Hidden Winch in a Stock Bumper

[Jacob Szymanski]

First time posting in the Silverado forums but I think some of you may be interested. This is the first hidden winch mount in a stock bumper that I've seen, I know Rough Country makes a bumper insert for $899 that replaces the front plastic as well. The mount fits between the frame rails and mounts to the exiting bumper/tow hook bolt locations. Whole thing is made from about 5 feet of 1/4"x8" steel plate I got from the local metal supply for $80 (used to be $45 but material cost has gone up). Basic process for the install was remove the plastic skid plate, remove the tow hooks, cut the bumper for the fairlead (I have a steel cable so the hole is substantial, a synthetic line fairlead is quite small), measure between the frame rails for the bottom plate (~26 3/8"), make the two side plates (~10" long, 8" high), mark the bolt hole locations (easiest to have a friend hold then mark since measuring accurately was challenging), tack the sides on perpendicular, make the fairlead mount out of two 2"x4" plates for the front and 2 2"x7" plates for the angles pieces then hold and tack those in place on the truck to ensure they are exactly where they need to be (I may go back and add some more supports since even the 1/4" plate has some bend under a lot of load), remove the mount and finish weld with some additional supports as wanted/needed, check fitment and mock up winch location, drill holes for winch, paint, mount in truck. Location of the solenoid box will vary but mine is right on the frame rail, and you'll need to trim the front of the plastic skid plate to fit. It is difficult to reach the clutch of the winch but you can just use the "out" feature on the remote or lay under the truck to reach it. I went with the harbor freight 12,000 lb winch since I don't expect much use out of it (mostly pulling stumps and fence posts) but there should be plenty of room for just about any winch (measured about 8" of room from the bottom plate to the radiator lower support if you make the side plates flush with the top of the frame rails). I've got some pics of the install, sorry I didn't take the time to do a full writeup but let me know if there are any questions and I'll be happy to answer!

[Jacob Szymanski]

[Jacob Szymanski]

[Jacob Szymanski]

[garagerog]

Looks good, nice work!

[Steve Martin]

Good job.  I'd be interested to see the battery connections.  How you handled that.

[WeGone]

How do you plug the controller in?

Is it hard to reach the free spool handle?

Edited April 6, 2022 by WeGone

[Gangly]

Looks Great Jacob!

 

You can also purchase the winch mount plate from other kits.  I bought mine from a Fab Fours kit if I remember correctly, drilled two holes, did a little grinding, and it mounted up perfectly.

 

 

 

I ordered, and received, extended control box cables from a company in Canada but I haven't wired it up yet since I've been too busy with work.  I'm very curious to see how you wired yours up, as I plan on using  perko switch for mine.

 

Great job and keep the photos coming!  Way to take the initiative and get it done!

 

[Z71-K9]

Why is there nothing for GMC?  Seems like every manufacturer excludes GMC specidically.

[Meethead]

On 4/7/2022 at 8:55 AM, Gangly said:

Looks Great Jacob!

 

You can also purchase the winch mount plate from other kits.  I bought mine from a Fab Fours kit if I remember correctly, drilled two holes, did a little grinding, and it mounted up perfectly.

 

 

 

I ordered, and received, extended control box cables from a company in Canada but I haven't wired it up yet since I've been too busy with work.  I'm very curious to see how you wired yours up, as I plan on using  perko switch for mine.

 

Great job and keep the photos coming!  Way to take the initiative and get it done!

 

would you have the part number for the Fab four Winch mount plate that you ordered, or a link? I would love to get this installed on my 21 TB

[Jacob Szymanski]

Here’s the battery connections, I went with a fuse since I did not have a way to crimp the large wires to make an extension for the breaker to mount outside of the battery cover. The spool handle is difficult to reach so I usually just hold the “out” button to spool the winch out. The controller connection is under the truck by the frame rail so I’m planning to get a wireless remote soon not to have to deal with that, or wire it to a switch inside the truck. 

[Jacob Szymanski]

On 4/7/2022 at 7:55 AM, Gangly said:

Looks Great Jacob!

 

You can also purchase the winch mount plate from other kits.  I bought mine from a Fab Fours kit if I remember correctly, drilled two holes, did a little grinding, and it mounted up perfectly.

 

 

 

I ordered, and received, extended control box cables from a company in Canada but I haven't wired it up yet since I've been too busy with work.  I'm very curious to see how you wired yours up, as I plan on using  perko switch for mine.

 

Great job and keep the photos coming!  Way to take the initiative and get it done!

 

That mount looks awesome! I searched for a long time and did not see anything for these trucks. Let me know if you want to see anything else about the wiring and I’ll be happy to take pictures.

[Jacob Szymanski]

Also, the solenoid pictured is for a power inverter I have mounted in the tool box in the bed. The other small wires are for some fog lights and ditch lights. I made the mounts for those as well and can send pictures in case anyone is curious about those.

[Steve Martin]

Good job on the battery.  Makes sense.  Was trying to understand what that solenoid was for.  Thanks for posting.

[Jacob Szymanski]

Had some time today to clean up the wiring, here’s a great spot to get wires from the engine bay into the cab I wanted to share. Just have to cut a hole in the rubber grommet then I taped it to the corrugated wrap really well. There is another one just like it on the passenger side too. Also decided to wire the winch into the cab on a rocker switch instead of a wireless remote, will post once I get that done.