ozziesironmanoffroad

okay, do what you want. and when it comes out looking like dog shat , dont come cryin to me. good luck.

jeepeater2003

I was going to do what I want, It won't look like (If I can do it) and I wasn't going to come crying to you... but thanks anyway for letting me go ahead and try. I really appreciate your approvel.

Ill take pics when I start.

ozziesironmanoffroad

hey im just tryin to save you time. theres a reason a winch bumper is called a 'winch bumper'. if you can get it mounted without it looking like poo, then by all means go for it. it will be super hard to do. plus probably more expensive than the winch bumper.

Tacoclimber

Oh for crying out loud...

All you guys booing the guy for giving something different a shot: why not give some constructive advice or some good reasons why it won't work instead of just bombing on him.

To the OP: I think you could make it work. Like DirtyToyBoy said, it may not be easy, but don't let that stop you. I don't see why you couldn't make some brackets to move the stock bumper out a little and give you the room you need to fab up a mount for the winch that is tied into the frame rails. It won't end up looking like a TJM or ARB or whatever the bumper that's trendy right now, but then again, that's not the point anyway.

crolison

I saw a guy do it, they took a front hitch mount and welded the wind plate to the top of the hitch and ran it under their front bumper.

I quick google revealed this.

http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum...ead.php?t=9569

NicCantDecide

I went to look at my cousin's 4Runner in the parking lot outside. Its a 1st Gen, but they're all basically the same, first and 2nd Gen anyway.

I mean, if its an externally regulated winch you could probably make it fit, but you're right about the radiator. This was part of my initial point (about the full size trucks having an actual steel bumper behind the plastic cover). You dont have to worry about hitting anything with those because its just for controlling crash damage, not supporting your radiator and whatnot.

Sorry if my previous post came out negative btw, I was just rushed to post it cuz I'm currently at work. Its going to be tough and if you move the bumper forward it won't line up with the fenders and you'll have a gap on the top (be able to see through the bumper) and what have you.

My personal opinion is if you need a winch on your truck you're probably going to be offroad enough to benefit from a strong tube/plate bumper. I'm personally designing a custom bumper I'm going to be fabbing up in a few months, I know what its like to do custom work, I just don't really see the point in trying to modify the stock bumper to accept something like a winch.

I do however wish you good luck and will be watching to see what you do.

jeepeater2003

Thanks for the encouragement. All this talk is making me have to do it now just to say you can...

well I got home and looked at it and measured my winch. The winch is basically 6.5" X 6.5" but its round. If I can move the front bumper out anywere from 1/4 to 1/2, that would give me about 8" from the front Xmember to the front of the bumper and the only way you will be able to tell it was moved is from the sides were it would line up with the fender. there won't be any way to tell from the top (no gaps).

I looked and the hardest part is going to be making a mount the way I need it and have it be able to stand XX,XXX #'s and have it all under there but I think I can do it.

Tacoclimber

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

NicCantDecide

I think you could do it with some tube and a bender. I'm gonna sketch something up in paint. It's going to look jank as hell but its a good design haha.

Hold up.... *queue elevator music* ...

Here's the top down view.

And the side view!



Ghettotastic I know. The blue is the winch and the green stuff is the "toobs".

edit: dunno what's up with the second picture, if you click the link for it there's no weird black crap all over it. Maybe it thinks its transparent or something :/

edit again: NOT TO SCALE! Merely for illustrative purposes! I take no responsibility in you ghetto fabbing off my ghetto drawing.

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

iceman did it on his 3rd gen..he had some pics in this forum...

jeepeater2003

I just searched for every iceman and did not see any pics or even a discussion about it. Also which iceman? There is about 10 people with that name, just different names at the end.

Can'tdecide. That is about what I had in mind. I am probly not going to use tube though. It is to big to fit under there so my plans are to use angle iron for rigdbility and some 3/8 for everything else.

tj884Rdlx

your idea is so do-able. i don't get the naysaying. in fact, i really don't get why anyone would even answer just to say "it can't be done". those are the people yelling, "the world is flat! you'll sail off the edge!" in their past life.

i was just looking at my front end, and i think you have two placement options.

1. if you want the winch concealed, you can mount it in the space under the motor's drive belts. this is the space between the crankshaft pulley and the stock skid plate. remove the factory hook and pull D-ring, and use their mount holes. mount a plate to function as a shelf. it will have to be low enough for your winch to clear the bottom pulley once mounted. then you can run your cable through the horizontal crossmember with all the holes in it. mount your lead rollers on the front of that crossmember. the whole thing will be below the stock bumper and rad supt. bar. (you will need a custom skid plate to protect the winch now.)


2. second option is mount the winch semi- in front of- your bumper, and cut that indented section (where a lic. plate goes) out of the bumper for clearance. That will give you room for the winch. using 1 1/2" square tube, fab a piece that will mount right in front of the horizontal crossmember with all the holes. weld steel plate at the ends of the tube so it can mount in the same holes as the stock D ring and hook. put your winch shelf on top of this square tube and you're done.
take some time to draw out what you want really well. it may be worth your time to take some cardboard and do a mock up. (use flat cardboard for plate and a tube like from xmas wrapping paper for square tubing) then use the correct sized cardboard pieces as templates for steel.

with accurate measurements on paper, any decent little metal shop can make what you want for much less than a full bumper. using the appropriate gauge steel, and the mounts where the factory pull hooks should set you up fine, and you can keep your stock bumper. just measure everything 3x.

if i can find a pic of a front end with no bumper, i'll try to put up an illustration. this is do-able.

dirtoyboy

Which warn do you have? does it have integrated solenoid? or seperate box?

jeepeater2003

oh, after looking at it last night I know its doable. I just got to see HOW I am going to do it. I work at a Cat dealership so I have access to a welder, tourch and so on... so thats not a problem. I thought about your option #1. I haven't really looked at that option yet. That might be easier than what I am thinking of doing. Ill take the bumper off today (4bolts) and have a better looksee what I am working with. Ill either start this week or next week.

jeepeater2003

Seperate box.

tj884Rdlx

alright here's a quick sketch i whipped up.

1. remove factory hook and pull ring.
2. mount two plates using the 3 threaded holes in the frame rails. (this makes it all bolt up removable!) The plates need to be long enough to allow your winch mount plate to sit directly in front of the 7-hole xmember, about 11"
3. Weld square tube on top of plates. Gusset inner and outer edges of plates to tube.
4. Cut away section of front bumper. (Roll edges under for nice clean look)
5. Mount plate on top of square tube and gussett to eliminate flex.
6. Mount winch, wire up!

tj884Rdlx

you shouldnt even need to mess with the bumper mounts, or the rad. supt. behind it with this option 2. You will cut the bumper for winch body clearance, but everything else will mount at the stock recovery locations. You're just creating a new bar in front of the 7-hole crossmember to mount a winch on top.

With the option 1, you'll have it stashed, but it will be much lower and more chance for mucking it up. If you're in a CAT shop, you could knock this out in a few hrs. Make me one! ha

tj884Rdlx

the things i can do with MS Paint... what you think of this?

Tacoclimber

I am certainly no engineer, and maybe one of you guys can clarify, but how do you think that would do under an angled load? As that design sits, it looks like it would be fine for a straight pull, but what about pulling from an angle? Would the strain of pulling from the side be a cause for concern in a design like this?

Just thinking, and wondering...

Tacoclimber

Maybe some larger gussets running from the frame attachments along the bottom of that main cross piece?