DV8 Bumper Safety Concern with winch!!! (1 Viewer)

[BJ Axel]

All in all, the entire winch bumper is an ultra-poor design.
Considering that, the fairlead needs to be able to withstand the double force in all directions your winch can generate on the lowest layer, this is more a cosmetic carrier than a real, capable fairlead mount.

At least the optical appearance is appealing but, that's about it.

 

[ducktapeguy]

I agree it's a poorly designed bumper. It's probably why this bumper is no longer being sold. I assumed that since DV8 has made multiple bumpers for other vehicles that they had some idea what they were doing but obviously that was a wrong assumption. After hearing about all these problems I was just gonna sell it and buy something else, but at this point I'll salvage what I can and modify it as needed.

Lesson learned, don't buy anything pre-order without seeing some actual reviews first.

In theory the fairlead should be able to handle twice the winch load, but in reality it'll never happen. This isn't a competition rock crawler where you may be using the winch at crazy angles. At worst it might see a 90 degree pull, which theoretically could put ~1.5X the load on the fairlead, but for normal winching the force on the fairlead is pretty minimal. I was gonna gusset the fairlead and add some added bracing back to the mounting points, but for now I don't see the need.

 

[r2m]

Having the winch, even if you ruin the fairlead and mounts, if it gets you out of just one situation and saves your butt, it's worth it. Then get a real bumper!