Winch Bumper Recommendations?
I've had a few close calls recently with deer, elk, and a Bigfoot (JK) and I figure it's only a matter of time until I hit one. I also need a winch so I'm now in the market for a winch bumper or as El...
Forum Discussion
Mike, it might be worth waiting for Warn to develop your application. Or calling them, to see if their application guide is out of date.
Warn does test their products. I bought their 15K winch when it was first introduced almost 15 years ago. I had to wait for an improved mounting kit, because Warn found in testing that the 15K bent their mounts. Prior to the 15K, Warn's largest winch back at that time was the 12K.
Warn redesigned the mounts, using the same dimensions more or less, but upgrading the steel material to HSLA (High Strength Low Alloy), and added two gussets and a doubling plate. The use of HSLA steel made the difference, and that is the mount I ended up buying.
I don't know if the recent bumper crop of aftermarket bumper companies you listed in your original post that have cropped up in recent years have an organized and validated engineering and testing procedure incorporated into their product development process, or if they are simply another iteration of a growing cottage industry of good ol boys with a welder and another wicked looking design. My leanings would be to stick with Warn... a well established company incorporating ISO manufacturing standards, that has led the industry for decades.
I haven't had a lick of trouble with my Warn 15K. I really like the Warn designed hidden mount that it is tucked away in... validated stout... yet not even seen. Any deer that would look at my front bumper would scoff and say "Ha, that's just a flimsy POS stock bumper coming down the road, I can survive that" and take the leap. They would truly be sorry, however, once they felt the impact of the half inch thick steel plate hidden behind the flimsy factory chrome bumper "cover".
I've never hit a deer. I've come awful close, especially along back roads in Idaho and Wyoming. But thankfully, there were signs put up on the road warning me ahead of time. "Game Crossing" (funny how some states say "Wildlife" and other states, like Idaho, say "Game"}. I paid attention to those signs, and slowed way down, even though I didn't see any deer. Then sure enough, I'd round a blind corner, and one would leap out across the road. When I read about people hitting multiple deer, over and over, I have to wonder if they slowed down their driving enough to be able to react and stop fast enough to avoid a collision, if their bad luck streak would change?
The full grill guards are known to bend backwards on impact, arguably causing more damage to the grille, hood, fender, headlights, and radiators then the deer might have caused. I noticed the professional drivers in semi's have low mounted deer guards that are not very high and do not extend much taller than the bumper. The guards are supported top and bottom, and unlike the gargantuan grille guards on some pickup trucks, these professional bumper guards do not have a built in bending moment that leaves a tall unsupported metal mass poised in a cantilevered fashion with no where to go but to fold into the grille, hood, and radiator.
These are the principles I would keep in mind when shopping.
Warn does test their products. I bought their 15K winch when it was first introduced almost 15 years ago. I had to wait for an improved mounting kit, because Warn found in testing that the 15K bent their mounts. Prior to the 15K, Warn's largest winch back at that time was the 12K.
Warn redesigned the mounts, using the same dimensions more or less, but upgrading the steel material to HSLA (High Strength Low Alloy), and added two gussets and a doubling plate. The use of HSLA steel made the difference, and that is the mount I ended up buying.
I don't know if the recent bumper crop of aftermarket bumper companies you listed in your original post that have cropped up in recent years have an organized and validated engineering and testing procedure incorporated into their product development process, or if they are simply another iteration of a growing cottage industry of good ol boys with a welder and another wicked looking design. My leanings would be to stick with Warn... a well established company incorporating ISO manufacturing standards, that has led the industry for decades.
I haven't had a lick of trouble with my Warn 15K. I really like the Warn designed hidden mount that it is tucked away in... validated stout... yet not even seen. Any deer that would look at my front bumper would scoff and say "Ha, that's just a flimsy POS stock bumper coming down the road, I can survive that" and take the leap. They would truly be sorry, however, once they felt the impact of the half inch thick steel plate hidden behind the flimsy factory chrome bumper "cover".
I've never hit a deer. I've come awful close, especially along back roads in Idaho and Wyoming. But thankfully, there were signs put up on the road warning me ahead of time. "Game Crossing" (funny how some states say "Wildlife" and other states, like Idaho, say "Game"}. I paid attention to those signs, and slowed way down, even though I didn't see any deer. Then sure enough, I'd round a blind corner, and one would leap out across the road. When I read about people hitting multiple deer, over and over, I have to wonder if they slowed down their driving enough to be able to react and stop fast enough to avoid a collision, if their bad luck streak would change?
The full grill guards are known to bend backwards on impact, arguably causing more damage to the grille, hood, fender, headlights, and radiators then the deer might have caused. I noticed the professional drivers in semi's have low mounted deer guards that are not very high and do not extend much taller than the bumper. The guards are supported top and bottom, and unlike the gargantuan grille guards on some pickup trucks, these professional bumper guards do not have a built in bending moment that leaves a tall unsupported metal mass poised in a cantilevered fashion with no where to go but to fold into the grille, hood, and radiator.
These are the principles I would keep in mind when shopping.
