Zooguy
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Anyone here with the ironman 4x4 front bumper and the badlands APEX 12K winch?
Wondering about fitment
Wondering about fitment
Bumper and winch fitment question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Zooguy
- Start date
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I’m also wondering. I know I need to move the control box, but I’m worried about being able to access the lever, if I were to put the control box on top of the bumper.
I've got the Iron Man bumper and Ironman 12K winch w/synthetic line and Factor 55 FlatLink E on my 04LX. I wasn't happy with the original fitment of it because of the 1/4" gap or so, but you can control the gap up to a certain point due to the center bar that will interfere with the hood opening if you tighten up the clearance. It would have been so easy for Iron Man to just put a bend in the ctr bar and it would have allowed very close gap tolerance with the body. But, I understand why after looking at it for hours and trying to figure out the logic behind the engineers that designed it. With my 2.5" to 3" Iron Man FCP lift, or any lift, the body would flex and rub on the bumper. I can't speak on the Apex winch you have but my CTRL box I put it dead center on my bumper and have easy and great access to the free spool lever.
I can’t figure out how you did it. I just removed the bumper and reinstalled the winch. The lever on top of the winch won’t turn because it’s hitting the back of the bumper.
Never mind. I’m an idiot. I’m pretty sure I e got it on there proper now. Thank ya sir.
Good deal! Great you figured it out. The thing I really like about the ironman bumper is that it has a HD ctr bracket that the winch bolts on to. It has plenty of room for the ironman winch (which has a 256:1 gear ratio) and has a hose for waterproofing the internal gearset, which I ran to the firewall. I actually used a bunch of the black foam blanket material that the bumper was shipped with wrapped like it was nuclear blast proof. I used it to insulate the cables going to the battery where they could rub on the radiator support or other areas. It was free so I wrapped it and zipped tied it and used it as insulation as a short and fire prevention.
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Beautiful job tying it all together! Nice looking winch! I actually like the Badlands winch hook more than any others. That is one purpose built hook! I can see more utility in it than even my Factor 55 Flatlink E. Had I to do it again, I would just go to Harbor Freight and buy one of those hooks instead. Price vs utility, I think yours is the better option. Unless, of course, you do a lot of mountainous (heavy inclines) winching where the possibility of the strap coming off the hook has to be zero, or else the stranded vehicle you're pulling (or even you) is going to go (or might go) rolling down the hill. I don't do that, but the closed loop recovery strategy does have it merits.
Hey gents! Thanks for having this conversation, cuz I'm thinking about fitting the same winch into the same bumper, but on my FJ80.
I was hoping to do a setup like @Zooguy, keeping the control unit hidden, but I wanted see how he gets to the clutch lever. Is it through the opening at the top of the bumper?
Also, @rockcity, can you describe the issue (or if you have pictures) you ran into with the lever? I want to make sure to avoid it.
Cheers y'all
I was hoping to do a setup like @Zooguy, keeping the control unit hidden, but I wanted see how he gets to the clutch lever. Is it through the opening at the top of the bumper?
Also, @rockcity, can you describe the issue (or if you have pictures) you ran into with the lever? I want to make sure to avoid it.
Cheers y'all
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This looks great. I've got the same bumper and same winch. I'm mounting the winch this weekend and don't quite have enough room to mount the control box where you put yours. I removed the Passenger Side horn for more room but still no dice. Did you have to clearance the back of your grille any? It's close to fitting but hits the grille. Mine's an '05 LC.
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Scratch that. I mounted it vertically. Plenty of room.
Zooguy
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- Thread starter
- #14
I like that fitment as well because you have a better access to put the cable into the controller for the winch if the batteries in your remote die. ... The only reason I went with my location is I felt like it got better airflow and it didn't block as much of that pusher fan.
I know this thread is getting a little long in the teeth, but I found it when I was looking for ideas so I thought I'd share another option I went with.
I likewise have the Ironman bumper with the HF 12k Badlands winch. I wanted to be able to reach the free spool handle through the access holes in the top of the bumper. What I ended up doing was pulling the guts out of the control electronics box, which is quite easy to do. The contents are a beefy relay, a small box for the wireless controller, the wireless toggle switch, and the wire harness for the backup controller wire.
I mounted the relay in front of the air filter box, behind the headlight. The relocation wires reach up there nicely. I reused the mount on the relay to bolt it to the fender. I made a couple simple brackets for the toggle switch and harness connector out of some aluminum L channel I had laying around. For now I mounted them with heavy duty Velcro on the air box since the wires are so short. Eventually I may extend those into the cab, but since the winch controller is wireless most of the time it shouldn't matter. With this setup there is nothing on top of the bumper or in front of the radiator.
I likewise have the Ironman bumper with the HF 12k Badlands winch. I wanted to be able to reach the free spool handle through the access holes in the top of the bumper. What I ended up doing was pulling the guts out of the control electronics box, which is quite easy to do. The contents are a beefy relay, a small box for the wireless controller, the wireless toggle switch, and the wire harness for the backup controller wire.
I mounted the relay in front of the air filter box, behind the headlight. The relocation wires reach up there nicely. I reused the mount on the relay to bolt it to the fender. I made a couple simple brackets for the toggle switch and harness connector out of some aluminum L channel I had laying around. For now I mounted them with heavy duty Velcro on the air box since the wires are so short. Eventually I may extend those into the cab, but since the winch controller is wireless most of the time it shouldn't matter. With this setup there is nothing on top of the bumper or in front of the radiator.
I like this solution. Do you think this will hold up on water crossings.
It would be superior in all water crossings except for ones in which the entire hood is submerged, which I won't be doing any time soon since I don't have a snorkel yet
The electronics control box is not sealed on this winch. The contents will be flooded if the box goes under water, so the relay and wireless receiver are sealed. The big difference is the harness plug would get flooded in my setup but it *might* not in the original box due to the rubber water cover. If I were to be doing deep water crossings in the future I might relocate the plug to the cab or just see if I could rig a cap somehow. I'm not sure it would short even if the plug is flooded though.Actually, scratch that. The back side of the harness connector is exposed to the water in the electronics box that comes with the winch, so if it's going to short it would do it anyway. As such, this installation is equivalent, and in some ways better since the electronics are higher.
Thanks for your perspective, seems sound.
Did you have add any additional wire and if yes what gauge
Did you have add any additional wire and if yes what gauge
I didn't not need any additional wiring. The large power cables that come with it were long enough. I was a little worried the 'hot' cable that goes from the positive battery terminal to the relay would be too short to reach the other side of the engine bay, but it's plenty long. The only thing I ran into is the leads to the switch and connector I have on the air box are quite short. I was originally going to put them near the top of the box, hence the Velcro so I could easily move them to open the box, but they weren't even long enough for that. Those are very small guage and it would be easy to extend them, I was just getting tired of tinkering with wiring at that point and I stuck them there for the time being. I don't know the guage offhand, but it probably doesn't matter too much.
Almost a year later, how are the zip ties holding up? I’m looking at this same winch and install.
Thanks
