Front Bumper WITH Receiver Mount for Winch or? (1 Viewer)

[r2m]

Just tossing this out there to ALL the bumper manufacturers because I'm sure there should be some that would really like this feature.
Have any of you ever thought about designing a front bumper with just a receiver? No space needed for a hidden winch or controls, just a receiver that's hard mounted to the frame with the rest of the bumper.
Something that's attractive and discrete that when the need arises, can just attach a winch front or rear and do what needs to be done.
Maybe even a receiver than can be hidden behind the factory front fascia grill/bumper?? Or something else that may be stealthy.

Some of the benefits of a front receiver:

1. Lighter front end with not needing a dedicated winch hanging off the front bumper.
2. The winch can be used at both ends of the vehicle.
3. The receiver makes for an excellent recovery point with the correct attachment.
4. As a tow bar?? (not sure about this)
5. Any other positive points?

A down side:

1. Extra space having to stow it in your rig when space may already be at a premium.
2. Can't really leave the winch on either the front or rear bumper because it'll kill your approach and departure angles.
3. Again can't leave it on because it could get stolen.
4. Don't want to even think about if you have a bad back trying to load a winch into the receiver.
5. Any other down sides?

But for some, this may be a very viable alternative to a dedicated winch bumper!
Just some rambling thoughts.
What do the manufacturers think?? Anyone want to chime in??

 

[Bang Bang]

Personally, all the down side you mention is why I would never go this route. I’m already putting a bumper on, might as well just do it with the winch tucked away. And if you’re adding a bumper, you’re doing suspension also. Just a slightly bigger spring gets you where you want to be.

And unless you do a lot of wheeling solo (which I always suggest not to) I can’t see the NEED for a rear winch. I’ve never HAD to use a rear winch in my short time of wheeling. I’ve had 2 friends use them because they had them available (and I’m guessing wanted to justify it being there) but we could have accomplished the same thing without it. Get the rig behind to give you a tug / pull and keep moving. Just my .02

 

[jiggletits]

This isn't a new idea, it just isn't practical to have a big winch and tray sticking out 18" in front of your bumper, even when you need it. Lugging it around is a pain, a winch carrier, winch and cable can easily be 120+ lbs. Then the fact that you are limited to winch pulls that are basically in a straight line in relation to the receiver. No side pulls, no angular pulls, would bend the s*** out of the winch trays that are available. Its just not practical on anything other than a farm truck, and even that practicality is limited to farm work.

To use it in the rear you'd need to spend hundreds of dollars on power cables big enough to carry the winch amperage to the rear of the truck... furthter you get away from the source the thicker the cabling you need.. that alone offsets the weight savings.

 

[r2m]

This isn't a new idea, it just isn't practical to have a big winch and tray sticking out 18" in front of your bumper, even when you need it. Lugging it around is a pain, a winch carrier, winch and cable can easily be 120+ lbs. Then the fact that you are limited to winch pulls that are basically in a straight line in relation to the receiver. No side pulls, no angular pulls, would bend the s*** out of the winch trays that are available. Its just not practical on anything other than a farm truck, and even that practicality is limited to farm work.

To use it in the rear you'd need to spend hundreds of dollars on power cables big enough to carry the winch amperage to the rear of the truck... furthter you get away from the source the thicker the cabling you need.. that alone offsets the weight savings.

Great points and agree! >"Lugging it around is a pain, a winch carrier, winch and cable can easily be 120+ lbs."
Although having synthetic line would help quite a bit, but that's also why I mentioned the "bad back". Better be young and strong if you're doing that!

Regarding the wiring, I have a 3000 watt pure sine inverter in the back of my rig that I ran 1/0 AWG wire from my aux battery under the hood (right next to the main battery). It was about $130.00 + shipping for both, 25 ft red and 25 ft of black. And had a couple of feet left over.
Amazon product ASIN B00LIB52GM
But in the end, I do think there may be people out there that don't always want a winch on their rig, plus the additional advantages of a front receiver for a part time trail rig.

 

[Bang Bang]

But in the end, I do think there may be people out there that don't always want a winch on their rig, plus the additional advantages of a front receiver for a part time trail rig.

You may be right but don't know that there are enough to make any manufacturer do a production run.

 

[r2m]

You may be right but don't know that there are enough to make any manufacturer do a production run.

