Jump to content

2016-2018 Hidden Winch Factory Bumper

Will O'Daniel
 Share

Recommended Posts

Will O'Daniel Enthusiast

Will O'Daniel

Posted
Posted (edited)

Well, here is mine. No one makes a bracket for a hidden winch because of the tow hook bolt placements on the frame. All brackets and plates were made of 1/4 inch steel. I did have to drill one hole in the frame and run a 4 inch bolt through the passenger side frame, rear hole of the tow hook for the bracket bolts. I also had to cut off the lower front bumper brackets. The winch was to wide to sit between them so they had to go. The last major mod was the lower facia being cut. The fairlead sits right below the metal of the bumper and I cut out the plastic of course. I also cut the plastic to fit a receiver and we welded a small piece of angled steel to the bottom of the winch plate and used the original screws and retainer nuts for the facia bracket. Last, Oregon requires a front license plate. So I used 1-1/4 conduit holders, drilled holes in the license plate and original plate bracket, and it just simply snaps onto the fairlead. Completely hidden. Winch is a Badlands ZXR 12,000 with wireless remote. I am unable to use the spool lock, so no free spool for me on this setup unfortunately. I also ran quick connects 1/0 AWG wire to both front and rear of the truck. I will also be doing a hidden winch on the rear factory bumper of the truck in the coming weeks.

7C6EF1A0-1C10-4276-A583-D2E35CE416C0.jpeg

75D29BF6-CA1B-47E3-8C8E-04A5776741D9.jpeg

4BDA3C16-62EC-46CE-B904-E824846D0952.jpeg

Edited by Will O'Daniel
  • Like 6
  • Replies 75
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Will O'Daniel
Will O'Daniel

Well, here is mine. No one makes a bracket for a hidden winch because of the tow hook bolt placements on the frame. All brackets and plates were made of 1/4 inch steel. I did have to drill one hole in

Will O'Daniel
Will O'Daniel

Final glamour shot!

Will O'Daniel
Will O'Daniel

Rear winch done. I welded these brackets and plates onto the hitch receiver. 

Posted Images

Will O'Daniel Enthusiast

Will O'Daniel

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Driver side brackets. Notice the drop 1-1/2 so the plate can sit on the bracket and also give the clearance I want with the fairlead.

88A40A49-A181-4CE9-B10D-6B359073D572.jpeg

BAC8B786-C4F2-4FF1-9158-081FA9B34BFA.jpeg

  • Like 1
Will O'Daniel Enthusiast

Will O'Daniel

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Passenger side bracket. Mirrors the other bracket. Notice the odd bolt and nut. This is where I had to bore out the tow hook and drill the frame. 

FE63482C-72B0-47DB-BCE6-FE838F3B1923.jpeg

156670DE-1955-44E5-A732-BA683977D65E.jpeg

  • Like 1
Will O'Daniel Enthusiast

Will O'Daniel

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Winch plate and fascia bracket. Just drilled holes for the plate to mount to the bracket and welded a piece of angle iron to the receiver and used the factory bracket mount holes and screws for the facia.

DA1A6C33-1CC9-40CD-8D3F-2707AA546A08.jpeg

7A22FD73-88EA-4236-B304-76326AFA7EF0.jpeg

Edited by Will O'Daniel
  • Like 1
Will O'Daniel Enthusiast

Will O'Daniel

Posted
  • Author
Posted
11 minutes ago, silveradonationfan15 said:

Would you have either picture of your truck side on? this truck looks amazing! What size of lift are you using?

I used a Fabtech 6” lift. She sits on 35x13.5 tires on 20” Fuel Beast rims. 

A4123AC3-AD01-4AD6-9E0D-74DFCD665788.jpeg

  • Like 1
gixxerk8 Enthusiast

gixxerk8

Posted
Posted

Do you do this kind of work for a living or a hobby.  If a living, I would be interested in talking to you about doing another one.  I'm in Southern Oregon. 

  • Like 1
Will O'Daniel Enthusiast

Will O'Daniel

Posted
  • Author
Posted
15 minutes ago, gixxerk8 said:

Do you do this kind of work for a living or a hobby.  If a living, I would be interested in talking to you about doing another one.  I'm in Southern Oregon. 

It’s a hobby. My cousin does this for a living. He lives in Powell Butte, Oregon. He is the one that helped me with the install on this. I had a vision, designed and fabed the brackets, and he helped do the fit and install. You can PM me and I can see what you want to do.

Will O'Daniel Enthusiast

Will O'Daniel

Posted
  • Author
Posted
18 minutes ago, Penguin VII said:

That is amazing! I don't really know that I have a need for a winch but I want one now.

There is always a need for a winch! I could fab up some brackets for you and send them to you if you decide you want to do one! 

Donstar Senior Enthusiast

Donstar

Posted
Posted

Nicely done!  I personally would never cover it with the plate.  I'm not sure where I'd locate the licence but it doesn't matter as everyone will be focused on the winch!

