Rough Country Hidden Winch Mount

[Residualboulders]

Attaboy! That's how we do it my brother! Im glad I was able to provide a little help... 🛠 Salud!

Looks like you moved the solenoid box to the underside of the rough country bracket? Any concern with road grime there? I like the idea of the wireless set up. I can't tell from your pics due to the winch line covering it - Is the winch clutch accessible through the front of the bumper like the ford kit?

I have a 2024 I just bought a few months ago. Planned to put a winch on it as soon as I bought the truck, but expenses of everything... I didn't do it. I have 6k miles on the truck. Thanks to that genius design of the scoop in the front bumper (where the winch goes) it funneled a rock from the road right up into my intercooler destroying it enough they couldn't repair it. Dealer wouldn't cover it under warranty since it was a road hazard issue. I had to buy a new intercooler to get my truck running again. So $1800 later I still don't have a winch. Now I'd like to put a winch in there partly because I want one, but also to hopefully prevent the same issue from happening again.

 

[trmrzla]

Hopefully putting one in this weekend

 

[Oscar_iuec18]

Looks like you moved the solenoid box to the underside of the rough country bracket? Any concern with road grime there? I like the idea of the wireless set up. I can't tell from your pics due to the winch line covering it - Is the winch clutch accessible through the front of the bumper like the ford kit?

I have a 2024 I just bought a few months ago. Planned to put a winch on it as soon as I bought the truck, but expenses of everything... I didn't do it. I have 6k miles on the truck. Thanks to that genius design of the scoop in the front bumper (where the winch goes) it funneled a rock from the road right up into my intercooler destroying it enough they couldn't repair it. Dealer wouldn't cover it under warranty since it was a road hazard issue. I had to buy a new intercooler to get my truck running again. So $1800 later I still don't have a winch. Now I'd like to put a winch in there partly because I want one, but also to hopefully prevent the same

Looks like you moved the solenoid box to the underside of the rough country bracket? Any concern with road grime there? I like the idea of the wireless set up. I can't tell from your pics due to the winch line covering it - Is the winch clutch accessible through the front of the bumper like the ford kit?

I have a 2024 I just bought a few months ago. Planned to put a winch on it as soon as I bought the truck, but expenses of everything... I didn't do it. I have 6k miles on the truck. Thanks to that genius design of the scoop in the front bumper (where the winch goes) it funneled a rock from the road right up into my intercooler destroying it enough they couldn't repair it. Dealer wouldn't cover it under warranty since it was a road hazard issue. I had to buy a new intercooler to get my truck running again. So $1800 later I still don't have a winch. Now I'd like to put a winch in there partly because I want one, but also to hopefully prevent the same issue from happening again.

Oh my man that sucks! Sorry to hear about that intercooler ordeal... going back to your questions the solenoid box is mounted exactly how the original winch that RC recommends is mounted, that's how it mounts on the underside, the only difference is I moved it a little bit forward on that plate/bracket because this solenoid box is a little wider than the original would be, and you'll need room to clear the mounting hardware for the plate to winch bracket, so what i did was when I had the box open to extend all the wires from the solenoid box to winch i also traced the factory holes from the plate to the solenoid box with a marker making sure I was going to clear all the electrical connectors inside the box and I carefully drilled the plastic making sure not to messed anything up, then used 1/4-20 bolts to mount it, you want to mount the solenoid box to the plate before putting the plate to the Winch otherwise you're not going to be able to put it in... just a little bit of fabrication but nothing too bad I think, as for the winch disengaging lever is accessible from the front just like the ford set up and the recommend RC winch would be, no problems there..... road grime? I don't worry about that too much (but I live in Southern California is dry here we never even get rain really) the box is IP68 rated although that got compromised since i drilled holes on it to mount it to the plate ... but otherwise I think you'll be fine with road grime you can always relocated the box elsewhere if that's a concern but to me it was the easiest fastest way to relocate it, and also allowing me to have access to the wired connector in case the wireless remote ever decides to quit working or the baterry dies or something like that, I also have the option of just plugging it in and use the winch.

