ARB Bumper Warn Winch Install Questions (1 Viewer)

[greentruck]

I don't claim to know all of the history on ARB bumpers and Warn winches. The story I have pieced together was that the ARB bumper was originally designed for the M10000, and somewhere along the line they redesigned it for the M12000.

Whether that is true or not, I did specifically call ARB Tech Support and ask if the M12000 (PN: 17801) fit directly into the ARB bumper (PN: 3411050) without spacers. The answer was, "Yes, it was designed for the M12000."
SNIP

I suspect what may have happened was that the M12000 was designed to fit the ARB which was designed to fit the M10000.

But pedigree isn't really important as much as not breaking your shiny new winch. I just wanted to be cautious here, as many/most 12k winches will not fit the ARB without spacers. ARB wasn't very clear on this when I did mine almost a decade ago and seems not to have clarified much in the limited printed materials since.

I feel much better about Jon Held telling us you're good to go than some anonymous guy on the phone.

 

[jonheld]

I feel much better about Jon Held telling us you're good to go than some anonymous guy on the phone.

Great. No pressure here...

 

[Will Van]

Also, how do you determine if the winch needs spacers? If the winch mounting face doesn’t sit flush to the bumper?

 

[greentruck]

Like a cat, ideally your winch should land on its feet without anything else touching.

If that's the case, then no need for spacers.

The problem comes with winches that are longer than the original ARB design was meant to fit. The bumper angles back and the inside of these angled parts clears the M10000 and apparently the newer M12K. Many other planetary gear winches are longer than the Warn was/is. Their ends contact these angled inside parts of the bumper BEFORE the feet touch bottom. If the installer keeps cranking the mounting bolts, the case breaks at one end or the other.

What the spacers do is fill underneath the winch feet so that they contact that first rather than the ends of the winch.

Another factor is that the upper lip on the ARB is designed to fit the Warn fairlead. The pins that hold the vertical rollers pass through the lip, tying it into the rest of the bumper and stiffening things beyond what be without this extra piece in place. If you choose another winch instead of one that comes with the Warn fairlead, it's best to bite the bullet and buy the Warn fairlead. With a winch that already exceeds the original design capacity, as the 12k winches all do, you probably want all the strength you can get get so tying into the reinforcing lip is worth the cost to do it.

Looks like none of this applies in your case, but it's good to get some details in here to clarify so that people don't assume because the Warn fits well, anything will too with no fuss or muss.

 

[Funner]

Great. No pressure here...

All credibility could be destroyed in a highly visible, public fashion. The 3fe guys will still need you

 

[thegadgetguy]

My M12000 bolted right up, no spacers required. Just make sure no other parts of the winch (like the gearbox or motor) are contacting the inside of the bumper, and you’re good to go. Putting it on before the bumper attached is probably the easiest, because even with the cable removed it’s pretty heavy and awkward to handle.

 

[Funner]

Also, how do you determine if the winch needs spacers? If the winch mounting face doesn’t sit flush to the bumper?

Yes, but it sounds like I may have derailed the thread with the whole spacer conversation as it appears that is a non issue with the winch you bought. My 12k winch and several others require them, according to several non crayon eating members posts, yours will not.

 

[Will Van]

Yes, but it sounds like I may have derailed the thread with the whole spacer conversation as it appears that is a non issue with the winch you bought. My 12k winch and several others require them, according to several non crayon eating members posts, yours will not.

No worries. It's good to know either way.

 

[inkpot]

No worries. It's good to know either way.

The M 12000 fits feet forward with no spacers on my ARB.

. Fits well and works great. Mine has been used a lot.

 

[Will Van]

View attachment 1639384 View attachment 1639382

The M 12000 fits feet forward with no spacers on my ARB.View attachment 1639386. Fits well and works great. Mine has been used a lot.

Thank you, those pics are very helpful! I see what you mean about the "ears" on the ARB bumper and how the Warn fairlead installs. Essentially, if you mount the fairlead into the ARB ears, you have to re-drill the fairlead mounting bracket to match the ARB mounting holes. Correct?

 

[LINUS]

No need to redrill holes.

I had wire in mine previously before going rope, and the roller fairlead was bolt-up with the fairlead "roof".

I shaved off the roof thing (ears, whatever you want to call it) -when I when hawse fairlead.
For maint work on the motor going hawse & grinding the tack welds off the ear/roof thing & making it as flush as possible really helped IMO.

 

[jfz80]

No need to redrill holes.

They may have changed designs at some point but its been 3 for 3 here that needed drilled as shown above to utilize the failead tabs and position it centered over the cable window.

Often folks mount with existing holes and dont tie the fairlead into the bumper tabs.

 

[LINUS]

They may have changed designs at some point but its been 3 for 3 here that needed drilled as shown above to utilize the failead tabs and position it centered over the cable window.

Often folks mount with existing holes and dont tie the fairlead into the bumper tabs.

True. My bumper is ~'02ish & my winch is from my old Chebby work truck - prob was a late 90's M12K. Older than some members here, maybe.

 

[Will Van]

So, another dumb question. I have an OME 2.5" lift with Heavy front coils (2850) and Medium rear coils (2860). Will the combination of the ARB Deluxe bumper (150 lbs) and the Warn M12000 winch w/ steel cable (136 lbs) be too heavy for the front OME Heavy coils?

I'm running 315/75/16 BFG KM2s if that makes a difference.

 

[greentruck]

You should be fine on the coils. The issue could be your shocks. Dampening that extra weight bounding around is the key,but you won't know until you try it if it's needed. I went from new OEM Tokicos to OME Nitro Sports and that solved my issue on the stock height OME coils.

 

[Will Van]

You should be fine on the coils. The issue could be your shocks. Dampening that extra weight bounding around is the key,but you won't know until you try it if it's needed. I went from new OEM Tokicos to OME Nitro Sports and that solved my issue on the stock height OME coils.

Sorry, I should have mentioned, I have the Slee OME 2.5" kit, which includes Nitrocharger Sport Shocks.

 

[greentruck]

Sorry, I should have mentioned, I have the Slee OME 2.5" kit, which includes Nitrocharger Sport Shocks.

You should be good then.

 

[Will Van]

Thanks! I went ahead and emailed Slee Offroad to confirm that the ARB Deluxe and Warn M12000 combo will work on the OME Heavy coils and 2.5” lift (with Nitrocharger Sport shocks).

 

[Goebeler]

Does anyone have close up pics of the newest version of the m12000 in the arb? I am not clear on if the power pack solenoid deal needs to get remote located or if it can stay on the winch.

Also curios how many bolts are holding on your ARB. My cruiser came with the bumper installed but I believe two bolts each side seems to be short. Are there a couple from the bottom that should go up into the frame?

Thanks,
Goebs

 

[MrMikeyG]

@Goebeler ; I'm pretty sure there are 6 mounting bolts per side. 2 down from the top, 2 up from the bottom, and 2 smaller ones in from each side.
If you still have your factory tie down hooks, that's where the bottom 2 bolts are and there may or may not be a chunk of steel spacer in there too.