M12000 + ARB bullbar clearance issues (1 Viewer)

[Shipwreck]

I picked up a used M12000 a couple days ago and installed it yesterday. As I was mounting it, I realized that I had a slight clearance issue. The clutch lever is oriented in a position opposite from the mounting feet. When mounted on the bullbar, this places the clutch lever toward the grill of the cruiser. When I rotate the lever up to the "spool out" position it interferes with the underside of the grill.

Lever Down:

Lever Up:

Can I unscrew all the allen nuts on the gear housing and rotate the clutch lever to any fixed position I want? If I rotate it all the way up to a vertical position I think it will hit the mounting bracket for my driving lights. The owners manual doesn't say whether or not you can reposition the clutch lever. Anybody else deal with this when they mounted their winch?

Top side with possible interference of light bracket:

I've only dealt with Ramsey winches or old upright Warn 8274 in the past, so this is new territory for me.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Your winch has been clocked. You can carefully remove that end and rotate it. Do not remove all the way, just remove the allen head bolts and pull it away a little and rotate the gear assembly. The handle should be at the top.

Unless you installed the winch 90 degrees rotated.

 

[Heffenoche]

Your winch has been clocked. You can carefully remove that end and rotate it. Do not remove all the way, just remove the allen head bolts and pull it away a little and rotate the gear assembly. The handle should be at the top.

Unless you installed the winch 90 degrees rotated.

Based on the Warn sticker placement it looks to me like the winch was installed 90 degrees rotated. So if you rotate the winch so that the control is on top the 4 mounting holes should line up with the bumper.

 

[Shipwreck]

Thanks Christo. I figured the previous owner had mounted the winch on a horizontal plate and rotated the gear housing so that the clutch lever was upright.

Next question: There is a fiber gasket between the gear housing and the drum support. Can I expect to damage this gasket when I remove the allen bolts and rotate the housing? If it tears during disassembly, I'll need to order a new one from Warn. I'd rather have it ready ahead of time if there is a good chance that it'll need to be replaced.

No interference issues with the light bracket when the lever is upright?