 

[Residualboulders]

Oh my man that sucks! Sorry to hear about that intercooler ordeal... going back to your questions the solenoid box is mounted exactly how the original winch that RC recommends is mounted, that's how it mounts on the underside, the only difference is I moved it a little bit forward on that plate/bracket because this solenoid box is a little wider than the original would be, and you'll need room to clear the mounting hardware for the plate to winch bracket, so what i did was when I had the box open to extend all the wires from the solenoid box to winch i also traced the factory holes from the plate to the solenoid box with a marker making sure I was going to clear all the electrical connectors inside the box and I carefully drilled the plastic making sure not to messed anything up, then used 1/4-20 bolts to mount it, you want to mount the solenoid box to the plate before putting the plate to the Winch otherwise you're not going to be able to put it in... just a little bit of fabrication but nothing too bad I think, as for the winch disengaging lever is accessible from the front just like the ford set up and the recommend RC winch would be, no problems there..... road grime? I don't worry about that too much (but I live in Southern California is dry here we never even get rain really) the box is IP68 rated although that got compromised since i drilled holes on it to mount it to the plate ... but otherwise I think you'll be fine with road grime you can always relocated the box elsewhere if that's a concern but to me it was the easiest fastest way to relocate it, and also allowing me to have access to the wired connector in case the wireless remote ever decides to quit working or the baterry dies or something like that, I also have the option of just plugging it in and use the winch.

Thanks for the reply! I'm in WY so I guess by road grime I mean all the residue that comes with snowy roads and muddy dirt roads that have been oiled for dust when dry. For that reason around here directly under the front bumper is a little bit of a concern for me I guess. This diesel superduty (my first one) is surprisingly tight under the hood so not much room for accessories. I don't want to pay ford's premium for their kit so I'll make this one work. I fabricate stuff for mods on Land Cruisers all the time so I'm sure I can figure it out, but thanks for the info that gives me some direction.

 

[Oscar_iuec18]

Thanks for the reply! I'm in WY so I guess by road grime I mean all the residue that comes with snowy roads and muddy dirt roads that have been oiled for dust when dry. For that reason around here directly under the front bumper is a little bit of a concern for me I guess. This diesel superduty (my first one) is surprisingly tight under the hood so not much room for accessories. I don't want to pay ford's premium for their kit so I'll make this one work. I fabricate stuff for mods on Land Cruisers all the time so I'm sure I can figure it out, but thanks for the info that gives me some direction.

Not a problem brother, I figured you meant snow, i wish I get snow here! Never a snowy Xmas in SoCal! ... lol! Anyhow like I said i don't think putting it under there is much of a problem and most definitely you'll still have your ground clearance as there is other parts in the truck that stick out lower than what the box would be if I was you and snow and mud is a concern I'll probably still do it how I did it and just use some type of sealant in the places I might think it would have snow or mud intrusion! Hope this helps and shows us what you did once you do it! Happy Wrenching!🛠

 

[Oscar_iuec18]

Hopefully putting one in this weekend

Make sure you add pictures of what you did so everyone here keeps having options on different ways to get it done!

 

[trmrzla]

Make sure you add pictures of what you did so everyone here keeps having options on different ways to get it done!

Absolutely!

 

[trmrzla]

I got the winch installed yesterday. I just followed Oscar_iuec18 's instructions. If you go with the 13000lbs winch, you're going to have to redo the wires from the winch to the control box (they're not long enough) and also drill two holes on the mounting plate of the control box (and use your own bolts/nuts) to be able to mount to the bracket, because the holes on the bracket don't align with the mounting points of the controller box on the 13000lbs winch.

Aren't you guys worried about the top mounting portion from the relay box rubbing on the rope? I'm grinding mine off.

 

[Oscar_iuec18]

Aren't you guys worried about the top mounting portion from the relay box rubbing on the rope? I'm grinding mine off.

You mean the winch tie rods? The 2 bars that keeps both sides of the winch together?, if so I thought about it looking a little tight but if you really think about it, is going to be tight there regardless it doesn't matter how the rope spills off that drum it's always going to be tight that's just the nature of the design i think the rope is just a little too long for the drum we can easly use a shorter rope and still be good ... as far as to rubbing and chaffing the rope and potentially cutting it i don't think that will happen there is nothing sharp there that will cut that rope.... what do you mean by grinding them off??? Like cutting them off?

