Hi all, new to the site, I'm Dave from Long Island. Yesterday I purchased my first pickup, a 1984 F-250 6.9L idi, 4 speed, 4X4 with a hydraulic dump bed. I couldn't be happier. My wife and I already have DDs so this is more of a weekend Home Depot truck, firewood/top soil hauler, and eventually race car hauler. One of the main reasons for buying this truck is to tow my 2 Mustangs (I have an 89 and a 93, but that is a story for another day). They are currently in my parents backyard and have been sitting there for years and year. I wanted to install a winch on the truck to recover the 2 mustangs and get them to my house. Which leads me to my question. The truck came with an aftermarket diamond plate front bumper, I'd like to keep that. Pretty much every winch mount I see is a full replacement bumper. Do I have any options here? Can I just mount the winch to the diamond plate bumper? Can I add some plate or round tube reinforcement inside the bumper to make it work? Any thoughs/comments/input would be appreciated. Below are a couple of pics of the truck and the bumper in question.

 

To be able to answer that question, we will need very detailed information and pics. Generally, 1/4" plate is considered strong enough for a winch mount but the substructure/mounts have to be up to the task, as well. Unless you plan on using the winch frequently, I would just spend the $50-$100 for a tow truck to pull the Stangs out for you. A good winch will cost you $500+ as well as building/buying a mount.

 

Just hook up to them.
A diesel with a T-19 and the TC in low would pull the Whitestone off its abutments if it had traction.

I could see putting the winch in the car hauler, but not on the truck.