Thinking about winch options

SquireSCA · January 8, 2021

2019 LT Trail Boss 5.3L 8-speed.

No real mods other than 33" GoodYear UltraTerrains with 1.25" hub centric wheel spacers all around, a set of good rock rails, K&N filter and Airaid MIT... That's it.

Been wanting a winch, but I don't want to have to install some expensive, big, heavy and goofy looking extension to the front of the truck.

A friend suggested a front hitch receiver and then a winch that could hook onto that, or, I could move the winch to the rear hitch if I needed to pull the truck back out of something I shouldn't have gotten myself stuck in... Sounds like a solid plan, but what do people suggest?

I don't want to lose much ground clearance in the front, as it would be ironic to have the winch or hitch be the thing that gets the truck hung up to begin with...

What have people used, and any pics of your setup? Don't want to spent a ton of money, but I am thinking that the right, up high or hidden front receiver hitch and a suitable winch in the 4,000lbs or so range would likely get me out of anything that I am likely to ever see... I don't go hardcore off roading, but I want to do some off road stuff and I feel like having a winch might be a good idea, especially if I am alone and out of cell phone range.

thoughts?

Gangly · January 8, 2021

4,000 lbs is WAAAAAAY to little, even for lightest of winching jobs. With a full size truck, 10,000 lbs. would be the absolute lightest I would go, even if I was winching a small truck, in neutral, with fully inflated tires rolling across a smooth asphalt surface. You WILL find yourself in a position where you could use the heavier winch, whether around the property for yourself or someone else.

As of right now there are no hidden winch systems for the 19-21 year model trucks, Sierra or Silverado, which means your only options for a front end winch are a receiver hitch mounted to the front of your truck or an aftermarket bumper which you mentioned that you do not prefer. The Sierra's have a few conservatively styled aftermarket bumpers, but unfortunately the Silverados don't so I doubt you will find one conservative enough to look like a factory optioned bumper, I know I haven't.

Good Luck!

SquireSCA · January 8, 2021

17 minutes ago, Gangly said:

4,000 lbs is WAAAAAAY to little, even for lightest of winching jobs. With a full size truck, 10,000 lbs. would be the absolute lightest I would go, even if I was winching a small truck, in neutral, with fully inflated tires rolling across a smooth asphalt surface. You WILL find yourself in a position where you could use the heavier winch, whether around the property for yourself or someone else.

As of right now there are no hidden winch systems for the 19-21 year model trucks, Sierra or Silverado, which means your only options for a front end winch are a receiver hitch mounted to the front of your truck or an aftermarket bumper which you mentioned that you do not prefer. The Sierra's have a few conservatively styled aftermarket bumpers, but unfortunately the Silverados don't so I doubt you will find one conservative enough to look like a factory optioned bumper, I know I haven't.

Good Luck!

What about this? 500lbs tongue weight, and 9,000lbs pull weight and doesn't look too bad or hang down too low?

https://www.etrailer.com/p-65082.html

It would allow me to get a winch more in the 8,000lbs range which is better than sitting there stuck, I would imagine...

SquireSCA · January 8, 2021

If I get a 12V winch, I could get heavy duty leads off the battery, waterproofed, mount it up under there, and use things other than a winch with it... maybe a light bar that sticks onto a hitch mount, or whatever else I can cook up?

Gangly · January 8, 2021

I personally have never winched off of a front end receiver so I don't think I can answer that with any level of comfort, but anything is better than the 4,000 lbs limit

SquireSCA · January 8, 2021

13 minutes ago, Gangly said:

I personally have never winched off of a front end receiver so I don't think I can answer that with any level of comfort, but anything is better than the 4,000 lbs limit

Well, technically, an 8000lbs winch on a 9000lbs receiver would be strong enough to lift the truck straight up in the air and have it hanging their swinging in the breeze, right? haha

Gangly · January 8, 2021

A general rule of thumb is to utilize a winch that is rated for a bare minimum of AT LEAST 1.5 times your GVWR. Assuming an approximate 7,000 lbs GVWR, you would be recommended to utilize a winch with a bare minimum capability of 10,500 lbs. Thats why most full size trucks utilize winches with a 12,000 lbs rating. However, you can do it with less, but its not recommended.

