What winch kit will fit on the front of an 03 2500 CTD? Is there an issue with the intercooler getting in the way?

 

Are you going to change your bumper to a aftermarket bumper? I have been looking and considering a 12.5k winch myself with a nice beefy bumper.

 

Haven't decided. The real nice after market bumpers are kind of pricey - although they would be really neat. I am guessing that is the only way a winch will fit.

 

You could install a front reciever hitch and just get the Warn multi mount. My brother in law has a warn multi mount with the air compressor that he can put either on the front or the rear of his truck. That is the best way in my opinion. Even if you do get a bumper replacement, I would still recomend the multi mount.

 

I was looking at the warn power plant. That is a nice winch.

 

+10 on the warn multi mount, i have the warn 9k winch with the front reciever, it fits right into my rear reciever for front and back. i put the 24' cable and solenoid setup for the rear and the 6' cable set up for the front. put my own tow package together with a 19k ****** block and a 75' extender cable. very nice package and just under 2,000.00 kanadian. reason i went with the multi is i didn't want to change the frontlines of my '07, and i will have to be in a whole lot of **** to need this package, but it's like fire insurance, i have itin case i need it. i have the little brother 2.5k on my quad and works like no tomorrow.

 

Nice. Can you post some pics so we can see the set up.?

 

thanks for asking, i'm at work right now and it is getting dark, but when i get home tomorrow i will take some pics and put them on the forum..

 

Sweet. on my old toyota I had a mile marker 8000 (all I needed) with a mount that my friend made just went around the bumper. was ugly but got the job done.

 

I'd consider a rear mounted winch for the CTD if you flog this truck hard in the desert. As you know, the CTD is very front heavy. Adding to the weight with a heavy duty front bumper will degrade your vehicles offroad performance.
Adding additional weight in the rear would be an added benefit to keep the power on the ground. I'd really like to have one in my truck, however I don't want the weight in the front, and my rear end is going to be busy very soon. However, I've considered some hidden winch setups which are mounted beneath the truck. Some have switchable direction fairleads so you can operate front or to the rear. It sounds rather complicated though. Plus, would you want to crawl under the truck when you're stuck in the muck to hook up or whatever is required to get the cable?