Rough Country Hidden Winch Mount

So I finished the install. The directions that they supply absolutely sucked. I have a 22 Diesel and the mount did not fit originally. Spent may hours on the phone and emailing pictures back and forth with Rough Country. The sent me out a new mounting kit. Unfortunately it was identical. I decided to give it a shot and used a bandsaw to trim 3/4 of an inch off of the winch mounting bracket the repainted the plate. With the 3/4” removed I was able to successfully get the witch mount and winch installed. I didn’t have to drill any new holes just trim off the top. Also I probably could have just cut off 1/4” and it would have worked. I hope this helps.
 
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henry5six said:
I don't have the kit but I would think that you could trim it down for fit and double up on the base plate for additional support. Do y'all think that would work?

I too want this to work. Even with the modifications, way better than the +$3,000 WARN option.
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Don’t forget about the Goremantech option, from @04sshd here on the forum (link below). $600 with no fitment issues, though only the Apex Badlands winch is guaranteed to fit. And built stronger (thicker metal) than the Rough Country mount.

GTS Winch Kits - 2017+ Ford Superduty Tremor Winch Alternative at less than half the cost using a Harbor Freight APEX Badland Winch

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gormantechservices.com

For my money, even with the added cost of hiring someone to weld it, it seems worth it. Especially if you’re having to modify the Rough Country one just to get it to fit in the first place.

(Not just you, but everyone on the thread.)
 
Bsktcase93 said:
So I finished the install. The directions that they supply absolutely sucked. I have a 22 Diesel and the mount did not fit originally. Spent may hours on the phone and emailing pictures back and forth with Rough Country. The sent me out a new mounting kit. Unfortunately it was identical. I decided to give it a shot and used a bandsaw to trim 3/4 of an inch off of the winch mounting bracket the repainted the plate. With the 3/4” removed I was able to successfully get the witch mount and winch installed. I didn’t have to drill any new holes just trim off the top. Also I probably could have just cut off 1/4” and it would have worked. I hope this helps.
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No photos of the cutting mods, install, and showing the clearance to the radiator? :(
 
So the final verdict on this is if you have the 6.7, then you need to shave off 1/4" of the bracket? Any pics of the spot? I had this and the RC 1200 winch in the cart waiting to see how this panned out. Appreciate this group.
 
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BroncoHooves said:
How much clearance is there between the radiator now? In case winch deflects some I don’t want it to come close to touching.
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Bronco, are you leaning towards buying this now with the trim of the plate? Are you looking to install the RC winch or warn like previously mentioned?
 
Starwhitecclb said:
Bronco, are you leaning towards buying this now with the trim of the plate? Are you looking to install the RC winch or warn like previously mentioned?
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I would like to get the Zeon 12S with the RC kit. I need confirmation on radiator clearance though after trimming the plate. Wish there were more photos..

I can trim the plate with my laser. :cool:
 
Alright, considering this winch won’t be used a lot by me (mostly snow recoveries or maybe hunting recoveries) and I’m never usually in a position when this is a life or death situation like SAR or similar, I ordered the kit with the RC winch.

If I find that the winch proves to be not great, hopefully by that time bronco hooves has an awesome write-up of installing a warn winch and I can swap it out later.
Obviously there are issues with all brands of winches, just wondering if this one will stand up to my minimal use.
 
I've got a 7.3 so no diesel fitment issues for me. I'll be doing this next spring before we head back to Alaska for the summer with the Airstream. On the fence between the rough country provided winch vs the HF Badlands Apex. Hopefully some more data points out there by next spring. Thanks for all the trailblazing legwork on this stuff folks!
 
Huck Norris said:
On the fence between the rough country provided winch vs the HF Badlands Apex. Hopefully some more data points out there by next spring. Thanks for all the trailblazing legwork on this stuff folks!
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That's my only holdup on ordering this too.
 
I will have a gorman up for sale shortly, never touched still in stock packaging. it'll be posted up in the for sale section once the new bumper is installed
 
Andy said:
I will have a gorman up for sale shortly, never touched still in stock packaging. it'll be posted up in the for sale section once the new bumper is installed
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I have one as well, still in its packaging, never opened. Just so people know that once yours is purchased, there’s another one still available.
 
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Andy said:
I will have a gorman up for sale shortly, never touched still in stock packaging. it'll be posted up in the for sale section once the new bumper is installed
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sorta off topic, but kinda not. For the love of god and the help of the little pigmy people of new guinea, man has quality of stuff in production gone to the crapper since covid, trying to install the new bumper and guess what, the winch mount plate will not fit between the frame rails WTF! I called fab4 customer service and sent some pics of the quagmire i'm in. the winch mount plate has 29 7/8" minimum span between the frame rails, the frame rails on the truck are 29 1/2". probably a 3/16" error to give space for variance. Tech said it was a production error and they are making and shipping me a new one. blech! at least their tech support has been helpful so far.

9 winch plate near frame rails.jpg
 
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Andy said:
sorta off topic, but kinda not. For the love of god and the help of the little pigmy people of new guinea, man has quality of stuff in production gone to the crapper since covid, trying to install the new bumper and guess what, the winch mount plate will not fit between the frame rails WTF! I called fab4 customer service and sent some pics of the quagmire i'm in. the winch mount plate has 29 7/8" minimum span between the frame rails, the frame rails on the truck are 29 1/2". probably a 3/16" error to give space for variance. Tech said it was a production error and they are making and shipping me a new one. blech! at least their tech support has been helpful so far.

View attachment 123587
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Dang you can't catch a break at all, can you?
 
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