I recently put a new brush guard on my truck. It is a custom made steel and linex'ed over top of it. I am thinking about adding a winch to it, however I am wanting to make sure that it is strong enough.

It is mounted by 3 bolts on each side where the tow hooks are. It then has a support brace that goes over the top of the bumper and mounts to the frame as well. There is a total of 12 bolts holding the guard on the truck. 6 on the guard and 6 mounting to the frame. The guard has absolutely no play in it and I can stand on it and jump up and down and just the truck shakes. I way a little over 200 lbs.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Here is a picture of what it looks like on the truck.

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I really couldn't tell you without seeing it. But I'll give you this for comparison. My Warn Transformer Grill Guard mounts with with two bolts to each tow hook mount point and two more bolts underneath, so that would be the same six that yours does. My winch mount (12,000# rated) mounts to the uprights of the grill guard in three places on each side, so there's your other six bolts. However, there are also two 3/8" steel "arms" that mount to the underside of the winch mount and each mounts to the frame where two of the bumper mounting bolts join the frame, substituting longer, grade 8 bolts for the stock bumper bolts.

EVERY bolt that goes into the frame (tow hook holes included) has a front AND backplate that is 3/8" steel.

My old mount was rated for up to a 16,000 lb. winch mounted the same but added two more bolts to the grill guard uprights (it doesn't work with the integrated winches so that's why I pulled it off and stored it).

I've had winches since the mid '90s, mounted every one of them myself and my old man has had a winch since I was in junior high.

I would say IF that grill guard is strong enough to pull the weight of the vehicle (plus a little added stuck factor) then it would support a winch if the mount was strong enough. I would fab up the "arms" that I described which would be easy enough to make out of flat stock, they are just about 14" x 2" x 3/8" straight, flat pieces. I would also use the same material to make backplates for everything.

Since your grill guard doesn't appear to readily hold a winch, I'm sure you'll have to fab the mount too. A bit of work, a bit of fabrication, but assuming the grill guard is strong enough, this is doable.

Existing setup:


and this is the 16,000 lb. rated mount, you can see the extra two bolts up higher on the uprights:

 

Hammer, thanks for the reply. I have a buddy that does some fab work and I was going to talk to him about it. I had also thought about the warn hidden winch mount because I have an area where it would fit between the guard and the bottom if it. This might be a better solution, what do you think?

 

I like the hidden mount, but there's still gonna be some fabbing to be done because it uses the factory tow hook holes. Maybe since the mount goes behind and the grill guard in front, you could mount both and just have to use longer bolts. Dunno for sure.

Another option you have is to mount a front receiver hitch, they are cheap enough, strong enough (about 12k rated on a Ram) and it gives you the option of removing the winch. It also gives you the option of mounting about anything you can weld a 2" square tube to.

 

I was thinking the same thing with using longer bolts. Maybe someone who has a hidden winch setup can chime in?

Here is a picture of the mounts.

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I honestly don't recall anyone here with one. We had one guy (sold out and bought a Furd, LOL) who had one made and welded in behind the bumper a while ago. But maybe someone will chime in.
I know they are proud of the thing though (it ain't cheap). That's why I suggested a receiver hitch. They are relatively inexpensive and more versatile.

Here's a couple things I have that I can hot-swap in/out with my winch:

 

I do like that setup you have there. I would honestly prefer having the winch on the truck all the time. I might look into the hidden mount by warn. If I could just use longer bolts then that would be awesome. You can see that the mounts that I have on there now are pretty strong, but I think that behind the bumper would be easier than fabbing up something to add to the grill guard.

 

Well the reason I suggested the front receiver is that almost all the "Ranch Hand" type grill guard/front bumpers have one built in.



If your grill guard has the strength, then the simplest thing would be to weld on a section of 2 1/4" OD square pipe with a pin hole drilled in it - Done!

 

Thanks hammer, this gives me some things to think about! It is one of the things that I would use it pretty rarely, but if I needed it I would like to know its there.

 

I have a Mile Marker hydraulic winch on my truck. I mount it into a 2" receiver and quick disconnects allow me to remove/install in minutes. It runs off of the stock power steering pump and I made a power disconnect out of male/female cord connectors. I don't want to lose a thousand dollar winch in a fender bender, nor do I want the weather killing it. I use it for some electrical jobs pulling underground cables and for pulling trees out of the woods for firewood.