Hey guys, I have a 78 Chassis F250 with a 76 body and a 429 engine (Frankenstein). I'm pretty new to it and love look of the front of the truck. But I'm wanting to install a winch and don't know what some of you have done for this. I really don't want to change the front bumper. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I'm not planning on a winch on my Dent anytime soon but I have one for my '97 F-Superduty....I am planning on using the stock bumper and mounting a roller fairlead behind the license plate.... cutting a hole under the license plate......then make the license plate mounting either fold up out of the way or completely removable.......I'm sure I will have to extend the mounts for the bumper to be able to fit the 12,000 lb. winch behind it.......then some aluminum diamond plate on top of them to fill in the gap between the bumper and the grill .........Just an idea at this point but think it will work.

 

That's not a bad idea Peb. Where or what would you mount the winch to?

 

I'm a big fan of hitch mounted winches and a good set of battery cables. With a hitch on front and back you can swap to where it's needed. And take it off when not needed.

 

I'll fab up some brackets to bolt directly to the frame at least 3/8" (probably 1/2") plate since this is a HEAVY truck and a 12,000lb. winch......then mount the bumper to them.......I'm thinking for the license plate, a fold up plate holder like I have on the front of my Freightliner......you can search Iowa80.com and find them........

 

Get a old old receiver drop hitch in the JY or Craigslist for cheap. Make sure it is at least wide enough to fit between the front frame rails. Mod it with weld on side plates to bolt inbetween the frame rails. Set is right behind front front bumper. Cut a square in the bumper (behind the license plate ) and follow 78Peb's idea with a flip down cover.

Mount your winch on a receiver hitch plate, or build a HD one. Get some quick connect fittings (like used on welding leads) and wire you truck to have power on both ends. If you have a rear receiver hitch already nothing beats a winch that can be used on either end of your rig. Put a receiver tube on the front of a trailer, BAM trailer winch. I have power leads that have jumper cable ends so I can use the winch on ANY truck with a receiver hitch.

I am making rock sliders soon and making a place to be able to mount my winch on the side of my crawler rig.

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I did this years ago. Made my own winch cradle and it could be used a both ends. Built custom bumpers at both ends also.

 

I like that idea of the removable winch. Shouldn't be too hard to fab up. I really appreciate you fellers help. My next question would be synthetic or cable for winch? I'm leaning synthetic since it is readily available for me an lighter. But I need the professionals opinions. Also which winch you guys prefer more?

 

Depends on a lot of factors of terrain and what it will be used for. I do a lot of log pulling with mine so it has to be cable. But for trails, I think the consensus is that synthetic is superior in strength and weight.

 

You can find a million opinions on the web... here are 3 more opinions.

Top Winch Manufacturers by Winch Depot

https://www.4wd.com/jeep-advisors/winchadvisor.aspx

Massive Multi-Winch Shootout - Four Wheeler Magazine

Military stuff is 24v, just so you know and if you find one on the Craigslist and get all excited. lol Warn Industrial winch

My Superwinch 8K is good enough for what I do, but you have to eat a good breakfast to be moving that 80ish lb set up around from one end of the rig to the other all day long. Good thing it stays on the back end of the shortest vehicle I own...mostly pulling chebies along the trail behind me, off a patch of wet grass or out of a 1" mud puddle. lol

I am a steel cable guy, I do not have the $ for synthetic.

Also a good ****** block will double a winch's strength. https://www.gowarn.com/warn-winches/winch-tips.aspx

 

Makes 1 winch into many. Also my 79 SC F250 has the cut out in the bumper. I was going to install the 12k winch on a custom member hidden behind the bumper with a hawse fairlead bolted behind a flip plate. Just picked this up Sunday from CL. $65 . I have a new 12k winch that I had been saving to install on one of the dentsides. This will allow it to be swapped between them or the car trailer. Flip down aluminum step/plate holder. Still available new, i am going to machine a hole for the cable and the Aluminum hawse fairlead.
So there you go if you want hidden. Word of advise stock bumpers are weak so don't use it as a mounting point. I always make a substructure to add a winch and for safety and use the stock bumper as a pretty cover only.

 

Forgot to mention, if you can afford the synthetic, for for that, only because if it breaks it loose tension where the steel cable can kill you. Reason why the long remote was invented. 78 PEB I had a 95 350 PSD back in the day, mine was a Centurion C350 4 door Bronco. But I was going to say that I saw a 95 sb F350 the other day and it had a Reunel rear bumper. It had a hawse mounted above the license plate and a hidden winch behind that on a custom crossmember just in front of the spare and below the fuel tank. The engagement lever was set outside the bumper. super clean. I am going to do something similar but with the stock sport bumper off the 78-79 bronco on my F-250 SB 4x4. We use it as a car hauler and I thought it would be cool to have a trailer winch on whatever trailer I use. I will try to go by and take some pics and post later , so people can see and maybe use the idea. Found it on their site this is more dolled up, but they have another less flamboyant one which allows you to get creative and make it your own.

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