I recently took possession of a '96 FZJ80 that is fully locked. I have only had the vehicle for about a month now but I have fallen in love with it.
It came with the ever popular ARB bumper with the winch cut out but it did not have a winch.
Due to the trails that I plan on running a winch is pretty much necessary. At the Offroad Expo in Pomona CA this year I talked to a relatively new to the USA ComeUp winch and was sold on their technology.
So with that in mind, I have a bumper that needs a winch and I want one from ComeUp, I chose the Seal Gen 2 9.5RSI. This is a 9500# winch that is fully sealed and water proof with a synthetic line, wireless remote, and an integrated solenoid. I hadn't fully thought through how to mount it but I was stoked to get it.
I finally received it earlier this week and it was beautiful. I quickly jumped on mud to see how others have installed their winch on the ARB bumper. And what guess I found out, the ARB bumper is not meant for winches with an integrated solenoid. Winches with an integrated solenoid won't fit. CRAP!! Several people with this very question were even told to sell their winch and get one that is not integrated. Well that sucks. I really didn't want to try to sell my brand new winch and try to get another one, so I decided to just go ahead and try to make it fit.
I did some measuring and looking up dimensions online and it seemed that I could make it work, so away I went.
I got a 1/2" steel plate (29" x 9.5") from the local metal supply shop and I cut off two corners to make it fit the profile of the bumper
I then test fitted the winch to make sure everything would fit and thankfully it fit very nicely.
I then ground down the paint, or what ever it was, on the bumper to expose the metal to weld too.
Then I welded the base plate in place.
I used the paper pattern ComeUp provided to locate the bolt pattern. I first put the winch on the plate and placed it where I wanted, I took note of where the back feet where so I could then locate the paper pattern to it. I then drilled four 1/2" holes. This was a lot of work, 1/2" metal is super thick and it took forever. I first tried to use my tired 1/2" drill bits but it was taking way too long, so I ran to the store and grabbed a uni-bit. First hole went like a breeze with that thing. On to the next hole then, @#$@, the thing snapped. 15 min after getting home from the store with the new bit I was going back to get a replacement. Fortunately Lowes exchanged it for me, those things are freakin expensive. This time I was more careful and I was able to finish the holes.
I primed and painted the new base plate.
It came with the ever popular ARB bumper with the winch cut out but it did not have a winch.
Due to the trails that I plan on running a winch is pretty much necessary. At the Offroad Expo in Pomona CA this year I talked to a relatively new to the USA ComeUp winch and was sold on their technology.
So with that in mind, I have a bumper that needs a winch and I want one from ComeUp, I chose the Seal Gen 2 9.5RSI. This is a 9500# winch that is fully sealed and water proof with a synthetic line, wireless remote, and an integrated solenoid. I hadn't fully thought through how to mount it but I was stoked to get it.
I finally received it earlier this week and it was beautiful. I quickly jumped on mud to see how others have installed their winch on the ARB bumper. And what guess I found out, the ARB bumper is not meant for winches with an integrated solenoid. Winches with an integrated solenoid won't fit. CRAP!! Several people with this very question were even told to sell their winch and get one that is not integrated. Well that sucks. I really didn't want to try to sell my brand new winch and try to get another one, so I decided to just go ahead and try to make it fit.
I did some measuring and looking up dimensions online and it seemed that I could make it work, so away I went.
I got a 1/2" steel plate (29" x 9.5") from the local metal supply shop and I cut off two corners to make it fit the profile of the bumper
I then test fitted the winch to make sure everything would fit and thankfully it fit very nicely.
I then ground down the paint, or what ever it was, on the bumper to expose the metal to weld too.
Then I welded the base plate in place.
I used the paper pattern ComeUp provided to locate the bolt pattern. I first put the winch on the plate and placed it where I wanted, I took note of where the back feet where so I could then locate the paper pattern to it. I then drilled four 1/2" holes. This was a lot of work, 1/2" metal is super thick and it took forever. I first tried to use my tired 1/2" drill bits but it was taking way too long, so I ran to the store and grabbed a uni-bit. First hole went like a breeze with that thing. On to the next hole then, @#$@, the thing snapped. 15 min after getting home from the store with the new bit I was going back to get a replacement. Fortunately Lowes exchanged it for me, those things are freakin expensive. This time I was more careful and I was able to finish the holes.
I primed and painted the new base plate.
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