Hidden winch mount collision safety (1 Viewer)

[BloggerL]

I have the hidden winch mount from Trail Tailor and love it. It looks great, and my winch works perfectly in the mount. I think it's an ingenious, high-quality product!

However, in looking at the completed install on my vehicle, I have a couple questions about collisions. One of the more likely types of collisions for my mixed use of the vehicle, which includes driving through cities, would be low-speed front impacts. I've had maybe 3 of these in my lifetime. They are rare occurrences, but what if one occurs in the Land Cruiser with the hidden winch mount? Would the heavy steel tray of the mount act as a crumple zone? Would it multiply damage?

I'm getting my suspension installed soon, so if I decide to switch to a front bumper, now would be the time. What do folks who have or have seen the hidden winch mount think?

 

[CharlieS]

I think any modifications from stock are going to change the way your vehicle performs in an accident. The HWM is rigidly mounted to the front of the frame rails, in place of the aluminum crash bar. I don't think a HWM would be any less safe than the aluminum crash bar. I am not an engineer, but the Trail Tailor mount I have doesn't appear to have any crumple zones (then again, neither does the aluminum bumper bar). Every modification is a compromise.

 

[WesSiler]

I have the hidden winch mount from Trail Tailor and love it. It looks great, and my winch works perfectly in the mount. I think it's an ingenious, high-quality product!

However, in looking at the completed install on my vehicle, I have a couple questions about collisions. One of the more likely types of collisions for my mixed use of the vehicle, which includes driving through cities, would be low-speed front impacts. I've had maybe 3 of these in my lifetime. They are rare occurrences, but what if one occurs in the Land Cruiser with the hidden winch mount? Would the heavy steel tray of the mount act as a crumple zone? Would it multiply damage?

I'm getting my suspension installed soon, so if I decide to switch to a front bumper, now would be the time. What do folks who have or have seen the hidden winch mount think?

Crumple zone is handled by the frame, not the structure in front of it. The stock crash bars in that location help spread forces to the frame rails so they can be decelerated properly. While not tested or designed to perform as such, I'd imagine the winch mount performs some of that job. Because the winch sits between the rails, it shouldn't sacrifice the ability for the frame to deform as Toyota intended, absorbing energy in a crash. Where you may have an issue is in parking lot speed stuff, where they fairlead and whatever structure supports it could act as damage multipliers to any vehicle you hit. But you can say the same of bumpers, and lifts.

This is largely true across body on frame vehicles. But, with unibody crossovers, I struggle to see how a winch mounted in front of the unified crash structure wouldn't compromise the vehicle's safety in a real, life threatening impact.

 

[Tex68w]

I wouldn’t add the weight of a full bumper unless you simply want the added protection for the radiator and LC as a whole from animal strikes. I love the simplicity and stealthiness of the HWM and have considered going this route myself but I’m not sure I’m ok with not being able to see the winch spool so it gives me pause.

As much as I hate the added weight and even sometimes the altered look of the full wrap bumpers, I can’t deny the added security to the front end is a nice feature.

 

[TeCKis300]

I've been contemplating an HWM and this is one of the concerns I've been debating.

The stock crash bar is an integral component to the crash structure, and is a staged design with multiple sacrificial crumple areas depending on the severity of an accident. Bumper foam < crash bar < crash horns < frame and body structure. If I'm not incorrect, the HWM gives up even the frame horns?

It's always interesting how much emphasis we place on beef. I say this because if one were to look at the steel gauge used in frame rails compared to some of the armor and structures we put ahead of the frame rails, including the HWM mount... I don't necessarily want to have the frame be the sacrificial part in a lower speed accident. Fortunately, most things that can get hit on the roadway are movable and relatively weaker than the 200-series. Most things...

The larger liability in my mind with the HWM is small overlap crash - commonly high speed crashes against opposing traffic on two lane roads. The HWM doesn't just give up small overlap, it completely gives up any overlap protection outside the frame rails. Crashes of this mode will never get a chance to deflect the car or engage the forward crash structures of even the frame. It will go directly to the wheel, into the cab footwell, and into your legs. For all the longer road trips on these types of roads, I'm not sure I want to give up this protection.

If I were to do an HWM, I would have to add some wing structures to protect from this. In my mind, a full front bumper may be safer in this regard than the HWM. As danger to life is not so much in the lower staged crumple structures that it would give up, rather survivability in high speed crashes.

 

[Lester did that]

Some HWM will cause more damage in an accident. They will not affect the passengers safety. Destroy the radiator and possibly send it into the pulleys and everything else up front. Even in a collision under 30mph. The safe ones that are designed proper run between $1200-$1600 for the mount. Order from AU if you want a safe cradle. They have ridiculous safety requirements for 4x4 mods. And they actually will pull you over and do a walk around and the cop knows what to look for along with annual inspections. So the manufactures build to be up to code. We don't have that here.

I agree that they do look amazing. So sleek on the factory bumper.

 

[TeCKis300]

Some HWM will cause more damage in an accident. They will not affect the passengers safety. Destroy the radiator and possibly send it into the pulleys and everything else up front. Even in a collision under 30mph. The safe ones that are designed proper run between $1200-$1600 for the mount. Order from AU if you want a safe cradle. They have ridiculous safety requirements for 4x4 mods. And they actually will pull you over and do a walk around and the cop knows what to look for along with annual inspections. So the manufactures build to be up to code. We don't have that here.

I agree that they do look amazing. So sleek on the factory bumper.

Didn't know there were AUS options. Found this one that seems to address the overlap crash issue as its bar looks to cover the width of the stock crash bar

Site Currently Unavailable

 

[04UZJ100]

It depends.

It’s a vague answer but it’s the truth. I’d wager in some situations it would help and in others it would harm.

Regardless, if it doesn’t have a crash rating or airbag compatibility, it interferes with standard safety systems. So do big tires, a lift, and additional weight.