NM Stock Bull Bar winch mod

[HaydenT]

Hey guys
Just purchased a tigerz11 12000lb winch the other day and it cant be easily mounted to the stock bull bar on my NM. I really would like to keep the alloy bull bar as i had already done mods to it (Addition of 10mm thick support ribs welded along the internals). In order to keep the the bar i will have to make some thick steel brackets that run from the two hitch points (eyelets connected to the chassis) and raise up to create a platform to mount the winch on. I will also have to cut and weld an aluminium support to the front of the bull bar to fit the cable guide. In theory all the load should be distributed to the chassis via the steel brackets behind the bull bar and only side ways force applied to the bull bar when winching at tight angles. I have done the maths and the brackets will need to be a minimum of 10.667mm steel but over engineering is always better so more like 1/2 inch steel.

Has anyone attempted anything like this? What are your thoughts?

[Herman4x4]

G'day Hayden,
There have been a few that have made or bought a winch cradle that sits behind the bar and between the two chasis rails,, and I think the fairlead is on this as well, so there is nothing attached to the bull bar. Gus is one person who has it set up well. With welds, remember to make sure they are good strong ones as the forces applied when winching can be huge, but it sounds like you know engineering, so tha shoul be all good.
Cheers,
Andrew.

[Gus]

Hayden seen you sound like your handy knock a winch mount up for yourself similar to this:



It mounts to the chassis:



Mines a genuine TJM 1 which are no longer available.. The winch is mounted to it:


As you said on a straight line pull no worries at all on the angle yes if you don't support the alloy bar it will twist/bend as you need to, (If mounting the H/fairlead to the alloy bar itself & not the winch mount),have steel brace between bar & Mount..



Gus.

[Catchin Jack]

You reckon that type of bracket would work with smart bar fitted Gus?

[Gus]

You reckon that type of bracket would work with smart bar fitted Gus?

Can't see why not as long as the winch is mounted to the cradle.. & support/reinforce the bar..
In saying that I'd be checking with the manufactures of the smart bar as they may have a winch kit for the NM..

Gus

[AJC]

Hey Gus, no chance you took exact menasurements befroe installing it?

Would love to put it into a CAD and reverse design so i could have one custom made.

[Gus]

Hey Gus, no chance you took exact menasurements befroe installing it?

Would love to put it into a CAD and reverse design so i could have one custom made.

I wish I had.. Sorry mate..

Gus.

[AJC]

I wish I had.. Sorry mate..

Gus.

No worries...when that big boomer lines you up and gives you a nice new insurance bar, remember to measure up when its off the car!

[HaydenT]

Hey guys thanks for the info, this is what i came up with. For the entire construction i used 10mm X 50mm solid plate. (6 metre length cost me about $40)

I copied the original bull bar mounts using the 10mm plate for better strength. You can see this in the first few photos.

Then bolted the new mounts in and placed two lengths of plate between the left and right mount.

Then I measured the clearance and mounting position of the winch. This wasn't a one man job, it took me and a mate a lot of stuffing round lifting the bull bar on and off to get it correct. I forgot to take photos for a while but the next photos show the final product.

Also whacked up a quick 5mm thick sump/bash plate while I was all it. Should be a bit more rugged than the plastic one that it came with.

[HaydenT]

Some more pics

[HaydenT]

Photos

[HaydenT]

The Final product. Took a total of 4 hours over 3 days.

[Bergman]

Nice job mate, now you can do one for my alloy ECB bar

[HaydenT]

Bergman, thanks mate.

All depends on how much space you have behind the alloy bar. By the look of ECB bars, the winch mount would be pretty similar to mine. But you would have to use a plasma cutter to slot the cable out of the front of the bar which may damage the stability of the bar! I was lucky that the stock bar had the slot at the perfect height.

But where there's a will theres a way...

[peejay68au]

But you would have to use a plasma cutter to slot the cable out of the front of the bar which may damage the stability of the bar! I was lucky that the stock bar had the slot at the perfect height.

My ecb bar has a slot, it hides under the number plate.