I agree in getting a Warn if you can afford one. I have three, the oldest of which is seven years old and that one was used to clear timber in a good size section of my small farm property as well as vehicle "unstucks" and it still operates like it did the day it came out of the box. My old man has had the same Warn 8274 since I was in junior high in the early '80s and it still runs on the 4th truck he's had it on.

They have a new "VR" series which competes better on price with the Chinese made winches that have started dominating the market lately. Still built right here in the USA in Oregon, still carry a lifetime warranty.

BUT a Chinese made winch still beats having no winch and can be had in the 8000 lb. range for under $300, 6000 lb. ones can be found for under $250... Portable mounts can be had for under $50 for a 6000# winch and under $75.


If you end up purchasing a winch, PLEASE take the time to learn how to properly use it. Winches are fantastic tools with a plethora of uses besides just getting a vehicle unstuck, but if used incorrectly they can seriously injure or even kill you or bystanders.

With the prices of some of these Chinese made winches out there now, like the Harbor Freight, I honestly don't know why more people don't have them. Now around my circle of friends (mostly all big time hunters and fishermen), I'd say three in every five guys have one, but unless you frequent outdoors/off-road or Jeep specific forums they aren't too common. A down-right rarity on DF.
But get stuck ONCE and see what a flat bed tow will cost you ONE TIME vs. the cost of some of these inexpensive winches. Yeah, for any regular use, I'd opt for a Warn or Ramsey, but for just that one time insurance policy, these Chinese winches are just fine...

 

I saw on Etrailer that Kurt made a front reciever, so I made something similar that i could also have tow hooks and a brush guard on it as well...

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As you can see, it does hang a little low, so thats one of many reasons that i am designing my own bumper. I have madethe following. I will try and get a few photos of it on the truck. (the orange parts are the frame of the truck as best as i can measure it.)


It is possible that you can modify your own stock bumper to mount this beast behind it, but that would take some cutting and welding if you are willing to give it a try. I think that all in all i have less than 100 bucks tied up in this. That being said, i have machined all parts, and done the welding my own self. I do have a way to reinforce the frame where it attaches. I dont know how well it will work, but one of these days ill give it a try.

 

Yeah, I had never seen a Curt on the front of a Dak, but on EVERY vehicle I have ever seen one on it has hung low. On their one for the Grand Cherokee the receiver is actually BELOW the entire front bumper whereas the Warn comes out just below the upper bumper half, a good five or six inches higher which is a HUGE difference when it comes to angle of approach...

BTW nice work 'Cowboy. I picked up a set of 8000 lb. D-rings I plan to weld on my Warn front receiver but I've been waiting for another reason to come up to pull the front bumper off. Kinda lazy to go through all that just for the five minutes it'd take me to weld them on. Now if it was my truck and not my daily driver where I'd NEED them on, it'd be a whole 'nuther story...

 

Thanks!

Here is the latest version of my new bumper: This is probably revision 5 or 6 of it. I havent had much time lately to work on it.





The big holes are for the factory Fog lights, The D-tabs are cause i dont know how to mount hooks to this thing, and then you got a cross drilled 2" reciever. I dont know why i put the cross drilled holes in there. I know why i put one in, but i guess i was bored when i did the second set.

 

When you think you have seen every hitch accessory there is you stuble across things like this: Bumper Dumper

 

Here is my hitch/winch setup. I custom made my front hitch from an 80's Chevy van hitch and just made custom brackets to mount up to the frame. I bought a Smittybilt XRC10 10,000lb winch from my local 4wheel drive parts. I got the hitch mount from Harbor Freight. When I did my SAS I Welded up the hitch up to the frame and reinforced it. For me I love this setup, sometimes you might be on a trail that you can't turn around to help someone behind you or you need to winch rearwards. Pull the pin (Which is locked with a key) disconnect the wires and take it to the rear. 2-3mins tops. I got two 0 gauge cables running to the rear to power the winch on the positive side. 140 amp alternator, dual yellow top Optima batteries.

Here is how tall the setup was before my SAS with stock suspension. At the bottom of the fairlead 21in.



Here is a side view of the winch, right now very good clearance. 2ft 5in at the bottom of the fairlead.


Here is it installed on the rear hitch. 2ft 2in at the fairlead.

 

We stopped in Bass Pro on the way to camping about two years ago and they had them. We laughed our a$$es off, but one of the guys almost pulled the trigger on the thing. I think he would have bought it had it not been for the other four of us laughing so hard at the thing...

I also have one of these, have used it off the back of my truck numerous times but haven't put it on the front (or the back) of the Jeep yet:

 

My Dad took a piece of 2" square tube and welded a piece of 1/2 round bar shaped like a dumper seat , and wraped it with some pipe insulation. It was kinda nice. I gotta get me one for the next time i go camping, or atleast the next time i take a girl camping with me.

I used to have one that was mounted to a tire, and it would launch them 9 ways to november. THen i took and mounted it to some 2x2 and it is great now. Sticks out the back just enough that i can have the gate down and still use it.

 

Me and a buddy went halfsees on ours at a flea market, used but barely. Guy was asking $75 and we knew they went for around $100 new if you could catch a good sale. We walked around for maybe an hour and came back and offered him $40, he came back with $60 so we told him we'd take it if he met us in the middle at $50. So for $25 a piece we've used the hell out of it for about four years now. Only thing I've had to replace on it is the pull string.

It throws well, might falter every now and then when you load doubles, but that's even pretty rare...

 

Dinger838....i hope your still gonna post those pics. i have been thinking of doing the same thing.