Was gearing up for an Overland Trip in the Ozarks and couldn't make up my mind between needed projects flat roof rack or the winch. 4 out of the 5 of the group had winches but I hate burning up someones equipment to get me out of a bind. Then a deal crossed my face on a the XRC 9500 Gen II for $300 shipped to my door so I bit on the winch. Didn't want the weight or cost of a full bumper at this time so I used a winch plate I had in my shop from a jeep and modified it with some 1/4 steel between the frame rails bolting to the front alum frame brace and body mounts. The front of the mount purely sits on the front brace with some lag bolt through the whole brace. Its very solid and I like how it tucked behind the factory bumper. Very impressed with the build quality and speed of the Gen II version of the 9500 no question good bang for the buck. I also ditched the cable for weight and used some 3/8 rope I had in the shop and through some youtube training spliced in a loop, stitched and taped it and thanks to Southeast Overland for the thimble also picked up some splicing needles and 30FT of new rope to splice it at a later time.
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