 

[trmrzla]

You mean the winch tie rods? The 2 bars that keeps both sides of the winch together?, if so I thought about it looking a little tight but if you really think about it, is going to be tight there regardless it doesn't matter how the rope spills off that drum it's always going to be tight that's just the nature of the design i think the rope is just a little too long for the drum we can easly use a shorter rope and still be good ... as far as to rubbing and chaffing the rope and potentially cutting it i don't think that will happen there is nothing sharp there that will cut that rope.... what do you mean by grinding them off??? Like cutting them off?

Yes and yes! I'll take a picture of mine tomorrow.

 

[Oscar_iuec18]

Ouch! I don't think you want to cut those my brother, I believe those are there to hold the winch together... but I could be wrong I would ask rough country first if those could be remove without affecting the integrity of the winch

 

[RS90]

I doubt he's talking about completely removing the cross bars. Just cutting off the sharp edges where the relay box used to mount. Round those off or you will wear through the rope dragging it around a sharp corner. If it doesn't get caught on the sides first when you try to spool it back up.

 

[Oscar_iuec18]

I doubt he's talking about completely removing the cross bars. Just cutting off the sharp edges where the relay box used to mount. Round those off or you will wear through the rope dragging it around a sharp corner. If it doesn't get caught on the sides first when you try to spool it back up.

there is no sharp edges there and the bars are cast aluminum so I think if he grinds it down he is more like to rough it up and now for sure the rope will get caught and likely get destroy but let's see what he comes up with...

 

[trmrzla]

Ouch! I don't think you want to cut those my brother, I believe those are there to hold the winch together... but I could be wrong I would ask rough country first if those could be remove without affecting the integrity of the winch

Not cut....ground down the high spot is more like it.

 

[trmrzla]

I doubt he's talking about completely removing the cross bars. Just cutting off the sharp edges where the relay box used to mount. Round those off or you will wear through the rope dragging it around a sharp corner. If it doesn't get caught on the sides first when you try to spool it back up.

Exactly! Just taking it down a bit.

 

[RS90]

there is no sharp edges there and the bars are cast aluminum so I think if he grinds it down he is more like to rough it up and now for sure the rope will get caught and likely get destroy but let's see what he comes up with...

I was more talking about trimming off those mounting points on the blue line in this photo:

If you compare that shape to the original "front" of the winch where the cable comes out that mount is hanging down into the path of the rope as it comes off the top of the drum and into the fairlead. In the foot down orientation you can see the cross bar goes up higher in the middle to give the rope more room to pass through. As you are using the winch the rope is going to have a tendency to bunch up if you are pulling at anything more than a straight line out the front. It could wrap enough layers to one side to start rubbing on that point.

The bottom mounting point for the relay should be fine because you'll likely never wrap the winch around the bottom of the drum.

If the RC mount was leaned back at an angle instead of straight up and down I'd be less concerned about the interference.

 

[trmrzla]

I was more talking about trimming off those mounting points on the blue line in this photo:

View attachment 206779

If you compare that shape to the original "front" of the winch where the cable comes out that mount is hanging down into the path of the rope as it comes off the top of the drum and into the fairlead. In the foot down orientation you can see the cross bar goes up higher in the middle to give the rope more room to pass through. As you are using the winch the rope is going to have a tendency to bunch up if you are pulling at anything more than a straight line out the front. It could wrap enough layers to one side to start rubbing on that point.

View attachment 206780

The bottom mounting point for the relay should be fine because you'll likely never wrap the winch around the bottom of the drum.

If the RC mount was leaned back at an angle instead of straight up and down I'd be less concerned about the interference.

Exactly my concern! After loading the rope a couple times, it was obvious it was going to be an issue.

 

[Oscar_iuec18]

Exactly my concern! After loading the rope a couple times, it was obvious it was going to be an issue.

Trim it up if it works ill do it to mine, i already used my winch without an issue but I can always improve things... we are here to shared experiences, so if you can improve it shows us how so we can follow along...

 

[trmrzla]

Trim it up if it works ill do it to mine, i already used my winch without an issue but I can always improve things... we are here to shared experiences, so if you can improve it shows us how so we can follow along...

Sorry for the delay everyone, just got back outside this afternoon. I would say this might be the smoothest part of the winch now!

 

[trmrzla]

And with all the rope on the drum:

I feel better!