Anyone have experience with mounting a Warn EVO 10's on a MOPAR winch plate?

[Rock Hopper]

I purchased a MOPAR winch plate and a Warn EVO 10s (thinking the EVO might be a bit smaller than the Zeon).

Unfortunately it appears that the EVO extends out further on one side. So far everything has gone smoothly until it came time to mount the winch on the winch plate. The drivers side seemed to line right up, but when I went to thread the bolts up through the bottom of the winch plate into the winch it would not line up.... upon further inspection this is being caused by the rear of the MOPAR plate where it flips up (just on the outboard sides-circled in red on the photo below) and also causes another mounting issue. The MOPAR plate has "slots" where the plate mounts to L brackets into the frame so that the plate can be adjusted into place. MOPAR uses Torx bolts with their kit, and with the Warn EVO in place it sits right over one of the Torx bolts making it impossible to hold while tightening the nut below. I do not know if I am explaining this correctly, but if someone has mounted the EVO 10s into a Mopar plate they will know exactly what I am referring to.

I've circled the edges of the mopar plate where it flips up and have drawn an arrow to the slot where the torx head bolt is covered by the 10s motor. It appears I would only have to grind down the flipped up edge on one side of the plate since the EVO only hits it on the longer side which is on the left (passenger) side.

I'm hoping to get some advice on how to proceed.

Right now the only options I can see is grinding away some of the material off of the plate where it curls up in back (this should not affect the strength in anyway) and possibly snugging down the ONE torx bolt and tapping the plate into place, then torqueing down the other three. Another possible option would be to change out the Torx head bolt for a traditional one, however there is a space limitation being as the EVO has ridges that extend outward from the center of the winch that may interfere with a larger head on a bolt.

I am wide open to any suggestions or recommendations-and am curious if anyone has done this install (Mopar plate with EVO 10s). I haven't found a single video or instruction for the Warn EVO 10s/Mopar combination.

Thanks in advance,

David (Rock Hopper)

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[jhpowers]

I wanted to bump this thread. Has anybody installed the Warn Evo 10 with this plate? I ordered the plate because it was on sale and it looks like there is no need to notch the skid plate bracket. I want to install an Eco 10. Has anybody successfully installed this winch with this plate? IS the above issue a problem? Has anyone found a work around?

 

[Rock Hopper]

I wanted to bump this thread. Has anybody installed the Warn Evo 10 with this plate? I ordered the plate because it was on sale and it looks like there is no need to notch the skid plate bracket. I want to install an Eco 10. Has anybody successfully installed this winch with this plate? IS the above issue a problem? Has anyone found a work around?

You don't necessarily have to notch the skid plate bracket, but you likely will have to trim (grind or file) just a small corner off of the Mopar winch plate. This only has to be done on one side and should be obvious if you test mount the Evo onto the winch plate before installing the winch plate into position. You will see the necessity of this because the winch will not be able to bolt flat into position because it comes slightly in contact with the rolled edge on one side of the mopar winch plate.

A winch plate and a skid plate are two different things.

*what you should find is that the "fins" on one side of the warn evo, comes slightly in contact with the flipped up corner edge of the Mopar winch plate. I drew a vertical line to follow- trimming just about a quarter inch off the corner using an angle grinder (you could also use a metal file or possibly a dremel). Just hit it with some good quality black paint after the "trim" and its like it never happened. In fact with mine the trimmed line was so straight it looks like it would have come from the factory. Besides you will never see it (its completely under the winch). If you have any questions-hit me back with a PM. I talked someone else through it and they were very happy with the results. Its easy!

 

[jessedacri]

You don't necessarily have to notch the skid plate bracket, but you likely will have to trim (grind or file) just a small corner off of the Mopar winch plate. This only has to be done on one side and should be obvious if you test mount the Evo onto the winch plate before installing the winch plate into position. You will see the necessity of this because the winch will not be able to bolt flat into position because it comes slightly in contact with the rolled edge on one side of the mopar winch plate.

A winch plate and a skid plate are two different things.

