First-Time DIY Bumper & Winch Install: Venator Stubby + SB XRC Gen3

[lexadar]

Hey all, I hadn't come across any pictures/videos of the stubby version Venator bumper being installed, so here are some of mine + some thoughts/insights:

(am pretty pumped about getting this done myself - in all seriousness I have never even changed a tire before... never had to!)

• I read quite a few comments & reviews that noted this bumper (full width) being difficult or a battle to instal
  • Personally, it seemed quite forgiving as long as everything is bolted on as loose as possible (as per the instructions), keeping in mind my zero experience with anything like this.
  • None of the parts required any modification/grinding/bending etc
• The most importantthing to note is that with at least this winch (Smittybilt XRC Gen3 9.5k), there is basically no room between the grille and the body of the winch.
  • This almost had me thinking it wasn't going to work at all.. but I persevered
    • Choosing to place the solenoid over the motor vs in the center seems essential with this bumper/winch
    • I opted to wedge a piece of foam in between the edge of the winch and the grille before leveraging the winch in to get the bolts through the winch plate and threaded.
    • It took a few attempts with different wire/lead orientations before I could slip them under the bottom of the grille and have the winch close enough to make an attempt at securing it.
• This honestly took me about 6 hours total, by myself (of course a lot of it spent watching youtube videos & re-reading instructions)

Sponsored

 

[lexadar]

I finally received the Overrider Bar which could have came with the bumper, but I had found one without it that could get to me much quicker.

This completes the install/look I was going for with a front bumper - the overrider bar required a specific “key” style wrench (torx) to tighten it, a typical socket/wrench (even with a knuckle) did not have enough room inside the bar to get in to the bolt.

a solution to this might be to remove your grille? I didn’t go this route however I could have them use that room to work with the initial bumper install.