you grind it down and with what tool? Sorry for the ignorant question but I just spent 15 min with a carbide bit and barely made a dent.
 
Angle grinder with a grinding wheel or floppy disk
 
This
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+ Face shield to go with it...

cheers,
george.
 
+Ear protection 😁
Hey guys, I am in the process of installing the winch now.

Need some real time help.

The instructions call for 4 bolts in the front and 2 on the bottom. However there is nothing to attach the bolts to on the bottom of the winch.

Are these needed, or not required on this bumper?

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Just the 4 feet bolts

The fair lead bolted right up? What is the application for? Where did you get it from?
 
Hey guys, I am in the process of installing the winch now.

Need some real time help.

The instructions call for 4 bolts in the front and 2 on the bottom. However there is nothing to attach the bolts to on the bottom of the winch.

Are these needed, or not required on this bumper?

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No, ignore the bottom 2 bolts. Also, I checked my invoice for the Warn p/n of my roller fairlead with which I avoided your problem. It gave a Warn p/n of 5742. That was back in 2001 so not sure if they're still available. I searched for that p/n on the Warn website and came up with this:


It may be the same fairlead that you've got. If so, Warn has changed things and as someone, already said that's on them. Grinding may be your only way to get this to work, if you want to stay with Warn winch parts.
 
Hey all, wanted to give an update to this thread since I am sure there will be others looking for a solution to this (seems like a common issue based on what I read here and on Facebook).

I took advice from someone in the 80 series facebook group to make it work. ARB tech from AU recommended essentially the same approach - they have seen this issue before.

Turned out replacement part Warn recommended did not fit - the holes were way off from the holes on the bumper by about an inch. Pretty disappointing if you ask me - I am now stuck with a fairlead that does not fit and is not returnable.

I ended up grinding the material off the ears that was preventing the fairlead I got with the winch from sitting properly. Used a grinding wheel to shave material off the flat wall parts, and then a die grinder with a carbide bit to really get into the groove and make room. Probably took off 2-3mm of material. Then sprayed some rustoleum over the grinder parts to prevent rust.

Once I was done grinding it still didn’t fit, so I put a towel over the bottom of the ears and whacked it with a BFH a few times to change the angle of them slightly upward.

Voila, it fit right in and all of the holes lined up. I test fit the bumper a few times so the frame horns were aligned, and it went right on.

Thanks again all for the comments and advice!

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You put the bolts through the rollers in the wrong direction. The nuts should be on the bottom for better rust prevention and better aesthetics. I would also coat the bolts with some grease as they pass through the rollers and paint the exposed heads, washers and nuts.
 
You put the bolts through the rollers in the wrong direction. The nuts should be on the bottom for better rust prevention and better aesthetics. I would also coat the bolts with some grease as they pass through the rollers and paint the exposed heads, washers and nuts.
Good idea on the grease, I will do that. As far as the position of the nuts on top, the reasoning is that if I scrub a rock it's better to take the impact on the bolt head than on the nut and damage the threads - heard this from a few people on here and FB.
 
I've mounted the bolts with the nuts on the bottom. My reasoning being that if a nut loosens and drops off only the nut may be lost, not the bolt plus the roller. Also don't tighten the nut to the point of reducing the rolling ability of the roller.
 
I've mounted the bolts with the nuts on the bottom. My reasoning being that if a nut loosens and drops off only the nut may be lost, not the bolt plus the roller. Also don't tighten the nut to the point of reducing the rolling ability of the roller.
Thanks - figured that out the hard way yesterday and had to unwind them a bit. The good news is that grinding the bumper ears vs grinding the fairlead frame alone lets both rollers spin freely within the ears. The nuts that came with the kit are the rubber locking kind, so hoping they will hold.
 
Thanks - figured that out the hard way yesterday and had to unwind them a bit. The good news is that grinding the bumper ears vs grinding the fairlead frame alone lets both rollers spin freely within the ears. The nuts that came with the kit are the rubber locking kind, so hoping they will hold.
Nylockers - so you know what to call them when searching a Ace or a hardware superstore.
;)
 

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