Front bumper w/ winch cradle

[delicat]

Almac,

With a winch you usually need to double the weight of your truck 'cause once you're stuck in mud your Deli will weigh a lot more than 4000lbs... As for added weight it's still lighter than a passenger at the front, it's a bit more forward so that 100lbs winch might compare to a 140lbs front passenger. As for approach angle it depends where you mount it but lower is better, won't necessary hurt your angle.

[jessef]

A 8000 lbs winch is minimum. A 9-10k winch is optimal for the Delica's weight.

I treeplanted for 2 seasons and was one of the volunteer drivers. We had fully decked out F350's with 12k winches and a lot of pulley's/hardware. They made each of us take a 4 day recovery course before we were allowed to drive the rigs on the logging roads and blocks. Before that, I had little recovery experience and made some stupid mistakes. Luckily, no one was ever hurt. While planting, I ended up winching out of 52 planting days, about 12-14 days. A lot of mud and lots of loose rock. Sometimes piggybacking 2-3 rigs to get one out involving a lot of time and coordination.

Winching is a last resort.

If you are a winch noob, I highly recommend a recovery course or at the very least a good 4x4 recovery book to learn on.

You see and hear a lot of mistakes people make using a winch/cable because they just don't know what is the correct and safest way in different situations such as this one

[almac]

theres actually a course for winching?? news to me.

[jessef]

theres actually a course for winching?? news to me.

Best place to get hooked up if you don't know anyone who gets on the trails.

http://4wdabc.ca/

[Geoff McNamara]

Ideas and designing input would be appreciated and more heads are better than one in this case !


I personally like the first photo you posted. I have had that design in my head for awhile now. With one exception. I would build the box of the actual bumper slightly wider to accommodate storage of a jack-all, rope, and/or a shovel. Design the lower guards in the same profile as the front lower steps, but closer to the body to allow a decent approach angle, and move the coolers up and into a better hiding place. I don't use a winch, so that is not important for me. But a little extra storage in the front for the "noisy" pieces would be great. If anybody is building, I would really appreciate any and all info as I would like to strip my front bumper and replace with a custom unit. Specs are good if anybody has them, as I have fabricator here in Courtenay that I trust.

Thank you all who work so hard on making our Delicas that much more enjoyable.

Cheers!

[Erebus]

Interesting thread. While I agree with a lot of what Jesse has said, each individual has to look at what s/he plans to do.

Back when I ran a Subaru, I did quite a bit of off-roading. Almost always just me and SO, so no other vehicle around. Also, we were just having fun. We carried come-along and ropes.

Of all the times I got stuck, I don't think I ever pulled forward, always backward to get out of what I got stuck in. Then we would return to whence we came.

Since we weren't overlanding or anything like that, we didn't have to overcome the obstacle.

Now that we have a Delica, I still have the come-along, but now have good towstraps instead of the ropes. The Delica is much heavier than the '82 Subaru. At Easter time, offroading with TardisDeli, Delicat et al., I was stuck twice; both times I was pulled forwards, because it was easier than rear-pulling. Both times however, if I had been alone, I probably wouldn't have tried the manoeuver I did to get stuck.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is:
1) know your limits
2) take an off-road driving course (Jeep Jamboree, etc)
3) go off-roading as a passenger with serious off-roaders to see how it is done
4) know what you are trying to do

and then you will have a good idea what you actually need.

My two cents (or is that sense?)

[almac]

time to 'reactivate' an old thread.

so i was in costco, and saw this wench,... err i mean winch...


for this price:


note the weight of 10k pounds.
any thoughts on champion winches?

[jessef]

Crap

unless you're buying a winch for looks, you get what you pay for in quality, soleniod/controls, spool, etc...

If you're in the middle of nowhere alone and you're depending on that winch in the dead or winter, rainy fall or hot summer, buy a quality winch.

My preference in order from best to not as best :

milemarker hydraulic (what army uses)
milemarker electric
warn x line electric

and I would dump the cable in favor of synthetic line.

If anyone is curious or sceptical about synthetic line for heavy winching, google it. It's been arond long enough that it's been adopted into SARS and military applications.

Few pro's over standard cable :

20 lbs of cable = 3 lbs of synth rope = extremely light
floats in water / good for throwing distances
stronger than cable / tensile strength
colors can be visible in the dark
easy to handle / no burning/cutting

Con's :

cost

[Meanman]

Pay attention to line speed on the winch you plan to purchase. It should list on the spec sheet. A warn m8000 for instance has a 12v line speed of 42 ft/min at 0 lbs and 8 ft/min at 8000 lbs. The champion or a similar will have only a fraction of that. As well the duty cycle of the winch on an offshore brand is a fraction of a quality name brand. Now in saying that the Champion winch will get you out of bind if you use sparingly andCostco's return policy is quite forgiving.

[jessef]

The last time I saw Champion winches in Costco was a few years ago. 05 or 06. Wonder why they stopped getting them until now.

I guess for their return policy, you can't go wrong.

Depends on what you want to do. If it's just on there for the rare emergency, then I'm sure it will be fine. Just get a cover for the winter. Our salt/wet winters will eat it up like pancakes.

[almac]

all good points.
thanks for the info guys.

[Meanman]

...will eat it up like pancakes.

MMMMMmmmmmm Pancakes....with syrup and ....

[pajerry]

Slightly off topic, but since we're talking recovery I need your guy's opinions.

I just bought a hi-lift jack at princess auto and I know it will be put to good use, but I bought the 36 inch model. Should I take it back to get the model that was a foot longer and on sale for the same price?

I bought it thinking it would be best since it can fit perfectly between the wheel wells in the back of my SWB Paj, but Im also thinking in a comalong scenario it would be handy to have that extra bit since you'd have to be re adjusting straps/chains all the time.

Also, wheres the best place to get a tree-saver at a good price?

[Meanman]

get the longer one.....if you get stuck in soft loamy ground or mud, I guarantee (read personal experience)even with a wide foot you'll sink a foot of jack into the ground. Northshore offroad, or sport truck unlimited carry tree savers or order online.

[delicat]

Cool front bumper on this 300, you can see it good at the 3:40s mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COndhNS3 ... re=related