Winch Bumper Recommendations?

jefe 4x4 wrote:
It's worth while to understand that their are heavy bumpers made for trucks that are not winch-worthy, and many that are. Your job is to know the difference. You can tell by the amount of bracing or the box around the winch compartment or area. I do like OKAN's bumper, but is it made for a winch? I don't know.
I was in the market for a winch bumper, on and off for a decade. I liked many of the Gen II Dodge offerings, but was never impressed with the price or the weight. I tried quick-and-dirty with a front reciever hitch mounted 10K pound China winch and it failed the second time I used it. I found there is a big difference in mfgrs 'take' on how much winch mount they should include. Some made thei winch part of their bumpers, it seems to me, as an after thought. I wanted a bona fide winch bumper that did not weigh a lot, but still could fend off the bovines when needed. I never wanted a winch bumper for the 'look'. The Warn 15K winch i bought used/cheap ($750) with 90' of 7/16" wire rope weighs around 150 pounds by itself. Why the 15K? From my jeeping days, the rule of thumb was to gauge the winch capacity to equal 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle. So, 10K truck/TC= 15K winch. Just remember, a bigger winch just increases the possibility, under certain circumstances, that you could actually pull the truck apart! I got this talking on the phone to the Warn representative. I took the winch apart and lubed up the whole aparatus, which was pretty dry for a winch that was only used a few times.I finally settled on Warn's tried-and-true winch carrier, which has a very heavy duty without being heavy, box that within the winch sits. The key ingredient here is the ability to access the winch drum from the top so you can rewind the wire rope in tight rows. Many winch bumpers have a fully enclosed drum area, making finite rewinding impossible. Two side plates run vertically from the frame to near the hood opening giving a lot of shear strength to the box the winch sit in if hit straight on. And that day came. A couple flimsy and one heavier cross tubes hold the thing together. I had some H.D. shackles welded on and fabbed up and welded on two more ears to the top of the plates and welding on a larger top tube giving me a 'radiator saver', which is really what you need if you hit a large bovine, or roll the whole truck over. Then I added the flimsy side brush guards that go with the Warn Winch Carrier. They are not much, so I had some 4330 driveshaft tubing left over from my take-along-on-the-Rubicon trips and fabbed them as diagonal bracing, welding them on which added a lot of strength to the fender exposure. As expensive as Warn's winches are, the winch carrier and related bumper stuff is a buy compared to any other amalgam. I would say the carrier, brush guard, rad. saver, extra bracing weigh about 85pounds. The real test was when I hit a bull elk on Hwy 50 in Nevada during the night. His head was about 18" higher than the hood on my 3" lifted Dodge. Luckily, he hit just a bit off-center, with the carrier and shear plates taking the full brunt of the hit. I'm still amazed at how much stopping power this creature had. It's difficult to shudder 10K pounds, plus my jeep on trailer bringing the rig up and over 16K pounds. It was like hitting a brick wall. No air bag was deployed on my '01 Ram.
So to wrap it up; is what I have strong enough? Yes, and no. If the bovine hits in about the center 5 feet of the front of the truck, I'll be fine. The bovine will not. I'm only interested in saving the radiator. If a hit is taken on the last two feet of the edge, it's getting dicey. Probably will be some crumpling. Is the whole thing light weight? Every upgrade I make to my rig is a trade off. I wanted a good-enough, lightweight front winch bumper. I think I achieved that goal.

Just a word of warning. Check out what your front axle will carry and see if adding a big winch and a heavy bumper will put you over the capacity of the axle. It is very easy to get a winch and bumper to get up over 400 pound real quick. This is why you always want to order the snow plow prep package if buying new: heavier springs and weight carrying capacity.
There is a guy in our town who specializes in making winch bumpers for trucks. They are a thing of beauty and much cheaper than the commercial ones. The bumper is so high in front it looks as high as the bumper on a WWII M-3 half track with a sloping skid plate. Plenty of approach angle. This is what my add-on lacks. However, there are municipal and state codes which dictate the height of bumpers on 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 series trucks. This worried me for traveling as i don't think his creation would have passed muster in many states.
You don't need a winch very often, but as has been said, "when you need it, you need it." Among extraction efforts, it is the 100% effort.
jefe

Good points , and yes my bumper is a winch bumper
Like most things you cant have everything though
The reason , beside cost that I haven't bought a winch is the extra weight it would add , although it would be within my trucks axle rating , the need for one is not that great in my case . I would use it more for pulling logs for firewood than anything, so I have thought of buying a cheaper lower rated one just to have one
Like I said before these days I don't drive my truck with or without the camper where I`m likely to get stuck , famous last words LOL
What winch are you really going to get that will be rated for your truck and camper wt anyway, and then is it going to rip your frame up if you us it that way, you cant have everything
Buckstop makes bumpers for winches and a lighter one that doesn't stick out as far for no winch
The one I have is massivly braced for the winch and has a removable acsess dr , the fairlead area is covered by my licence plate
specs