Rough Country Hidden Winch Mount

[Starwhitecclb]

Alright, winch kit installed. I ran into the same issues Bstkcase ran into. cut off 9/16” off the plate for it to fit. There is about 1/2” of clearance and I don’t foresee issues if it bent would hit the radiator. So far I’m happy with the winch kit. Looks strong. If I can make a recommendation, do not tighten any of the bolts until you have ALL the brackets installed. Leads were long enough to get to passenger battery.
I did take a video and sent to rough country. Hopefully they sort the issue for future kits.

 

[BroncOh]

Alright, winch kit installed. I ran into the same issues Bstkcase ran into. cut off 9/16” off the plate for it to fit. There is about 1/2” of clearance and I don’t foresee issues if it bent would hit the radiator. So far I’m happy with the winch kit. Looks strong. If I can make a recommendation, do not tighten any of the bolts until you have ALL the brackets installed. Leads were long enough to get to passenger battery.

Nice work and photos! Hoping a Zeon 12S will fit.

 

[Starwhitecclb]

Nice work and photos! Hoping a Zeon 12S will fit.

The clutch handle is very tight in the provided opening. If the zeon is in the same location relative to the bolt holes it should work. But this kit was certainly made for this winch.

 

[Shibbyjeep]

I am definitely going to go this route now opposed to Warn/Factory. A little field modification if needed to make sure it works is perfectly fine for me to save close to a couple thousand dollars(I know technically its closer to $1500 for most but I get all my stuff from my buddys custom shop and he is a RC dealer and I get his pricing so I save a little extra).

 

[Maxx1776]

The clutch handle is very tight in the provided opening. If the zeon is in the same location relative to the bolt holes it should work. But this kit was certainly made for this winch.

In wish Rough Country would have given winch measurements so we could compare the handle height , I guess I will just roll the dice and order the EVO 12S

 

[Muddyz]

Well I can confirm the Badlands will NOT fit this mount. It is clearly too long. In hindsight the posted info on both winches shows that information but I guess I saw “fits most winches” and didn’t really verify the specific figment after the bit pattern.

In addition, as I reread info, the RC website clear says only fits gas models. Despite it saying it works when you enter the diesel and when you chat them and ask if it fits a diesel. Oh well.

 

[bernardofanti]

OK finally reporting back after ordering the kit over a month ago.

2021 Ford F350 Tremor Lariat 7.3L Gas

Took some photos of the bracket & winch fit:

2021 F350 Tremor 7.3L - RoughCountry Install · Monday, Jul 3, 2023 📸

Shared album · Tap to view!

photos.app.goo.gl

Takeaways:

• Mounting kit seems to be SOLID. I'm not structural engineer but the thickness of the material doesn't give me pause and all the strengthening gussets and the structure as a whole gives me confidence.
• Mounting instructions are AWFUL, and there was some hardware missing / mixed up, which left me headscratching for a while.
  • The instructions recommend mounting the winch to the plate, then mounting the plate to the brackets - DO NOT DO THAT - mount the plate to the brackets first! Significantly easier.
• Overall it took me about 4 hours to finish the install.
• For the price and the tucked away aesthetics, would highly recommend.

 

[BroncOh]

Well I can confirm the Badlands will NOT fit this mount. It is clearly too long. In hindsight the posted info on both winches shows that information but I guess I saw “fits most winches” and didn’t really verify the specific figment after the bit pattern.

In addition, as I reread info, the RC website clear says only fits has models. Despite it saying it works when you enter the diesel and when you chat them and ask if it fits a diesel. Oh well.

Hmm, I guess the Zeon 12S would be too long too? The cases look similar in style.

 

[mds2004]

Hmm, I guess the Zeon 12S would be too long too? The cases look similar in style.

It looks the like Zeon is actually longer by another inch.

Badlands is 23.2"

Zeon is 24.25"

 

[BroncOh]

It looks the like Zeon is actually longer by another inch.

Badlands is 23.2"

View attachment 124445

Zeon is 24.25"

View attachment 124446

Nice find! Looks like all of us will have to use the Rough Country winch then unless someone can find an alternative. Sherpa?

 

[BroncOh]

@mds2004 Sherpa winch dimensions:

 

[BroncOh]

Looks like the Sherpa 12K winch may fit perfectly, with room to spare

 

[mds2004]

@mds2004 Sherpa winch dimensions:

You beat me to it. The Sherpa 12K and 17K are the exact same dimensions except for the length. With the 17K being 25mm (~1in) shorter than the Badlands used by Muddyz it would be close but may be doable.


Also, here is what Rough Country's website lists the dimensions of their 12K.

Overall Dimension (L / W / H)	21.3 in x 6.3 in x 8.6 in

This converts to 541mm X 160mm X 218mm.

 

[BroncOh]

You beat me to it. The Sherpa 12K and 17K are the exact same dimensions except for the length. With the 17K being 25mm (~1in) shorter than the Badlands used by Muddyz it would be close but may be doable.


Also, here is what Rough Country's website lists the dimensions of their 12K.

Overall Dimension (L / W / H)	21.3 in x 6.3 in x 8.6 in

This converts to 541mm X 142mm X 218mm.

I got 541 x 160 x 218

 

[mds2004]

I got 541 x 160 x 218

You're right I must have fat-fingered the keyboard. Correcting now.

 

[BroncOh]

You're right I must have fat-fingered the keyboard. Correcting now.

Oh, I ruled out the 17K Sherpa for this reason as evidence, being the Badlands is shorter in length from the drum to side of winch body.

Badlands vs Sherpa:

 

[pickleknuckles]

 

[BroncOh]

Sherpa 12K seems like the winner here for the best quality winch that will fit. Adding to the list and hope I don't have a boat anchor if they don't accept returns.

Sherpa comes with 92 ft. of rope too!

 

[Vecman]

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

My Fab Four was the same thing. Just used a jack to separate the frame rails slightly, and it fit fine. There has to be subtle variations in production of these trucks. Would be hard to allow for all of them. But I didn’t have to separate it much to get the winch mount to fit. Rest of the install was straight forward. Hope you got it figured out

 

[BroncOh]

'Colt' - 12,000Lb Winch

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