  • Thanks 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Atlas
      Missing thrust bearing? And oil selection

      By Atlas · Posted

      No doubt... But, as someone who doesn't pay for his services, but who has provided a few views/clicks on his Youtube platform, the data around the Mobil oil testing I think does have some value including to "freeloaders" like me.   A lot of what he's doing is likely showing the OE's work in their oil selection, something that many of us had kind of assumed was true all along, a good balance of both excellent protection and efficiency.
    • Z45
      Missing thrust bearing? And oil selection

      By Z45 · Posted

      Lake Speed is drumming up business for his company just by being in the spot-light so he has a vested interest in stoking the 0W-20 fire.  IMO  
    • Chuck FB
      summer road trips in the 2026 2500HD

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      I knew when I bought my truck that it had off road hill decent or craw control or whatever they call it and rolled my eyes at that but it gets throw on with other options my truck has, I just never had a heads up if the highway speed regular cruise setting had anything to do with the brakes and that took me by surprise. If you've ever been to the top of Pikes Peak and watched those ahead of you on the way down with their brake lights on constantly, one can guess they are probably not gearing down or not enough anyway if their vehicle will allow and a good reason their is a brake check spot part way down where they use an infra red heat gun to check how hot ones brakes are front and rear.    Your right that once one gets out of the front range by Denver and I've not been on that stretch of 285 between Denver and Fairplay myself but I know its high and Fairplay at 10000 feet, Buena Vista at 8000, it drops a bit from there but then your going back up and over the 11000 pass and Durango is at 6500 . So yes your definitely right that 6500 and a lot higher is the theme of going anywhere out in that direction from Denver but hey, the down hill sections give fantastic fuel mileage !.    I don't even look at the fuel pumps for what premium costs here, since I live on a farm and up to this point get fuel delivered I am rarely in front of a fuel pump and when I am, I am often using card lock bulk fuel stations so it tells me what the price is AFTER I buy the fuel. Looking up on gas buddy and converting to US gallons but in Canadian dollars, regular on average of the prices listed was around 5.95 and premium is around 7.00 . That was one reason I did not go for the 6.2 half ton aside from its lack of carrying/towing if one was going by the rule of using premium fuel and until recently one could only buy regular farm gas if playing the few cents off game for farm dyed fuel for a "farm licensed pickup". But yes I hear you on the fuel price difference and like the diesel theme with it often being more expensive then gas it doesn't have quite the charm to it either as it once did although right now here for some reason the price of diesel has come down more so its now inline with the price of regular gas. 
    • KARNUT
      Missing thrust bearing? And oil selection

      By KARNUT · Posted

      I agree with this assessment. As you know I’m testing longevity with vehicles for the first time. I have a few vehicles I passed to kids and grandkids. We’re all past 100K miles some approaching 170K. I’m the only one doing 5k oil changes. The rest whatever the minder says. I’m the only one doing frequent transmission service. My odyssey the trip vehicle at 200K will be finished as a trip vehicle. I recently changed to high mileage oil, Valvoline. I can’t get past the fact that all manufacturers want to claim long service life. I just don’t make sense that they would go with low weight oil for mileage. While sacrificing longevity.
    • Atlas
      Missing thrust bearing? And oil selection

      By Atlas · Posted

      There's absolutely a mountain of profit in catering to the "I do my own research" crowd, people who are certain they know better. And I don't mean there isn't data to support that 0w40 produces less wear product than 0w20 in an engine like the 3.0 Duramax, that only feeds them the assurance they need. Again, my whole thing with oil selection is, sure, 0w40 or 0w30 produces less wear product. Are we talking the difference between the engine lasting only 100k versus 200k? Or are we talking more like, if the engine will already go 350k on a good 0w20 regimen recommended by the OE, is using 0w40 going to get us to 355k, assuming we can even get the rest of the truck to last that long, meanwhile sacrificing the first 5y, 100k in powertrain warranty. The answer isn't easy, there are tradeoffs.   I willfully use 0w20 Dexos D for this reason, knowing that a 0w40 will produce slightly less wear. I don't believe the delta in wear product is meaningful over the lifetime of the engine, and I place much more importance on driving style and overall feeding and care of the engine as a whole. It's the mentality that someone can abstain from alcohol their whole life which is an amazing boost to health by itself, theoretically. But if they're sedentary, that lifestyle choice will most likely kill them young despite their other, concerted efforts. Maybe someone doesn't drink AND they are the perfect picture of health and activity AND they use 0w40 AND they treat their engine perfectly. If living until 130 years is the goal, sure, do that. But it's going to be a really old truck falling apart around a good engine for that last 30 years, without a doubt.   I watched Demonworks' other video on the 100k+ 3.0 Duramax that had dealer 0w20 changes on what appears to be OLM-prescribed intervals (8-10k).   The QR codes are still present and readable on the main bearings. That's how little wear it has.   That's not proof that anyone else should stick to 0w20, but it's confirmation, for me, that 0w20 is perfectly acceptable to use in these engines.

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...