Rough Country Hidden Winch Mount

[eptesicus]

17k loosely installed.

 

[eptesicus]

Well that's not going to work...

I can move the selector up or down 25°, but the bumper may interfere with it. If so, I'll be cutting the bracket.

On the right side, the bracket just barely clears the body of the winch and the positive cable. I also may have to notch that area out when it comes time to mount the bumper, as the bracket is up nearly all the way in the slot holes where the bumper mounts to the frame.

To be continued...

 

[Jackjam]

The thickness of the bumper mount will give you some room between the fairlead bracket and the winch. Might be enough. Can you flip the motor 180° to put all the cable connections in the back?

 

[eptesicus]

The thickness of the bumper mount will give you some room between the fairlead bracket and the winch. Might be enough. Can you flip the motor 180° to put all the cable connections in the back?

I thought about flipping it, but the negative is on the back side currently and I would have the same issue there. Not sure if it can be rotated 90° though... Weather permitting, I'll spend some time on it later tomorrow.

I also am curious if I can flip the clutch lever 180°. My photo above has the clutch in the engaged position, which requires it going counter-clockwise to disengage. Though, if I can flip it, then I should be able to swing it on the right side in lieu of the left.

 

[eptesicus]

Success. I was able to rotate the clutch lever 180° after taking apart the winch. Luckily, the sticker could also be easily rotated.

Now onto the issue of the winch not fitting in between the brackets on the bumper. Although the winch tray instructions show the fairlead bracket installed in between the frame and the bumper, I'm planning on installing mine in front of the bumper. If I were to install the fairlead bracket in between, I'd have an issue with the left of the fairlead bracket interfering with the bumper, given the angle...

I had some 3/4" spacers on hand to try to space the bumper and fairlead bracket forward some, but the factory bolts aren't long enough, and 3/4" was more than what I needed. I think I'll head to Ace tomorrow and get some washers and maybe some longer bolts. If I don't space it out, then I'll have to cut the brackets on the bumper. I want to hold off on that for now and see if I can space it out enough for the bumper to clear the winch.

 

[Jackjam]

To be honest I didn’t read the instructions when I installed mine but seems like it would be physically impossible for the fairlead bracket to go behind the bumper. The brackets on the bumper would be all in the way. Good job on the clutch lever, these mounts appear to be pretty versatile with some ingenuity.

I had to space my bumper 3/4” and trim the bumper.

 

[eptesicus]

To be honest I didn’t read the instructions when I installed mine but seems like it would be physically impossible for the fairlead bracket to go behind the bumper. The brackets on the bumper would be all in the way. Good job on the clutch lever, these mounts appear to be pretty versatile with some ingenuity.

I had to space my bumper 3/4” and trim the bumper.
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Thanks for sharing that. I looked back at your setup and I really like that you put the control box behind the fog light. I'll have to do something similar, as the large sherpa box is just asking to get beat in the RC kit's location. Luckily, I picked up the wireless controller for the winch, so accessing the box doesn't have to be too convenient.

Can you share why you had to space the bumper AND cut it? I know we have different winches, but I'm just wondering what prevented yours from clearing the cut bumper brackets that required you to space it too.

 

[Jackjam]

The body on the zeon winch is huge. It won’t fit between the bumper brackets without trimming each side, then vertically it won’t clear the bottom edge of the bumper opening without a bare minimum of a 3/4” spacer.

In this picture you can see the bottom edge of the bumper almost touching the winch. Also reminds me about the valence bolts you might want to remove or flip while you have the bumper off.

 

[eptesicus]

The body on the zeon winch is huge. It won’t fit between the bumper brackets without trimming each side, then vertically it won’t clear the bottom edge of the bumper opening without a bare minimum of a 3/4” spacer.

In this picture you can see the bottom edge of the bumper almost touching the winch. Also reminds me about the valence bolts you might want to remove or flip while you have the bumper off.


View attachment 155459

That's very helpful. Thank you!

 

[eptesicus]

Alright, boys and girls. She's installed and the bumper is put back on after trimming and priming the brackets. While the fit is good now, I may trim the brackets further towards the bottom to get some better clearance for the winch. No spacers were needed.

I still need to move the control box. I have a wireless remote for it, so I don't need it to be very accessible, so I'll likely mount it behind the driver's side fog light like @Jackjam did. Thanks again, JJ, for sharing your experience.

 

[Shooter373]

Just received a message from Rough Country's customer service in response to my inquiry if they had tested the hidden winch mount on the '23s, or when they expect to have one that fits the '23s. They responded, "we don't offer one for the 23 models sorry"

Guess it will be up to this community to figure out if the current product will work.

I don't see ANY DIFFERENCE whatsoever! I've been comparing stock photos of '23's next to the '22 with the winch mounted in it on Rough Country's website... NO difference! This is really frustrating me!!! Rough Country is about to lose a sale!!! Are there any significant changes that you know of???

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

I don't see ANY DIFFERENCE whatsoever! I've been comparing stock photos of '23's next to the '22 with the winch mounted in it on Rough Country's website... NO difference! This is really frustrating me!!! Rough Country is about to lose a sale!!! Are there any significant changes that you know of???

My shop had to trim a bracket a little as the fairlead mount is hitting some of the bracketry for the bumper. A little bit of work to make it fit, but overall the kit works with the rough country winch.

 

[Shooter373]

So, where they had to trim is on the back of your bumper? The factory bumper bracket? And just so I'm clear, there is NO modification of anything else? I think I got confused by some other posts talking about relocating the ACC radar, but what I'm now understanding is that they were talking about switching to an aftermarket bumper. I just want to confirm that the RC setup WILL fit a '23 Tremor with a 7.3, even though RC WON'T tell you that.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

So, where they had to trim is on the back of your bumper? The factory bumper bracket? And just so I'm clear, there is NO modification of anything else? I think I got confused by some other posts talking about relocating the ACC radar, but what I'm now understanding is that they were talking about switching to an aftermarket bumper. I just want to confirm that the RC setup WILL fit a '23 Tremor with a 7.3, even though RC WON'T tell you that.

Yes, it will fit. Only need to relocate the ACC module if you go with the Gorman winch mount (a sturdier mount, but that is a downside). If you want to go with a winch other than the rough country, then you've gotta do a lot of work to get the winch to fit. So if you want a different winch, may be better going with the Gorman mount and relocating the ACC.

I don't plan on using the winch often, so spending the greater cost for the Gorman mount, plus cost to get it welded and powder coated, meant nearly 8x the cost of the Rough Country mount.

 

[Shooter373]

Yes, it will fit. Only need to relocate the ACC module if you go with the Gorman winch mount (a sturdier mount, but that is a downside). If you want to go with a winch other than the rough country, then you've gotta do a lot of work to get the winch to fit. So if you want a different winch, may be better going with the Gorman mount and relocating the ACC.

I don't plan on using the winch often, so spending the greater cost for the Gorman mount, plus cost to get it welded and powder coated, meant nearly 8x the cost of the Rough Country mount.

Thanks for the info! Same thinking here I don't plan on using the winch often, but I want it for the just in case scenario! lol. So the RC is good enough for me, and if I need more than 12K pounds + a snatch block I've probably got bigger problems!