I also looked at them. I wanted one for my Excursion, but realized I would not be able to use the factory driving lights. Not a complete deal killer, just didn't want the hassle of adding others. If I put one like that on this truck, I can't have a grille guard as it would stick out way too far. I do like the clean look of the hidden winches a lot. As to the comment about the Warn, I too believe that they were much better in the past if you took them apart and sealed everything up.

Let me know if it does fit please! Also, which RanchHand do you have? Legend?

I will certainly report back as to the fit either way. I feel pretty comfortable with the measurements that I received from Bodiak, but until it is mounted in place I wouldn't bet the bank on it.

It is the Legend Grille guard that I have on my truck. It's a stout piece of metal material with pleasing eye appeal. It has mounts both at the bumper bolts as well as to the frame. You do have to cut a couple of slots through the air dam but that's a piece of cake to do.

And the front hitch clears the bottom bar of the grille guard now?

jonr (very famous radio DJ, WLAC radio Nashville Tenn, back in the 60's)

You did not say what the purpose of the winch is, so I will assume its just general purpose around the ranch stuff.

Winches have been a key part of my life most of my adult life and a major player in my off road adventures for many, many years.

In my shop I have a cart with about a dozen or so 4 1/2" cutoff tools and 3 7" cut off tools. All but 2 are Harbor Fright. In 4 years of hard use in my Welding/Fabrication shop not a single HF unit failed. Some wore out and when they did I tossed them in the can and waited on a sale $14.88 for the 4 1/2 unit.

When it comes to winches its simple for ME: Go Warn or Go home. If your life or someones may depend on that winch you better have one you can depend on.

I once had to pull a Jeep on its sides about 150 feet over rock in Pritchett Canyon Moab Utah. I destroyed that Jeep, it was a total, but as the owner said, I can replace the body a lot cheaper than I can replace the Jeep. My Warn 9.5 ti rose to the occasion.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...185b41a923.jpg




This is the Jeep starting out, by the time I got it down the canyon where it could be righted it was at best a mangled mess.

On another trip, we crossed a river at about dawn and did not even get our wheels wet. It was an easy trail, led by a guy in a 4x4 Kia wagon, who had done it before. It was a a trail (former road) that led to some old ghost towns and abandoned mine. We got back to the river at almost dark. It had rained some and rained a LOT up N, the river was flowing hard and a lot wider. My buddy who had crossed it many times said it would be ok, he could make it. He should have said: 'hold my beer and watch this' as it turned into one heck of an event, his life was in my hands or in my Warn winch's hands, the story:


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The river is up to my window sill, my Jeep sits on 37" tires, 3" suspension lift and 2" body lift, Warn 9.5 ti is UNDER water



Karl and I look at each other, no words are spoken, but the die is struck. Karl straps in his Kia and drives toward the River as if he is going thru the Mickey’s D’s drive thru and he’s running an hour late getting home. Little does Karl know it’s the river of no return!

The “Silver Bullet” slaps the water like 450 lb man doing a belly flop. Karl is driving upstream with both feet on the floor and one is nailed to the accelerator. The Kia’s exhaust is gurgling like Monica choking on Bill’s cigar.

All is well until less than 35 feet from shore Karl’s now submarine strikes underwater hazards as if Karl had commanded, “All ahead STOP!” The waterlogged silver bullet coming to a halt faster than a young man hands on your 16-year-old daughter as you turn on the living room lights.

I watch the scene unfold like a Grade B movie. I know that hanging around like a cheap suit is not going to fix the situation. I jump in my Jeep and head out across the water to the rescue like John Wayne and the 7th Cavalry. As I approach Karl’s sunken treasure the onslaught of the River slams me into Karl. I am wedged into Karl’s Silver Bullet by the raging River and now Karl’s engine is deader than week old beer.

Karl can’t go and I can go, but would rip the side off his rig as a Buzzard rips the flesh off a highway carcass. Thankfully, I had just installed Corner protectors and side rails or “crapper bars” as some call it. I don’t care; it just saved my Jeep!

By the time I notice those silly plugs in the foot wells of my Jeep aren’t in I notice the mornings coffee cup floating by. This and the fact that my crotch has shrunk up into my earlobes tells me I need to take some kind of action. Climbing out the window on the passenger side since I don’t dare open the door on my side or the water would rush in like the watered drinks down at the Dew Drop Inn.

I head to my Warn 9.5ti winch only to find it underwater and now I am up to my armpits in it. Guess it’s a good time to see if those advertisements are for real. I unreel my Warn winch with its stronger than hell MasterPull synthetic rope.

Karl and I pull out a 100’ of rope and hook my Jeep to a truck that was watching the action. I climb back in my Jeep and put the B&M shifter in 2nd gear, 4-low. With my thumb on the winch control and my right foot on the skinny pedal, I winch and drive upstream away from the SilverBullet, the water hazard and out of harms way. This is a full pull of nearly 100 feet, winching under water upstream with my Warn 9.5 ti as my only paddle.

I land on the shore and in that, “Noah” of a rain I know that Karl and SilverBullet are heading downstream without a paddle unless I can get him out. At this time, the water is rising faster than a Paris Hilton mini skirt and going faster than last weeks paycheck. I also know that he is stuck on an underwater stump that is jammed between wheel and wheel well. I drive past him on the bank and somewhat down stream to hook on and pull him off.

