HDJ81 Factory Winch in ARB Bumper? (1 Viewer)

[BC Boy]

Does anyone know if the factory winches that come on the Japanese HDJ81 will fit, or can feed through one of the ARB bumpers? I'd like to change the bumper, but don't really want to buy another winch. My truck is not here yet and I'm dreaming ahead...

Thanks

Jon

 

[mac]

Probably not without some modification but other than that I don't see why not.

 

[Adam B]

Yeah...it's dead simple. If you take apart all the (extremely well-built) factory brackets and drop the winch you can install the ARB bumper. Line it up for the bottom bolts but don't install them. Now lift the winch and its lower mounting plate in place, then the little spacer blocks ARB provides, then the bolts. You'll need to find a place to mount the controller connection - I just used one of the bolts on the winch body.

The only problem with this method is that the winch is only mounted on the bottom, not the front. I'm going to take the original front mounting plate, cut it to length to fit within the ARB, then weld the ends right to the ARB....making it bolt-in looks like a huge pain. Either way, it will just be more material added to the ARB and the winch will still be removable but will be protected against twist.

 

[djsherif]

Adam, did you ever get around to doing the front plate? If you switch to a different winch later will this be an issue?