Yep. Knowing there might be "some" out there that would appreciate that style bumper, does not necessarily equate to enough sales to justify R&D, design, engineering, tooling, fabrication and marketing for maybe a couple dozen units over the life of the product.
If someone as a hobby had the time and wanted a little side hustle had any inclinations, they could probably pick up a few bucks selling to the few out there.

 

[re_guderian]

...plus the additional advantages of a front receiver for a part time trail rig...

are there any more???

 

[jiggletits]

are there any more???

Pushing a big dumb ‘offroad’ trailer around instead of pulling?

 

[Mountaintrails]

Yes you can side pull with a receiver mounted winch. I have a receiver on the front of my 470 and the 10k pound winch with synthetic cable is 65 pounds. I can also use it on the rear. I have been an off road Jeeper for many many , almost 40 years and have used and had all types of setups. I didnt want to add the constant weight to the front of the 470. If your hard trail running your 470 then put an actual bumper and winch on the front, but if you are occasionally using your rig for mountain exploration and forest service roads/camping then a receiver works very well.

 

[r2m]

Yes you can side pull with a receiver mounted winch. I have a receiver on the front of my 470 and the 10k pound winch with synthetic cable is 65 pounds. I can also use it on the rear. I have been an off road Jeeper for many many , almost 40 years and have used and had all types of setups. I didnt want to add the constant weight to the front of the 470. If your hard trail running your 470 then put an actual bumper and winch on the front, but if you are occasionally using your rig for mountain exploration and forest service roads/camping then a receiver works very well.

Bingo! That's where I was heading with this!
Absolutely agree there are some (probably not many) who just don't use it enough to justify lugging around a winch all the time.

 

[Mountaintrails]

Even when I trail ran with my jeeps, my winch was used maybe 4 or 5 times in the summer months. Now in the winter with snow it was used regularly. Having it to remove a downed tree or coming across someone else that is in need is primarily what i use it for now. But I dont want to be without it. I suppose age and experience starts playing a part in the usage. Deciding to drive around the mud hole or to turn around when the snow banks get to deep is just choices that you can make. The front bumpers for these rigs are pretty expensive, someone with limited funds might think about using the 1600 bucks towards a LSD or elocker in the rear and that will give you a ton of more capability. Put a receiver on the front and toss a winch in the rear for those OH S$1t times.

 

[re_guderian]

All's I know is what's in the video... @ 35 seconds...

 

[Mountaintrails]

I have seen a lot of people do stupid stuff. That doesn’t mean a product is bad. Means the person is stupid. It’s like someone coming in to ask why their brakes wore out after 200 miles. They didn’t tell you they ride the brake pedal with there left foot for an entire road trip. Be careful what you believe you are seeing.

 

[r2m]

Have to agree. When looking at a product in Amazon (or wherever) I tend to look at the 1 star reviews to see why the poor rating.
Quite often it's stupid stuff like, package was damaged when delivered, didn't come with batteries, color wasn't as shown in the picture and stupid comments like that, that have absolutely nothing to do with the actual performance of the product.

 

[easton85]

Yeah I think a front receiver hitch is the right (budget) way to go, at least for me right now. Maybe when I have 2-3k laying around I’ll upgrade the front bumper and add a winch. I hope some vendor comes out with this. You only will need to cut, what a 3 inch square hole.

 

[r2m]

Yeah I think a front receiver hitch is the right (budget) way to go, at least for me right now. Maybe when I have 2-3k laying around I’ll upgrade the front bumper and add a winch. I hope some vendor comes out with this. You only will need to cut, what a 3 inch square hole.

It's not just the 3" square hole (and yes I know you're aware of that), but the engineering of how and where to mount it behind the front bumper and grill with minimal work when installing and not disturbing or relocating other already mounted components.
What seems easy on the surface, sometimes is quite difficult once you open up that project and see what's really involved.

 

[Kajun]

Bingo! That's where I was heading with this!
Absolutely agree there are some (probably not many) who just don't get enough to justify lugging around a winch all the time.

My thoughts as well. I‘d be in that minority category if I thought that might be my situation or intended use.
Right now I’d like to have a simple light bar mounted up front without having to spend the $ or add all the weight of a full off-road bumper. Think of a simple N-Fab type bar to mount 4 lights. So different result, same approach.

 

[OllieChristopher]

I'm willing to bet a Curt 31367 would fit with a little modification the bumper.