Warn 8274 Winch?

[Hedgehog]

Thank you for that. I kept coming up with the same answers time after time. Most searches came up with information on the older models. Probably wasn't holding my mouth just right during the searchs.

That is about the date range I expected. For a 15 year old winch it's in pretty good shape.

 

[mstar]

HH, congrates on a nice buy on that winch. All my 8274's and others I have seen have serial numbers and manufacture code. Probably 1970- 80'ish.
I guess some folks got the rejects with no numbers. mike

 

[Lumpy Grits]

HH-Those 2 roller fairleads look pretty much the same to me.
Is the bolt spacing the same between the HF winch and the Warn fairleads?
Tell me about your front bumper/winch mount. Do you have any other pictures of it?
LG

 

[IOPort51]

I have one of these on my CJ and one on the bench I picked up a couple months ago. If you need pictures of the commercial mount let me know. the loose one was Jeep mounted rather than dealer or owner so the tag says Jeep rather than Warn.

 

[Hedgehog]

Lumpy - Both fairleads are virtually identical right down to the bolt holes. I've got other pictures but the winch pretty much covers the plate completely up. The plate looks pretty much exactly like most of the other plates on the market right down to the thickness of the steel. I.E. 1/4" flat plate, the back bent up ~2", the front bent up ~4" with the fairlead hole in it. I made my bumper as you see it with a cut out where the Fairlead attaches.

My plan is to attach the winch bottom bolts with the fairlead attached. The place drilled tabs of the correct height to the top attachment points with the attaching bolts. and tack it well to the plate. With the winch removed the tabs will be welded up along with side wing fillets to strengthen the tabs and reduce flexing.

mstar & IO - Thanks, there is something about a Warn winch that just screams, "I belong on a CJ." Normally there is no way I could afford this type of winch, but this one was worth digging a little deeper than normal for.

mstar - Rejects! NOT!

 

[mstar]

mstar - Rejects! NOT!

HH, that was a little humor for your friend. I like to stick to the facts ,not speculate. mike

 

[Hedgehog]

I know humor when I see it. I was funnin' back.

Edit: Or as I re-read your post maybe you were serious, I have heard about businesses that would grind off their name and serial numbers on products that didn't quite make the grade to sell them at a discounted price or as seconds. Guitar manufacturers are well known for doing that sort of thing. Did Warn sell their rejects at discounted prices?

 

[Lumpy Grits]

HH-Instead of 'tabs'. Why not weld a full length plate to the top of your plate?
OR-Go with a full size plate behind(doubler)the one you have now.
Hint-Make sure to use GD 8 bolts and nuts for the mounting.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Well, I'm thinking about air flow with some consideration to weight. The bottom bolts will have a full length plate around the fairlead from side to side. The tabs won't be a minor thing, they will be substantial along with the side wings and the wings would be the key to the strength of the plate. While searching for plate designs many were similar to what I'm thinking of. A full width plate would actually be easier to fab up.

I did consider the doubler plate type setup. Other than giving the plate front impact type strength it really would not increase the tendency for the plate from flexing front to rear along the bent angle across the front or front to back flexing. The only way to add that sort of strength is to ad the side wings angled back ~45*. Things like this are far more difficult to explain than they are to do.

Grade 8 bolts are a given or most of my CJ projects. The winch actually still has it's factory bolts and nuts, well I guess you could call them nuts, big square flat on the bottom nut like things.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Never had an airflow issue with mine. I don't run a winch cover.
The only concern with your custom bumper would be clearance of the winch motor on the Warn to the grill face.
My factory Warn mount, only gives me about 3/8" space between the grill and the winch motor. I have 9" from the backside of my mounting plate to the grill.
Did you ever do a writeup about your homemade front bumper?
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

I'm sure I did way back when I first got the CJ and came here. The bumper is made of 2"x6"x3/16" steel tubing with recovery points, a receiver and a notch for the fairlead. This served two purposes the winch can sit lower and the bumper ride ~2" higher. The bumper is very stiff. But even with the tapered sides it is a little bland. Today I'd angle back the tapered sides and possibly a tapered edge on the bottom. Since the original jeep bumper is a channel slipped over the front of the frame ends with bolts holding it in place my bumper actually increases room for the winch. My bumper is placed against the front of the frame with several mounting points bolted to the front sides of the frame. Essentially giving almost 2 extra inches for the winch to live in. Until you mentioned it I hadn't given the advantages of my mounting system a thought.

