Weight of Bumper/Winch - Should I Consider Lifting?

[TheForger]

I am receiving my BIOR front bumper in a month or so and I plan on putting a Warn VR12000 winch in it. My 2000 Hundy has stock suspension as of right now but I was curious as to if that added weight in the front could harm the suspension in any way. Of course I would LOVE to slap a couple ICON shocks on her but if it isn't necessary right now I might hold off for a while. Any input would be much appreciated!

 

[VidereStudios]

Turn the t-bars a bit and you should be okay. Once you add a rear bumper and drawers is when you really start noticing the additional weight on the suspension.

 

[duggy]

+1 for cranking the tbars for now.

 

[TheForger]

@VidereStudios @duggy T-bars have already been cranked. Should I reset them to normal before installing the bumper and then crank them again?

 

[SmoothLC]

No, you'll want to put the bumper and winch on, then measure the vehicle's "droop".

Ideally, the front should be about an inch or less lower in the front vs. the rear.

Then get an alignment after doing the t-bars.

 

[ntsaint]

That's not droop...that's rake.

 

[VidereStudios]

@VidereStudios @duggy T-bars have already been cranked. Should I reset them to normal before installing the bumper and then crank them again?

No, just go ahead and install the bumper and winch. Just make sure you haven't over-cranked the t-bar's...check out this post...https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/for-those-with-torsion-bar-questions.491948/#post-6705747.

You may have to adjust them one more time after installation of the bumper and winch. Check your fender to hub measurements, then your droop, and then get an alignment. You should be good to go suspension-wise until you add more components.

 

[Duiser Offroad]

Your winch is 90 lbs BTW, not sure how much the bumper will weigh.

 

[r2m]

I agree, raise the front end by turning your torsion bars, but you may want to consider putting synthetic rope on your winch and get rid of that wire cable. You will save yourself a bunch of weight doing that alone.
Also, if you haven't already, get yourself a rear bumper to balance out the weight distribution a little so you will not nose dive if you have to panic brake. You're handling will improve a we bit also!

 

[TheForger]

I was looking at the synthetic rope my local off road shop had and it does seem a lot lighter than the steel cable. However, I don't know how well it would hold up in a 12,000lb winch. It seems like it'd be more prone to snapping and that's the last thing I need when I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere!

 

[SmoothLC]

That's not droop...that's rake.

Thank you sir! I stand corrected - droop vs. rake.

 

[r2m]

I was looking at the synthetic rope my local off road shop had and it does seem a lot lighter than the steel cable. However, I don't know how well it would hold up in a 12,000lb winch. It seems like it'd be more prone to snapping and that's the last thing I need when I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere!

Several other advantages of synthetic rope is:

• It will NOT "Snap" back. When it breaks, it just drops in where it is.
• It floats. Great if you need to toss out a line to someone out in the water.
• Will not rust.
• Easier to spool back onto your winch when finished using it.
  
• It's easy to handle. You don't have to worry about getting wire splinters and punctures that one gets from wire cable rope. It's also easy to handle since it doesn't hold a coil or shape, you're not having to fight it to straighten it out if you have a long length of it un-spooled.
• Worst case, if you synthetic rope does break, you can at least tie it back together again. Try that with a 12,000 lb wire cable.
• Finally, there are plenty of synthetic ropes out there for almost every weight. This issue comes down to what cross diameter of rope are you willing to live with (and price)? The larger the diameter, the less coils on the winch. But... ideally you don't want too much length on your winch anyways, it affects your gross pull strength.

 

[fireball]

As others have said, if you haven't ordered it yet, go with the VR 10,000 or 12,000 S. The one synthetic rope is very nice and when purchased as a package will be a savings over buying a separate synthetic line later.