How to mount the " Best winch ever"

[IOPort51]

I was about to hijack a thread about the best winch ever made, its seems to be the general opinion that the warn 8274 is a good machine, this pleases me, no end, as I own one.

for those with the 8274. I am planning a new bumper, if I center the winch instead of the spool it will make the fair lead an inch or two toward the drivers side it will also allow me to set the entire thing back one inch. If the spool is centered the ratchet hits the park/turn light on the grill.setting it back makes the angle from the face of the wheel to the bumper face about 4 degrees +/- steeper, in other words it improves my entrance angle measurably. Now for the question, Should the spool be centered on the bumper or should you have the entire winch centered? Do you think this is not really worth worrying about??
I have not done calculations to compare the change in entry angle caused by increasing the outside diameter of the tire by two inches but I would guess it would be comparable to shortening the over all length, or length in front of the axle.

YouTube - An Engineer's Guide to Cat Yodeling (with Cat Polka)

I hope you enjoy the you tube as much as I did. It's kind of an engineers guide of sorts.

 

[mylittlecj5]

I'd center the winch drum, since that is what is getting the load placed on it, not the gears.
But if it has trouble clearing everything, I wouldn't think that an inch or so would matter.

 

[BajaEdition]

I think aesthetically that the fair lead not being centered will make it all look off .

 

[IOPort51]

I think aesthetically that the fair lead not being centered will make it all look off .

I am afraid the lack of symmetry would make me crazy but on the other hand if I had a logical and practical reason for doing it I could justify it to myself??

 

[BajaEdition]

I am afraid the lack of symmetry would make me crazy but on the other hand if I had a logical and practical reason for doing it I could justify it to myself??

well IO, I do not know what to say
set it up and look it over and what looks tight looks right
or post pics of it set up several ways, and go for a poll here on line and let everyone else tell you what they think.
either way you will get a lot of opinions after the fact, and we all know about opinions don't we?

 

[gillmore]

I have this winch. It looks like the fairlead on mine is slightly off center toward the driver's side. The whole unit is centered though.

1213090002 - Jeep-CJ Gallery

-Glen

 

[Cheepjeep85]

YouTube - An Engineer's Guide to Cat Yodeling (with Cat Polka)

I hope you enjoy the you tube as much as I did. It's kind of an engineers guide of sorts.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha cat yodeling, that was hilarious

no comment on the winch mount lemme know what you figure out as i will have the same problem soon.

cat yodeling

 

[BajaEdition]

I was rolling on the floor laughing at that

 

[IOPort51]

yep, thats it. thanks Glen.
I'm going to have to spend some time looking at that and do some more looking at the entry angle and on and on .
Right now the new bumper is a chunk of 4x6x3/16 wall tube I have been setting on for this project.

I have this winch. It looks like the fairlead on mine is slightly off center toward the driver's side. The whole unit is centered though.

1213090002 - Jeep-CJ Gallery

-Glen

 

[Old Dog]

yep, thats it. thanks Glen.
I'm going to have to spend some time looking at that and do some more looking at the entry angle and on and on .
Right now the new bumper is a chunk of 4x6x3/16 wall tube I have been setting on for this project.

Man don't offset it that much, that's really off. 1" or so maybe.

 

[IOPort51]

The picture is moved three inches off center, if my calculations are right, and it will need to move a minimum of 1 3/4" to clear the turn light with the pol on the winch. So I would move a little better than half as far as the picture. I bet it would start a lot of conversations. How bout it Glen? are there lots of people who want to be the first to tell you your winch is off center?

Man don't offset it that much, that's really off. 1" or so maybe.

 

[mylittlecj5]

yep, thats it. thanks Glen.
I'm going to have to spend some time looking at that and do some more looking at the entry angle and on and on .
Right now the new bumper is a chunk of 4x6x3/16 wall tube I have been setting on for this project.

Is that going on your CJ?!? Or the J-10?
Thats a lot of weight on the front suspension, especially with the winch too.
I used a piece of 2x4x3/16 for my front bumper, and with the clevis mounts tied to the frame, its stronger than the rest of the Jeep.

 

[IOPort51]

It won't be just a section of tube when I am through with it. it will be quite a bit lighter.

Is that going on your CJ?!? Or the J-10?
Thats a lot of weight on the front suspension, especially with the winch too.
I used a piece of 2x4x3/16 for my front bumper, and with the clevis mounts tied to the frame, its stronger than the rest of the Jeep.

 

[BajaEdition]

whenever I go to the metal place I usually spend the first 5 minutes there going through the remnant table. I bought a 45 inch piece of 2x4x3/16 square tube, a piece of 1/4 plate big enough to close off both ends, another piece of 1/4 plate 3x21 to use as brackets and mounting straps, all for 13 bucks paying by the pound scrap pricing on remnant weekend. I bought a 2 inch receiver for a hitch for the thing and 4 tabs to be used a light mounts and paid more than that, this weekend I stopped by and got a bit of plate and about 8 inches of 1 1/4 round x 1/8th tube for a winch guard. I keep adding to the thing but drilled mounting holes and trialed fitted it yesterday to mark where to mount tabs and design the winch guard. I have less that 70 clams into this thing including a half inch drill bit.

 

[fishinfool98]

whenever I go to the metal place I usually spend the first 5 minutes there going through the remnant table. I bought a 45 inch piece of 2x4x3/16 square tube, a piece of 1/4 plate big enough to close off both ends, another piece of 1/4 plate 3x21 to use as brackets and mounting straps, all for 13 bucks paying by the pound scrap pricing on remnant weekend. I bought a 2 inch receiver for a hitch for the thing and 4 tabs to be used a light mounts and paid more than that, this weekend I stopped by and got a bit of plate and about 8 inches of 1 1/4 round x 1/8th tube for a winch guard. I keep adding to the thing but drilled mounting holes and trialed fitted it yesterday to mark where to mount tabs and design the winch guard. I have less that 70 clams into this thing including a half inch drill bit.

Dont forget to drill holes out so you can access the bolts for the steering box when you put the winch mount plate on

 

[BajaEdition]

Dont forget to drill holes out so you can access the bolts for the steering box when you put the winch mount plate on

old school saginaw steering guys are so funny
ever seen the Ford reverse steering conversion yet? puts the box up on top of the frame out of the way of trail damage and not where you have to work around it for everything you do.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

old school saginaw steering guys are so funny
ever seen the Ford reverse steering conversion yet? puts the box up on top of the frame out of the way of trail damage and not where you have to work around it for everything you do.

could you go into a little more detail on this baja, it has peaked my interest

 

[BajaEdition]

could you go into a little more detail on this baja, it has peaked my interest

the kit was designed for pre saginaw steering jeeps, the ones with ross steering but I do not see why it would not fit any jeep, what happens is that you source a Ford reverse steering box, either power or not depending on your set up and then get the bracket and pitman arm the guy sells, weld bracket to the frame and adapt the draglink.
Steering Components
here is a few pics of it being installed
Steering Installed Views
as you can see it is now above the frame, not out in the front where anything can hit it.
How this works on a CJ7 would be interesting to find out as it would be the next best thing to sliced bread if it was easy to do.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

ah so theres some custom fab of steering components, i don't know if i trust my welding skills that well

 

[BajaEdition]

oh the bracket is made to bolt on, I just like to weld for a more permanent solution