Group Buy for stock bumper winch cradle

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Weeniewheeler

Weeniewheeler

10 Year
Joined
Nov 11, 2014
Threads
8
Messages
75
Location
Lehi, UT
Jason of Cruisin' Offroad has made a winch cradle for those of use who want to mount a winch while still using our stock bumpers. Mach5 has detailed his experience with the cradle here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/finally-something-worth-sharing.815736/

I called him to buy one, and he said that if we can arrange for a batch of 4 or more, he will build them for $490 shipped to the lower 48. The cradle weighs about 50 lbs. and is a bolt-on, though the bumper support must be cut and reinstalled.

Please PM me or email if you would like to participate in this group buy.

-Greg
 
I may be interested if he can build one with bends rather than welds on the front section. With a good press brake those welds aren't needed. If he can and it seems strong enough, I would be interested. I'll sell may ARB to someone.
 
This is really awesome. Is exactly what I want. Unfortunately business could be better for me so I will just have to keep Cruisen' Offroad's info and wait for some more funds to show up. hopefully there is enough interest to get this going though.
 
I'll shoot you a PM but first a question of general interest. Does "cut off and reinstall" for the bumper mount mean welding or use of a torch? I have no access to either so the cradle has to be bolt on. Could you elaborate on the installation?
 
If i still had a stock bumper, I'd be all over this... Jason is a top notch guy with top notch products.
 
Sandroad said:
I'll shoot you a PM but first a question of general interest. Does "cut off and reinstall" for the bumper mount mean welding or use of a torch? I have no access to either so the cradle has to be bolt on. Could you elaborate on the installation?
Click to expand...

This. Install instructions would be great!
 
That is one of the nicest looking winch installs I've seen for a stock bumper configuration. How does one access the clutch for the winch though to let it spool out then re-engage it? It seems like it would be tight and dangerous to reach from the top in front of the radiator, so I'm guessing you go from the bottom up? I could see a lot of scenarios (like the only times I've used a winch) where you can't get underneath the bumper to release the clutch. Curious to see how it functions.
 
mcgaskins said:
That is one of the nicest looking winch installs I've seen for a stock bumper configuration. How does one access the clutch for the winch though to let it spool out then re-engage it? It seems like it would be tight and dangerous to reach from the top in front of the radiator, so I'm guessing you go from the bottom up? I could see a lot of scenarios (like the only times I've used a winch) where you can't get underneath the bumper to release the clutch. Curious to see how it functions.
Click to expand...

Kind of my thought. Is there a winch available you can operate 100% with remote? I'd only be worried about access with this setup. Looks awesome.
 
In response to a request in the other thread about this winch plate I grabbed a few pics of the mounted winch today. There is a fair bit of extra room in there, about an inch to all of the obvious close points in the pics. On the LX, there is great access to the freespool because the grill is integrated into the hood and flies away. Not so with the Toyota. Can you sneak your arm down between the rad and the grill? I have no idea. I think you'd have to be quite the contortionist to access it from the bottom.

I'm running a Superwinch 9500. You can compare the specs to your own winch or one you'd like to run to get a better idea of fitment. Mounting the solenoid higher up or under the hood might work best for 100 owners.
http://www.superwinch.com/p/tiger-shark-9500-sr-9500-lbs-12v-synthetic-rope















The pictures aren't great but I hope that is some help, guys.
In answer to Sandroad's question about the bumper support. That can be trimmed with a cut-off wheel. The steel is quite thin. Then you just bolt it back on and trim your bumper for the fairlead.

 
Last edited:
jemsec said:
I may be interested if he can build one with bends rather than welds on the front section. With a good press brake those welds aren't needed. If he can and it seems strong enough, I would be interested. I'll sell may ARB to someone.
Click to expand...

For the amount of metal and welds the price seems somewhat high.
 
jemsec said:
For the amount of metal and welds the price seems somewhat high.
Click to expand...

I dunno man, seems very fair to me.
$60-100 for shipping?
$50 for materials including steel/welding consumables/cutoff wheels/paint? Not including initial equipment costs.
Then time to measure, cut, weld, grind, paint, pack and drive these things to the post office? Call it 4 hours?

Yeah, Jason can have my $500.
 
