So after some thought I am thinking my next mod will be a front bumper and winch. The Wife and I love getting in the mountains year round and be nice to get ourselves out of the mud snow and ice we sometimes encounter. I pretty mush have 2 questions.
1. About how much weight does the average front bumper add? looking for something simple, looked at the ARB ones and I didn't like all the extra tubing on top. I think I am going to go to a custom shop and get something closer to some of the TJM's I have seen around.

2. Winch suggestions, I am thinking about WARN but don't really know what else is out there, and what weight suggestions.

Any opinions or advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Weight depends on what style you get I would say
60-100 lbs for a plate style of bumper..

Warn is tried and true and will always get you home!

Google "winch reviews" to get a snap shot of the others on the market.

Whoa now - you could probably double those numbers for an ARB or Shrockworks. The **** isn't light!

To the OP - How much money do you have to spend on your suspension? You'll end up upgrading the front for sure (as no stock suspension can handle the added weight for long periods of time) and the rear will surely follow.

My tube bumper is 18lbs heavier than the parts it replaced.

As for winches, from my limited research it seems like there is Warn and there is everything else. Generally speaking, Warn winches cost 1.5 - 2.5x the other brands because AFAIK they are all imported from China.

Personally, I'm considering a Smittybilt. Warns are nice, and have an enviable reputation, but the price is too high. I'm not one of those "buy the best and cry once" types, my philosophy is that an item has to be good enough to work and not everybody needs "the best." Sometimes "good enough" is good enough.

There are plenty of Smittybilts out there and if they were mostly junk, I think their reputation would tank fairly quickly.

ARBs are not that heavy... like 100-120lbs as i remember, they are not bad at all.

IMO Warn is the only way to go, i have two of them currently and will never own anything but a Warn winch. and they are not always 2x more costly... you just need to know where to look, i saw an add in a window the other day at an auto parts store for a warn m8000 for under $500, and thats at an auto parts store mind you, its not gonna be the cheapest place to get one. id suggest looking online like craigslist for a used one, you can get them cheap there. thats where i have bought both of mine. just cause they are used doesnt mean the wont/dont work, if the winch spools in and out and free spools then you are good to go, just make sure your battery is big enough to run it, id recommend a 700cca battery at least.

The factory bumper is somewhere around 60-70lbs, so the ARB style adds only about 30-50 lbs.

Check out Warns new VR series winches. They are low cost competitors to all the import winches that are flooding the market. The VR stuff uses different motors and control packs to their regular winches which brings the prices down. For a 3rd gen 4Runner look for something in either 8000 or 9000 lb capacity.

I could carry and move my ARB around pretty easily when I was installing it. It only weighs about 75 lbs. I'd guess. My factory '97 bumper only weighed like 15-20 lbs, but maybe the fat lips weigh more (I dunno).

Warn is about the best winch you can buy IMO. Smittybuilt makes the XRC-8 (8K lb.) winch for ~$299. It's a lot slower than an 8K lb. Warn, but the Smitty's still seem to be reliable and durable - just slow.

cool thanks. I am thinking a plate bumper but not 100% sure yet. I just don't like all the tube on the ARB's. I was looking at some photos from addicted off roading, and Armorology. I looked at shockworks, but right now I don't think I have the space to install it.

as far as the suspension I have the OME suspension I threw on last summer and got the Medium springs for the front hoping a front bumper was not far away.

so ti sounds like since it I will primarily sue mine hopefully once in a while a VR series WARN is the way to go? I think I am sold on WARN after doing some research.

Ok just a little FYI on weights of Plate bumpers.

ARB- 70lbs (JSMITHJR weighed his and confirmed with shipping weight)
Shrockworks- 120lbs per their website
OutdoorLogic-90lbs full hoops weighing mine before install

Winches are also between 80-110lbs with steel cable and drop about 15-20lbs when using synthetic line.

July 2011 issue of Four Wheeler does a comparison test of 9k-9.5k winches. one that I might look into is the Engo winch founded by former partner in Mile Marker.

I can't comment on the VR series, I don't have any experience with them. I have been yanked out a couple times with J-money$$$'s Warn M8000 and it kicks a$$. I would imagine like the Smitty, the VR series are probably a little slow too. I'm sure you can look up all the models' line speeds and other specs on their websites and compare them all, but the VR8000 retails for less than 1/2 the price of the M8000 so like anything else, I'm sure you'll get what you pay for.

That said, I've also been yanked out by Driffter33's Smitty XRC-8 and it does the job just fine. I can only imagine the VR series is just as good if not better. Line speed isn't a big concern for me as I don't race. As long as it gets me up and over, I'd rather save a few hundos and not care if it takes me 7 minutes or 10 minutes.

I'm sure the more expensive the winch, the more durable it is, but I think the Smitty and the VR are both great winches for the price. Especially since all the reviews that I've read of the VRs are great.

I just picked up the Warn M8000 for 539 from amazon. There's also an 80 dollar mail-in rebate for Warn's winches purchased between April 17, 2011 and July 31, 2011. My grand total comes to 459, not too bad for a high quality winch...

That's a great price!

i know i can get a brand new warn M8000 from 4wheelparts for like $450 or so out the door, -that is with my military discount of 10% but still its only $50 more without so like $500 and you dont have to wait on shipping(if you live within driving distance of a 4wheel parts). i have beat and abused my Warns, from submerging them under water for extended periods of time, to caking them with mud and dust and road spray, even with one of them having a broken housing and allowing all the crud to get inside the winch in with all the electronics and gears ect. it still works fine. the armorology bumper is sweet, i love glens, but i dont live in CO and am not willing to drive out there and shack up for a couple of weeks while i wait for them to make it for me on my rig -they all are custom made for your specific rig. but if i ever find myself out there for some reason for a week or two i might just have them make me one

ya i dont think so

Useful as always Elton... how much is it then?