Well, I bit the bullet and bought a winch for my H3. After doing much research on available winch mounts, I have decided to fab my own. It would appear from the current manufacturers that the only attachment points used are the four total bolts that attach the stock d rings to the frame. Most of the mounts cost around $650 to $750. Mine will cost a total of $25 for the materials. I made a very similar mount for my old wrangler for a rear mounted winch and it worked great for the 9 years I owned the vehicle. I stopped at a local brick manufacturing plant today and picked up a 4 foot section of 3" x 5" angle iron that is 3/8" thick. PLENTY STRONG. This will allow for a very basic flat mounting surface for the winch body. The mount will ultimately have a roller fairlead attached. The total cost for the angle iron was $15.00. I am adding $10.00 for the cost of paint. If any of you are not familiar with this type of angle iron it is extremely strong. It is used above windows in construction to support the bricks directly above the window. If you have ever tried to cut it, be prepared to use a several bimetal sawzall blades. I will be using a chop saw for nice smooth cuts. This will be the basic shape if looking down on the mount


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The two extended sections at each end will be positioned behind the d-rings and attached to the frame with the factory bolts. The winch itself will be attached to the plate using the basic 4.5" x 10" bolt pattern. I will post some progress pics as the build commences.

 

Looking forward to the Pics........

 

The basic fabrication of the mount is complete. I took about 2 hours to do all of the cutting and drilling. It fits like a glove. I did a mock up of all the components and there are no clearance issues. I will take some pics tomorrow night without the mount being painted. I will also take some completion pics this weekend.

 

 

Well, hopefully I attach the pics correctly. There are several here. First, you will see a pic of my H3. It has nearly 20000 miles on it as I purchased it back in June of 05. You will also see several pics of the interior showing the "entertainment system" that I installed. It has 5 total tvs and a dvd player mounted on the dash. Then you will see pics of the winch mount. There is a front view, a top view, a view showing the mount locations which will be behind the factory tow hooks, and there is a pic of the roller fairlead mount which will be sandwiched between the winch mount and the winch body. The fairlead mount was cut from the original flat mount that came from the winch. The wall thickness of the fabed mount is 3/8". I added some gussets made from 1/4 flat steel stock. This is unpainted. It has 4 coats of permatext rust destroyer/preventer. I will begin painting it tonight. It will be painted Duplicolor gunmetal grey to match the factory bumper. I hope to have the install done this saturday.

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