Airflow - Originally I never gave airflow a second thought. The big blunt front with a wide open grill area seemed like enough area for air flow. Since then there have been post after post about CJ's over heating and vapor lock problems, especially at high elevations and moving slowly. Several posts here and other places mention the size of the 8274 and blocking air. Couple that with the V8 under the hood gives room for being conservative with preserving lots of air flow.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Do you recall what the title was on your front bumper built?
My search 'FOO' sucs.........
When you rewind that cable. Do it under some load/drag. Apply some parking brake and then guide the cable onto the spool. I have found silicon spray to be a great cable lube as it is dry.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

There's a church parking lot down the road with a little slope to it. I attach the cable to a post and use the weight of pulling the CJ up the slope to put tension on the cable while rewinding. I did consider putting the jeep in gear, but that didn't seem necessary at the time. It pleases me to see no bends or kinks in the cable. What should I us to lubricate the cable? Leave it dry, spray dry lube on it, use motorcycle chain lube on it? As you know we are very dry here so rust isn't a problem. Dust and dirt are though.

Title: Dude you've got to be kidding. That was a long time ago.

Here are some pictures. They probably don't show you what you are interested in:















The recovery points were actually receiver inserts. Holes were cut in the bumper front and rear. The points fully penetrate the bumper and welded front and rear for additional strength. I cringe at some of the welds. The only welder I had then was a Lincoln Tombstone buzz box. The welds are deep, but not as well controlled as is possible with the welders I have now.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Nicely done!
Many hours of work for sure, and it clearly shows.
ONLY use silicon spray on the cable. This is a trick I learned when I was driving HD wreckers haul'n semi's. Dirt won't stick to the cable and you can hose it off.
Add 1 or 2 clicks of p'brake when you wind the cable, be sure to put it in tight layers on the spool. That AMC 150 ' of cable will fill the spool........
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Do you use some sort of tool to direct the wire on the spool? I've considered making a short rod with a loop on the end. Hook the loop over the cable to control the placement or wrapping is neat, tight and even. Or am I over thinking this?

You can see all the holes in the winch plate giving it a Swiss cheese appearance. Those were welded closed. The project really did go well, I'd hate to be an elk or deer or vehicle for that matter to get hit by it. It's likely the bumper will crush most anything that gets in the way. The negative is, it's so flat and uninspiring.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

I put the engine in a fast idle setting with a touch of p'brake. Standing in front of the Jeep as the winch is winding. I use my boot or a HEAVILY gloved hand to guide the cable.
I have also used the curved end of a pry-bar to layer cable.
LG

 

[Belizean]

Nice looking solid bumper.

 

[Hedgehog]

The success of the front bumper lead to the rear bumper. These are poor pictures that don't show that the rear bumper is a step design where a 2"x6"x 1/4" tube is flat and a 2"x4"x1/4" tube is upright making the step. Man that thing was heavy so with the help of a friends plasma cutter panels were cut out to lighten it a bit. Then the bearing was added and the tire carrier was made. Since then I've decided to remove the gas can holders and flip the tire to the inside of the cage. This will bring the weight of the tire closer to the back end.







The rear end was quite a project. The PO had removed the original bumper/cross member and added bunch of metal. The bumper had to be cut off, extra metal had to be removed. Luckily enough the original frame rear end was still intact. A new cross member was installed (you can see it in the bottom picture), a mounting system made of 3/8" cold rolled plate was fabricated. All in all the new bumper mount turned out very neatly, for me anyways. My work does not hold a candle to Hackfabrication or Posi's or several others here on this forum. They have inspired enough confidence to try.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

I remember you doing a write-up on the rear bumper.
Nicely done for sure!
LG

 

[Belizean]

Well made and functional with protection. Nice work