Jason's responses to some of the concerns expressed earlier:

Clutch Access:

"When I designed the initial one I discussed clutch handle access with the owner. The plate is largely enclosed on the bottom side, so there's no access underneath anyway. The clutch handle is on the top of the winch, and can be accessed with the hood open. Clearance to the radiator is generous, and wouldn't create a dangerous situation. However what I would recommend to anybody with this setup is to leave the clutch engaged, so if you're in a spot where it isn't convenient to open the hood to disengage the clutch you can still power the winch out to get the line out. Every recovery situation is different, but this will get you out of a bind.

Also worth mentioning is that the solenoid pack for most winches will fit mounted on top of the winch motor. This means plugging in the winch controller is done with the hood open too."

Cutting and installation:

"The bumper support has a section cut out of the top/middle of it. I did that with a cutoff wheel, no torch or grinding is needed. A sawzall could probably be used too.

I did the one in the pictures as a full design/install so I didn't take many pics of the work as I did it, so as I result I don't have much for installation instructions. Basically you remove the plastic bumper, then remove the bumper support. Install the winch cradle. Next measure the bumper support to figure out how much to cut out so it will clear the winch cradle. Also measure the distance down from the top of the plastic bumper to the fairlead to lay out the cut for the fairlead (A hawse is nice here, but a roller fairlead will fit too. It will just stick out more). Test fit the bumper support, and install when it clears the winch cradle. Install the plastic bumper, and go wheeling!"
 
Weeniewheeler said:
Jason's responses to some of the concerns expressed earlier:

Clutch Access:

"When I designed the initial one I discussed clutch handle access with the owner. The plate is largely enclosed on the bottom side, so there's no access underneath anyway. The clutch handle is on the top of the winch, and can be accessed with the hood open. Clearance to the radiator is generous, and wouldn't create a dangerous situation. However what I would recommend to anybody with this setup is to leave the clutch engaged, so if you're in a spot where it isn't convenient to open the hood to disengage the clutch you can still power the winch out to get the line out. Every recovery situation is different, but this will get you out of a bind.

Also worth mentioning is that the solenoid pack for most winches will fit mounted on top of the winch motor. This means plugging in the winch controller is done with the hood open too."

Cutting and installation:

"The bumper support has a section cut out of the top/middle of it. I did that with a cutoff wheel, no torch or grinding is needed. A sawzall could probably be used too.

I did the one in the pictures as a full design/install so I didn't take many pics of the work as I did it, so as I result I don't have much for installation instructions. Basically you remove the plastic bumper, then remove the bumper support. Install the winch cradle. Next measure the bumper support to figure out how much to cut out so it will clear the winch cradle. Also measure the distance down from the top of the plastic bumper to the fairlead to lay out the cut for the fairlead (A hawse is nice here, but a roller fairlead will fit too. It will just stick out more). Test fit the bumper support, and install when it clears the winch cradle. Install the plastic bumper, and go wheeling!"
Click to expand...

Sounds like it would definitely be advantageous to have an LX in this scenario since the grill is attached to the hood and is out of the way when you want to reach down to disengage the clutch. I'm guessing you'd have to have fairly long arms with an LC since the header panel and grill are fixed when you pop the hood. I can't go look though since I already sold my LC, but going from memory it seems that it would definitely be smart to kill the engine when reaching down in there especially with an LC.
 
Locked80x3 said:
Are these winch mounts still available?
Click to expand...
@TRAIL TAILOR sells hwm's too

www.trail-tailor.com

Hidden Winch Mount 100 Series

Made from CNC cut and bent 1/4" steel with black powdercoating Designed to fit up to a ComeUp 12.5rs winch with maximum dimensions of 24"W x 8.1"H x 6.3"D Cutting of the factory front bumper crossmember and cover required for install Re-uses all of the OEM cover tabs for a solid mount Toyota...
www.trail-tailor.com
 
trdcorolla said:
@TRAIL TAILOR sells hwm's too

www.trail-tailor.com

Hidden Winch Mount 100 Series

Made from CNC cut and bent 1/4" steel with black powdercoating Designed to fit up to a ComeUp 12.5rs winch with maximum dimensions of 24"W x 8.1"H x 6.3"D Cutting of the factory front bumper crossmember and cover required for install Re-uses all of the OEM cover tabs for a solid mount Toyota...
www.trail-tailor.com
Click to expand...

I will be running 10 more this week.

J
 
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