I've searched quite a bit and can't find any info on this.

I don't want to pay for some fancy pre-made winch mount so I am wondering where I would Weld on a mounting bracket?

I want to have it on the front of my truck. I currently use the factory bumper but that may change at some point.

I would imagine I would have to cut a slot in the middle plastic fascia of the bumper to run the line through?

And then maybe mount it to the front cross member or is that a bad idea?

 

On my truck I took a plate of 1/4" steel with a few holes drilled and bolted it to the two frame rails right at the front of the truck and used that to mount my eyelets that I use for tow hooks. If there is enough room you might be able to do the same thing and mount the winch to that plate.

 

You would need to do more than cut a hole. You would need to mount a fairlead so you don't rub and cut your line. I would recommend a steel backing plate to mount the fairlead to so it doesn't get pull out or bent..etc when you have pressure on it.

There might be a front mount hitch they make for the 1500?? You could put your winch on a hitch mount so this way it will be out away from your bumper and you can removed it easily if needed. i think recessed and hidden is the way to go, but you could have portability with it hitch mounted.

 

The power wagon integrated winch look pretty cool. Maybe you could duplicate that setup on a 1500.

 

Yes there is a front mount hitch for a 1500. It bolts under the two front frame horns. However its 200$ plus the mount that slots into that is 100$.

I like the idea of bolting a steel plate between the frame horns. Question is if the bumper bows out enough to fit a winch back in there. Will take a look and see.

I thought the fairlead was mounted to the winch lol apparently I need to continue researching.

 

Even if a fairlead is mounted to your winch, you'll want another at your bumper. Anywhere the line will have contact should have a roller. Otherwise, you'll chafe the line and burn up your winch with excess drag.

 

Makes sense. I came up with an idea- I will post pics when it's done.

 

I got a couple pics of my plate on the frame rails, the pics are too big for this forum. Ill post em up when I figure out how.

 

Heres my towbar setup to give you an idea, you might be able to make it work with a few changes.