Also, static weight and dynamic weight are ENTIRELY different animals

SquireSCA · January 8, 2021

19 minutes ago, Gangly said:

A general rule of thumb is to utilize a winch that is rated for a bare minimum of AT LEAST 1.5 times your GVWR. Assuming an approximate 7,000 lbs GVWR, you would be recommended to utilize a winch with a bare minimum capability of 10,500 lbs. Thats why most full size trucks utilize winches with a 12,000 lbs rating. However, you can do it with less, but its not recommended.

Also, static weight and dynamic weight are ENTIRELY different animals

Hmmm... then that mount won't work... And that's the issue I am facing... If I want something discreet and out of the way, then it limits the pull weight I can accomodate. I can get something heavier duty, but then I have a big ugly contraption stapled to the front of the truck that I will realistically use once a year, and hate looking at it the other 364 days... lol

What to do....

Gangly · January 8, 2021

I have seen a photo of a hidden winch setup on our T1's, but I wasn't able to get any details on how the individual accomplished the feat other than the individual posting a short description under the picture saying "Previous Gen Hidden Mount System Bolted up to Current Gen Silverado" or something like that. I know it can be done, but I'm not willing to fab it up myself at this point. I emailed Rough Country sometime early last year and they replied back saying they had one in the works but they weren't sure when it would come out. If they, or somebody else, doesn't have one on the market by the end of 2021, I'll probably try to fab one up myself.

Like you, I probably wouldn't use a winch more than once or twice a year, and it would probably be light duty even then. I just don't want a big, ugly, alien-like steel bumper on the front of my truck if I can help it.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Gangly

Tjeli · January 9, 2021

I am still patiently waiting for a mounting solution. I drive in deep snow a lot and have always had a winch. My last two were Zeon 10-Ss. I might give the VR 12-S a try this time if there are ever any decent mounting options released for the sierra.

-Eli

Unwrntd · January 11, 2021

On 1/9/2021 at 8:32 AM, Tjeli said:

I am still patiently waiting for a mounting solution. I drive in deep snow a lot and have always had a winch. My last two were Zeon 10-Ss. I might give the VR 12-S a try this time if there are ever any decent mounting options released for the sierra.

-Eli

I have a VR12-S in my Sierra via after market bumper. It's not as fancy as the zeon but it's a nice reliable winch with great features.

OlyMike · January 12, 2021

So the consensus is to have at least 10k winch......you can't even use a REAR hitch mount with the 9300 max weight the 3.0 allows with that thinking. But I see lots of youtube videos of a Jeep Cherokee rescue vehicle using a receiver mount hitch to recover FULL SIZE trucks. I'm pretty sure that jeep doesn't have more than a 5k tow rating, but can handle a winch pulling a 2500 HD out of the mud.

SquireSCA · January 12, 2021

52 minutes ago, OlyMike said:

So the consensus is to have at least 10k winch......you can't even use a REAR hitch mount with the 9300 max weight the 3.0 allows with that thinking. But I see lots of youtube videos of a Jeep Cherokee rescue vehicle using a receiver mount hitch to recover FULL SIZE trucks. I'm pretty sure that jeep doesn't have more than a 5k tow rating, but can handle a winch pulling a 2500 HD out of the mud.

I wonder that too. I think in the end that I will probably use the front hitch system that I found and linked to that is rated for 9k lbs, and grab a winch rated for 8,000lbs. For most anything that I am likely to ever need, it should suffice, without having to worry about bending the front end up with a winch that puts way more tension on it than it can handle. Would rather have a winch that in an extreme case, isn't enough and I have to call someone, than to mess up my truck.

djxn40 · January 24, 2021

A 4000lbs winch is what's on my 4 wheeler. It's literally a 4 wheeler winch. I feel your pain though. I was in your shoes and searched weeks for a hidden winch stockish bumper. However no suitable options. I ended up going with my first heavy duty after market bumper... iron cross. After installing it ... holy ****** is it cool. In the heart of that bumper lives a smittybilt X20

12k wireless remote. And I installed fog lights into it for 52 bucks. Wired them directly to the low beam so they stay on all the time .

Edited January 24, 2021 by djxn40