Hidden winch mount

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briansbronco
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Hidden winch mount

Post by briansbronco »

I searched here and came up wanting. So I'll ask and see what becomes of it.

I want to mount a winch behind the stock bumper on the 69 high boy. Now I can't be the only one who has wanted to do this and someone has certainly already done it so give me the low down. I don't want to use a receiver hitch and I don't want a winch bumper. The drop bumper that was on the truck in the back is very nice and heavy duty. It will hold the roller fair lead for my PTO winch nicely. I just need some ideas on how to get a winch mounted behind the front bumper and under the radiator.

My first thought and idea was to remove the cross member at the front spring mounts and just build myself a new one. Heavier thickness that would support the winch upside down. Then reinforce the back of the stock bumper with 1/4" plate to give the roller fair lead a good sturdy mounting surface. Although I would really like a set of shackles on the front as well.

Food for thought also, most likely my front bumper will not remain chrome. I'm just not a chrome sort of guy. At some point I will likely send all the trim out to powder coat. Either a darker titanium color or just black.
1970 F250 4x4 SC Flatbed.
1968 F350 DRW Service body.
1969 F250 4x4 SC DRW
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eggman918
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Re: Hidden winch mount

Post by eggman918 »

Truly old school but it's still the most compact 8K winch around I think.... :2cents:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hickey-Sidewin ... .l4275.c10
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Ranchero50
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Re: Hidden winch mount

Post by Ranchero50 »

I'd make my own cross member and just mount a Reese receiver in the middle behind the bumper. Make a hole in the front bumper and use a Fairlane rear plate mount with the hinge to cover the hole. Fairlane gas tank fill was behind the rear bumper.

I also think on old trucks like ours that grill and bumper should match. White or bright silver would look good. Other colors I think would look dated after a couple years.
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briansbronco
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Re: Hidden winch mount

Post by briansbronco »

I won't be doing the receiver hitch on the front, as I mentioned in my original post. There are several reasons but the main reason is this. Unless you build one yourself, I have not found one that wouldn't bend with heavy side loading. While I know that you should always winch straight in front of you, sometimes it just isn't possible. I had a warn receiver hitch setup and bent the crap out of it the first time I used it. I was not impressed at all.

I will find a solution that keeps the aesthetics of the truck intact.
1970 F250 4x4 SC Flatbed.
1968 F350 DRW Service body.
1969 F250 4x4 SC DRW
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do evil on their behalf"---Orwell
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Manny
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Re: Hidden winch mount

Post by Manny »

Your going to have to attach it to the bottom of the frame i would say going to be tricky. I'm watching! :pop:
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briansbronco
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Re: Hidden winch mount

Post by briansbronco »

Laying under the truck, the gap between the front crossmember and the engine cross member is large enough to stuff a winch in for sure. What I have in my mind is welding in four blind nuts into the bottom of the engine crossmember. Cutting out the spring hanger cross member and boxing it in and adding blind nuts to it. That would allow me to cut a piece of plate to bolt into that location and mount the winch there. I want to replace the front cross member to add a couple of shackle mounts. The piece of steel there in the factory location on mine is already tweaked a little. Looks like someone has put a hook or something on it to pull it out already. Swapping it out for a piece of flat stock with square tubing welded into it will give a nice mounting surface and drop it down slightly to level it with the engine cross member. I need to get some hard measurements on this but that's basically the plan as it is. All of that work, just to leave the front of the truck stock appearing. :D
1970 F250 4x4 SC Flatbed.
1968 F350 DRW Service body.
1969 F250 4x4 SC DRW
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do evil on their behalf"---Orwell
YoungGun
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Re: Hidden winch mount

Post by YoungGun »

I'm planning on doing the same thing with a 68 F250 I'm building right now. I cut out the front cross member and replaced it with 2x4 1/4 square tube then used the same tube to tie it into the engine cross member. I then cut out a piece of 3/8 plate to lay on top that ties it to the frame. The winch I'm using is a smittybilt 12k and it definitely won't fit between the bumper and core support so I'll be notching the core support to make it fit. The motors sit far enough back that I'll be using a Griffin aluminum radiator and pushing it closer to the motor for more room. For the freespool lever I'm just going to cut a hole in the bumper so I can reach it. At least that's the plan so far, I'm still building the truck so we'll see how it works out.
YoungGun
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Re: Hidden winch mount

Post by YoungGun »

And as for the shackles, Chassis Unlimited makes nice extra long shackle brackets for 3/4" shackes. They're long enough to weld to the side of the frame and stick out through the bumper, that's what I'm doing on mine.
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