I just finished installing a Warn Classic winch bumper and Warn 9K winch on my 84 f150. I'm hoping somebody has some good advice on ways to protect the winch from theft. The bumper makes it very easy to steal it, only 4 bolts in the open under the bumper, cut the wires and she's anybody's. Short of welding the bolts to the bumper does anybody have some ideas or suggestions? Thanks

 

don't weld the bolts to the bumper, tack weld the nuts to the bolts. this way if you need to remove it, all you need to do is cut off the tackweld. i have done this to every snowplow pump i have put on for the past 25 years. it keeps your $400 pump where it belongs. on the truck, not in the thieves hands. if the pump needs replacing, it is just a nut and bolt that needs replacing.

 

Your truck looks sweet with that bumper. Sorry I have no good info for you.

hotrod48

 

thats what i have always done.... weld the nut to the bolt. if i ever needed to get the winch out all i had to do was grind down the weld enough to break it loose. trust me though you wont be removing it often! also you dont have to weld all four bolts (even though it'd be better) but just one bolt will hold the winch on pretty good and enough to discourage the thief, but i'd go with at least 2

-cutts-

 

or if ur dont have a welder, longer bolts, and bend them over. i was thinking the tack too, but just another option.

 

You can also use locking wheel luts on the bolts.
www.mcgard.com

 

Use security hardware like the pan head torx style bolts with the small tit in the middle. That way you can't remove it unless you have the tamper proof torx. Most thieves won't bother with it if they see that. Thats what I'm doing with mine.

 

i thought about that but if his winch is setup like mine you can't use any other nut than what they give you... its made for that winch

-cutts-

 

Could make a second plate that covers the original bolts/nuts and use the locking lugnuts to hold that on.

 

I just realized that the way the winch is the bolts have to come in from under the bumper. There's a slot in the side of the winch's feet where the nut has to slide into. The nuts are large squared nuts. I guess I'm just going to have to do like highboy said and use some funky styled bolts and lock tight the crap out of them.
Thanks a lot for yall's help and insight. If there's anymore suggestions keep em comin!

 

On the bottom of the bumper weld little pieces of angle iron or something to cover the bolt head so you can't remove them. Then if you need to take them off you grind off the welds to remove the bolts.

 

> That way you can't remove it unless you have the tamper proof torx.

You just take a punch or screw driver, put it at an angle, give it a sharp wack, and the column breaks right off, and then you can take it off with a regular torx bit or jam an allen head in there.

I have never seen tamper proof torx in that big size (1/2" or bigger) anyways, same with the snake eyes security bits. Biggest I have seen in grade 5 is #8 (which I have).

A lot of the "pro" thieves (the ones that do not sell all their tools for drug money) carry portable impact wrenches and sawzalls. If you can get at the top of a bolt, you can usually take it off without needing to get at the back nut. Especially if you pry up on the head with a screw driver as you use the impact. I remove many blind nuts that way.

Hit it with a tack weld, I usually set it the lowest setting and just hit the exposed threads so I do not compromise the bolt or nut "that" much.

I even tried epoxy before, then was surprised how easy it was to take the bolt out with an impact from one side.

What I did with one of my bed mounted winches, was disassemble it so I could get at the plate, drill a 3/8" hole in the middle, thread a 3/8 grade 8 in there, reassemble, lower it into a 3/8 hole along with the other mounting bolts. Then once tightened, welded the nut to the bolt. I bet you have enough room for that.

Don't have a welder? Home Depot rents 120v welders. You dont even have to know what you are doing. Put the grounding clamp on the bolt, stick the wire 1/2" out, put it against the top of the nut where it mets the bolt, set the welder to the lowest heat setting and 20 inches per minute, close your eyes and put your hand over them, hit the trigger for 1 second or long enough to create a booger. Done.

Of course if you want to look while welding or you are going to do it for any length of time, you need a welding helmet, gloves, and other PPE.

Do the bumper bolts too.

A tack weld is the most effective way to do it, don't let lack of tools or experience stop you.

 

another option is to use 4 different sized bolts that way it takes longer to get them out anything you can do to slow them down the less likely they are to bother finish stealing it. alos you can use crown nuts and safety wire or cotter keys to help slow them down as well as the welding the nuts option. and you can always round the nuts off with a grinder so they can't get a wrench on them to turn them.

 

i like welding a small 1x1 peice of angle iron over one or two of the bolt heads....you cant get a wrench in there and you have to have a grinder to take it off, but its not too hard

 

Just for curiosity's sake, let us know what you end up doing.
I kinda like the weld-the-nut idea.