Dad ( he's 84) just bought me a Smittybilt XRC8 winch! Holy CR*p! I haven't been this excited since I was a kid! Amazon for 299.99! Now I gotta get busy designing a mount. I got a universal hitch center section.


Mount it like a backbone with a winch plate on top. Fill in with 3/16 plate. trim down the plastic bumper ends to make it look finished.
Any good ideas? pictures? I know of this post.
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48373&hilit=winch

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2006 Liberty Renegade
OME, Rancho, RRO A arms, RRO roof rails w/ diy cross bars, Dual XHD7714 with Pyle speakers, drop in K&N air filter with home made CAI, 8k smittybilt winch , Sears Platinum P1, in cab winch control, 100w Optilux lights, 7" e-code Hella headlights,245/75-16C Duratracs. DIY rockrails, DIY rear double deck cargo rack.

The Backbone does a great job of putting the winch where it doesn't bang into things and thereby kill your approach angle. I don't know if you can wind up with as good a job starting with a receiver hitch and an untested mounting system on the KJ's kinda iffy front subframe rails. If you go for it, take lots of pics and keep us posted.

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LOST # 633
'05 KJ 3.7L/6spd/241 245/75/16 MT's
'88 MJ 4.0L/AW4/231 SWB HPD30 & trac-loc D44 w/3.73's
A dirty Jeep is a happy Jeep

I have the same winch! You'll love it! The first thing to do is replace all the bolts that hold the thing together with stainless steel. They rust real fast. But then it could just be the salt air down here.

Terry

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2011 Ford F-150 XLT 4X4

Thanks for the heads up! We don't get that much rain here but I'll keep the suggestion in mind! Thanks, Fulltimer!

InCommando, I'll go for it and if I have any doubt I'll pitch the whole mess and go with the Backbone. I've been studying the backbone install instructions and plan on adopting all the mount techniques.

_________________
2006 Liberty Renegade
OME, Rancho, RRO A arms, RRO roof rails w/ diy cross bars, Dual XHD7714 with Pyle speakers, drop in K&N air filter with home made CAI, 8k smittybilt winch , Sears Platinum P1, in cab winch control, 100w Optilux lights, 7" e-code Hella headlights,245/75-16C Duratracs. DIY rockrails, DIY rear double deck cargo rack.