mnjeeper
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
For the tl;dr crowd, many winches won't fit this bumper. Bottom of post has a question.
I've been looking for bumpers since October when I drove my JL home. I knew I wanted a stubby, and I knew I wanted the add on skid. I wanted a recessed winch mount. That left things limited already. Then, going on looks I wasn't fond of a few of them. I honestly had the cavfab predator in my cart forever, kicking myself for not getting it on black Friday.
Moving on. I had stumbled on the Rugged Ridge XOR. Specs looked good, I like the look, it had the lower skid, and the price is pretty awesome. I pulled the trigger. On arrival, I realized I jumped without seeing it on a Jeep and the winch mount was at the top of the bumper. Not the end of the world, the bumper looked good. Build seemed solid and finish was good. On to install. It seemed everything was good, they even did one touch that I thought was great. The outer top frame mounts did not have to be drilled, they used a smaller thread there. Saves time, great. I went through the PITA of getting fog light wiring out, then mounted lights. First thing I noticed, they stick out (pic below, ignore the mess). So, I expect to break these...but if I get some longer bolts and sleeves of maybe 1/4 inch for the mounts, problem will be fixed. If you buy this, plan to do that before you mount!. Problem #2 comes when I had the bumper on. I am not aware if this is common, but the back of the winch mount is pressing into the grill. Ok, plastic grill...should be ok. Had I known, I would have had a few washers added between the bumper and the frame. Easy resolution once known. Honestly, the fog light and depth are easy fixes, once known. I didn't even mention this to RR when I contacted them.
Now, the bad part. I bought an apex badlands winch. It won't fit because they did the fairlead mount with fancy angles back. I thought "crap, winch is too big". I went to look at Warn. Both 12K and 10K zeons are the same size for the most part. They will not fit either. Pics attached of how winch sits on the side supports for reference. So, I email support. I clearly described the issue, I sent pics (which will be attached here). I asked about modification to the fairlead mount which I don't want to do, but I don't want to box it and pay for shipping either. The answer I got:
"From the pictures it appears that the winch is too big for the bumper. We only test the adaptation of our own winches. So, it is hard to say what other companies will and will not fit. Going with a smaller size winch may help with your issue."
Ok, that's frustrating for an answer. When I questioned, I was told " Sorry about that but, unfortunately the fact is we don't test other winches than our own. It's just too costly. You're more than welcome to return it to your place of purchase. " I guess I expected customer service to at least pretend to do what the title says. Obviously this is my loss, my mistake. I write this hoping to save someone else the frustration of using anything other than a "smaller winch". I highly doubt every bumper on the market tests ever winch, they simply use designs that work.
For now, I will leave it as is. I may be switching to a 392, if I do I will leave this bumper on. If I don't get a 392, I need to mount my winch. That means cutting some of the support off. To me, it looks like I'll lose the outer welds, so cutting at fairlead mount is best. But, how strong does the fairlead need to be? I can't imagine it is highly stressed...but I don't know.
I've been looking for bumpers since October when I drove my JL home. I knew I wanted a stubby, and I knew I wanted the add on skid. I wanted a recessed winch mount. That left things limited already. Then, going on looks I wasn't fond of a few of them. I honestly had the cavfab predator in my cart forever, kicking myself for not getting it on black Friday.
Moving on. I had stumbled on the Rugged Ridge XOR. Specs looked good, I like the look, it had the lower skid, and the price is pretty awesome. I pulled the trigger. On arrival, I realized I jumped without seeing it on a Jeep and the winch mount was at the top of the bumper. Not the end of the world, the bumper looked good. Build seemed solid and finish was good. On to install. It seemed everything was good, they even did one touch that I thought was great. The outer top frame mounts did not have to be drilled, they used a smaller thread there. Saves time, great. I went through the PITA of getting fog light wiring out, then mounted lights. First thing I noticed, they stick out (pic below, ignore the mess). So, I expect to break these...but if I get some longer bolts and sleeves of maybe 1/4 inch for the mounts, problem will be fixed. If you buy this, plan to do that before you mount!. Problem #2 comes when I had the bumper on. I am not aware if this is common, but the back of the winch mount is pressing into the grill. Ok, plastic grill...should be ok. Had I known, I would have had a few washers added between the bumper and the frame. Easy resolution once known. Honestly, the fog light and depth are easy fixes, once known. I didn't even mention this to RR when I contacted them.
Now, the bad part. I bought an apex badlands winch. It won't fit because they did the fairlead mount with fancy angles back. I thought "crap, winch is too big". I went to look at Warn. Both 12K and 10K zeons are the same size for the most part. They will not fit either. Pics attached of how winch sits on the side supports for reference. So, I email support. I clearly described the issue, I sent pics (which will be attached here). I asked about modification to the fairlead mount which I don't want to do, but I don't want to box it and pay for shipping either. The answer I got:
"From the pictures it appears that the winch is too big for the bumper. We only test the adaptation of our own winches. So, it is hard to say what other companies will and will not fit. Going with a smaller size winch may help with your issue."
Ok, that's frustrating for an answer. When I questioned, I was told " Sorry about that but, unfortunately the fact is we don't test other winches than our own. It's just too costly. You're more than welcome to return it to your place of purchase. " I guess I expected customer service to at least pretend to do what the title says. Obviously this is my loss, my mistake. I write this hoping to save someone else the frustration of using anything other than a "smaller winch". I highly doubt every bumper on the market tests ever winch, they simply use designs that work.
For now, I will leave it as is. I may be switching to a 392, if I do I will leave this bumper on. If I don't get a 392, I need to mount my winch. That means cutting some of the support off. To me, it looks like I'll lose the outer welds, so cutting at fairlead mount is best. But, how strong does the fairlead need to be? I can't imagine it is highly stressed...but I don't know.
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