Thanks to MasterPull line we are able to get him hooked up to my Warn. He is well out into the water and the winch line is at its limit. I pull and back out at the same time so as not to be sucked down stream with Karl. The electrical system is dimmer than Brittany Spears at a MENSA convention, but Jeep, Warn, and Masterpull are not to be doubted.

SilverBullet comes off the stump with a large splash as it lifts up and out of the water like a whale. I am backing up the shore and winching the deader than road kill rig upstream then finally out onto the bank.

When all was said and done, the Warn 9.5ti did two full pulls in less than 15 minutes and one was underwater. My 5000 lb Jeep had a tub full of water and was heading upstream in a 365 cu ft per sec flow and if that ain’t a cow peeing on a flat rock I don’t know what is. Not sure, what the SilverBullet weighed but it had to be similar, plus that puppy was jammed on a stump like a freshman boy stuck on a senior cheerleader.

I winch Karl out, he hits the starter button and suddenly his once deader than road kill engine springs to life and all is well.


Of course if you none of this is on your calendar then the HF winch is worth the money...

YES. However the receiver sits so far back to where the receiver pin actually is on the back side of the lower air dam/valance that to use a winch cradle you will need a receiver tube extension. I picked one up at HF. I'll grab a photo of it tomorrow and post it. The photo will make what I am trying to say much more clear.

To me the winch will just be another tool that is there whenever it may be needed. First off I have some large fallen tree limbs and trunk that need to be pulled across the creek in our back yard for ease of cutting it into smaller pieces and burning.

A winch is one of those tools that when needed it can be worth it weight in gold, but when not needed can be a pain to walk around or move because it will always be in the way of something.

Could I do without a winch, you bet ya I could. However, if I had one this last week I could have helped a number of people out who did not fare nearly as well as I did on the ice, snow and sleet. Not looking to cash in and charge to assist others, just the ability to be able to lend a hand when possible.

I'm not sure about a winch purchased through Harbor Freight, but since we have a store here in town, I have purchased a vast array of hand tools from them and they're pretty good tools. I had originally bought them to have in my work truck tool box and on the atv trailer (tongue box purchased thru HF also:D) just so I wouldn't lose or have my Craftsman, Proto, and Snap-On tools "lifted". But, I actually use the HF tools more, Pittsburgh I believe they are, they seem to hold up well, have a lifetime replacement warranty, and if I lose one, no great loss. Using that knowledge, I would purchase a winch from them, especially for what you stated you needed it for.

I've had one on my F-150 for years. I can tell you that it will last. But it doesn't have the power that an 8000# Warn does. Even after pulling out and cutting half the cable off. I was tired of having to wind the cable in like an OCD person in order to get it all to fit back on the reel, plus you get more torque when there is less cable on the drum.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...79137532f0.jpg

Me and a Jeep buddy (with the 8000# Warn pulling out a 2500 8.1L chevy with two flats buried to the frame and then some. We both had to chain ourselves to trees behind us and we NEEDED both winches.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f2494851df.jpg

If I were going to buy a winch for a permanent mount situation and planned on it being used very often I would go with a Mile Marker hydraulic winch.

In the past I have owned a few different name brand winches on various Jeeps, but today so many are not currently built to the standards that they once brought to the winch task that the price difference may not be justified.

The reviews that I have read and from talking to a few owners all seem to be positive for the greater part, of course there is a lemon to be had no matter what the subject.

My use of the winch will be much less than occasional and the winch unless being used in poor weather conditions will be tucked away in the garage out of the electronic gremlin causing elements.

There is one negative that keeps crossing my mind with it, that is the limited 65' cable length. Many other hitches come with 80' plus of cable. I guess a positive side of this would be that a winch pulls stronger with less cable on the drum. So with only 65' of cable that will often be the case. As for adding some length if needed, I do have a couple of long log chains as well as a few tow straps that could be added if needed and with in the load bearing limit.

Bodiak front receiver should be here Monday via UPS.......unless delayed by recent weather and road conditions.

Customer Service at Bodiak has been nothing short of pure perfection from beginning to end. They did not currently have a front receiver instock for fitment of my 2013 Superduty so they promptly built one to expedite my order.

I hope the measurements I received from Bodiak match with the measurement that I took to assure fitment.

I will update this post upon arrival.

Also HF has the 12K winch on sale for $292 and change this weekend, so I guess I'll head over there soon.

Well somehow I ended up buying the HF 12k winch today. I have a front receiver so I checked out the winch cradle they sell, took a look at material and construction. The main 2" tube is about 0.125" wall, and the base plate is about the same. I didn't buy it as I think it's too light compared to my custom hitch. I'll make a thread on my install when I get around to building it.

I agree on the cradle seeming to be on the lightweight side of the equation. But, I did go ahead and pick one up given that it's weight rating was higher than the weight limits set by the front hitch manufacture.

I do see me upgrading in the future

I purchased this set up from Costco for a couple of hundred bucks. I wanted and need something I could move from my truck to the wife's XJ. For me, as little as I hope to ever use it, I couldn't see spending the extra coin on the big name brands. So far, it looks really pretty sitting in the box the last year in the garage.

10,000 lb Winch Kit - Champion Power Equipment