*what you should find is that the "fins" on one side of the warn evo, comes slightly in contact with the flipped up corner edge of the Mopar winch plate. I drew a vertical line to follow- trimming just about a quarter inch off the corner using an angle grinder (you could also use a metal file or possibly a dremel). Just hit it with some good quality black paint after the "trim" and its like it never happened. In fact with mine the trimmed line was so straight it looks like it would have come from the factory. Besides you will never see it (its completely under the winch). If you have any questions-hit me back with a PM. I talked someone else through it and they were very happy with the results. Its easy!

He might be referring to the need to actually notch the *skid plate* mounting holes with some winch plate solutions. I had to oval out the holes on my factory steel bumper skid plate as the WARN winch plate moves the bumper like 1/4" outward causing the holes to no longer line up.

 

[jhpowers]

Yeah, that's why I got the Mopar winch plate, because unlike the Warn plate and the rugged ridge plate there is no need to drill out and extend the skid plate mounting bracket (because of the issue you mention). I'm a little new to this and drilling out metal seems a little daunting. I do have a dremel that I used to remove some stripped out screw heads in my bathroom. So, I'm sure I could figure it out.

I suppose I could trim back the fin on the Mopar plate or I could just buy a Smittybilt which seems to mount on this plate without modification...I live in Oregon and wanted to buy a warn because I like investing in local companies.

 

[jessedacri]

Yeah, that's why I got the Mopar winch plate, because unlike the Warn plate and the rugged ridge plate there is no need to drill out and extend the skid plate mounting bracket (because of the issue you mention). I'm a little new to this and drilling out metal seems a little daunting. I do have a dremel that I used to remove some stripped out screw heads in my bathroom. So, I'm sure I could figure it out.

I suppose I could trim back the fin on the Mopar plate or I could just buy a Smittybilt which seems to mount on this plate without modification...I live in Oregon and wanted to buy a warn because I like investing in local companies.

For what it's worth, I have the WARN winch plate with an EVO 10S and all I did was get a $5 metal cutting bit for my Dremel and worked the holes a bit until the screws could go in straight again. Seems much easier than cutting this thick bracket from the Mopar plate which also doesn't seem to offer appropriate clearance for the winch itself (there's a reason Warn pushes the bumper a quarter to a half of an inch forward with theirs) so the freespool lever doesn't clip the bumper.

I love my EVO 10S and think it looks a lot slicker than the smittybilt alternative, and it hasn't let me down in the 2 years I've had it so far.

If you already have the plate I think there's no harm in trying a metal cutting bit and taking your time cutting through the brackets. There's certainly a better tool to pull this off but if you do it in small increments and take your time I think you could get through it with the Dremel.

 

[Rock Hopper]

Follow up…
I reread your post and see that you were not worried about the skid plate. “I ordered the plate because it was on sale and it looks like there is no need to notch the skid plate bracket.” You are correct with the Mopar plate you will not have to elongate the skid plate holes. I truly believe the Mopar plate is superior to all others due to the design, as it doesn’t move out the bumper. I think you will see this when you install it.

Going back to the modification you may have to make, it is VERY easy. As previously mentioned you can do it by hand with a file or a power tool. Either way, just take your time. From memory I think I scribed down 1/4 inch on one side and just ran a diminishing line to provide the needed angle. Once this is done you will see that the winch (Warn) fits perfectly. You will be able to test this prior to actually mounting the winch and winch plate on your Jeep. The entire process should take less than 15 minutes.
Here is a picture to show you how it needs to be modified.

This will need to be done on the passenger’s side only.

*After you have the material removed (filed or ground down) put a light coat or two of black paint on the exposed metal. That’s it, easy~peasy.

Best of luck.

 

[jhpowers]

Thanks, that looks doable with my dremel. Less daunting than I anticipated.

 

[jhpowers]

Another question after reading another thread on the EVO 10. How much clearance was there for the cables at the back of the winch. Other than the plate edge issue did it install with enough clearance to avoid rubbing the grill?

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