miller92063
New member
I was going to place this into my build thread, but thought others could get some use out of this thread so here it is. Never done a guide before, but figured what the hell....so be nice. Let me know if I forgot to add anything though.
This is how I did things. There may be other ways and if I did something wrong let me know. This is the newest (as of 6/14/14) Budbuilt hidden winch bracket. I had a Superwinch tiger shark 9500 that has been in my garage for 2 years so I decided to just use it.
Taking the bumper off is pretty simple when you look at it. Under the grill on the top of the bumper there is 4 or so plastic dowels that pop out very easy compared to other vehicle manufacturers. Actually this was my first EVER project where I did not break a single one of them. I took the small body piece located under the headlight off so it wasn't in my way. There is one plastic dowel near the inner part of the headlight then pull out from the inside toward you until it is halfway out then push or pull depending how you are standing towards the opposite side of the car the piece is on the pop it out. There is also 1 screw on the wheel liner to remove in front of the tire. Just up the liner from there you will see a hole in the liner. Grab a 10mm (I think) socket on an extension and remove a screw from there as well.
Next I climbed under the bumper and removed the 6?ish bolts holding the bumper on. I had pushed my liner forward so I believe I was short screws down there since I did not retain all of them after doing that. While you are down there go ahead and disconnect the foglights. Once those are out give the bumper a good pull and it should come straight out. And then you will see this....oh ya and I also already removed a Styrofoam spacer that was on the front of the bumber bracket. You can kinda see it in the floor.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
Here are the 4 studs located on each side that holds the bumper bracket onto the frame. The winch plate will only use the single inside stud to connect to, but for ease of installation I removed the entire bracket. May be doable with removal, but again...this is the way I decided to do it.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
The bracket slid right into place!! The hole on the right side was a little off, but after tightening down the Ubolt it lined right up. This is just to show the underside of the bumper bracket with the winch plate installed onto it.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
Another shot of the underside of the bumper bracket.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
And the front side of the bumper with the plate and winch installed.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
Showing the top of the Ubolt.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
Top view.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
And installed back on the frame. Do to fitment I am unable to keep the solenoid box in the factory location. I also had to rotate the clutch 15 degrees.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
You can see the A/C line has been disconnected from the plastic tab and moved up and inch and back an inch. I have also since removed the bracket you see near the clutch which was only there to hold the A/C line.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
Looking at the Bumper bracket you can see two holes. One near the center on the left side and one below it on the bottom of the bumper bracket. Inside of those holes are to nuts. I had to undo those nuts to loosen the arm of the bracket to get the entire thing back on. I am thinking that because I tightened down the winch plate to the bumper bracket before reinstalling I may have torqued the bumper bracket just a bit not allowing it to go back on smoothly. The studs were off by just a hair so by loosening these just a few turns it gave me plenty of needed room.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
And now with the bumper cover reinstalled.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
Looking straight down with bumper reinstalled.
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
You may have noticed these in the other pics. I believe these are here for the light brackets they sell. I hope they weren't for something else that I missed, but they are threaded and will make a good home to some lights down the road!
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
[/URL]~original[/IMG]
I have not wired it up yet as I did this late tonight and need to get some battery cables. Without wiring it took me 2-2 1/2 hours while paying attention to my 15 month old and with no help.....except the kid of course.
Now I need to go get stuck somewhere and see if my whole front end rips off:frusty:
I'll get some daytime pics up tomorrow hopefully. Maybe even give her a bath first.:rockon:
This is how I did things. There may be other ways and if I did something wrong let me know. This is the newest (as of 6/14/14) Budbuilt hidden winch bracket. I had a Superwinch tiger shark 9500 that has been in my garage for 2 years so I decided to just use it.
Taking the bumper off is pretty simple when you look at it. Under the grill on the top of the bumper there is 4 or so plastic dowels that pop out very easy compared to other vehicle manufacturers. Actually this was my first EVER project where I did not break a single one of them. I took the small body piece located under the headlight off so it wasn't in my way. There is one plastic dowel near the inner part of the headlight then pull out from the inside toward you until it is halfway out then push or pull depending how you are standing towards the opposite side of the car the piece is on the pop it out. There is also 1 screw on the wheel liner to remove in front of the tire. Just up the liner from there you will see a hole in the liner. Grab a 10mm (I think) socket on an extension and remove a screw from there as well.
Next I climbed under the bumper and removed the 6?ish bolts holding the bumper on. I had pushed my liner forward so I believe I was short screws down there since I did not retain all of them after doing that. While you are down there go ahead and disconnect the foglights. Once those are out give the bumper a good pull and it should come straight out. And then you will see this....oh ya and I also already removed a Styrofoam spacer that was on the front of the bumber bracket. You can kinda see it in the floor.
Here are the 4 studs located on each side that holds the bumper bracket onto the frame. The winch plate will only use the single inside stud to connect to, but for ease of installation I removed the entire bracket. May be doable with removal, but again...this is the way I decided to do it.
The bracket slid right into place!! The hole on the right side was a little off, but after tightening down the Ubolt it lined right up. This is just to show the underside of the bumper bracket with the winch plate installed onto it.
Another shot of the underside of the bumper bracket.
And the front side of the bumper with the plate and winch installed.
Showing the top of the Ubolt.
Top view.
And installed back on the frame. Do to fitment I am unable to keep the solenoid box in the factory location. I also had to rotate the clutch 15 degrees.
You can see the A/C line has been disconnected from the plastic tab and moved up and inch and back an inch. I have also since removed the bracket you see near the clutch which was only there to hold the A/C line.
Looking at the Bumper bracket you can see two holes. One near the center on the left side and one below it on the bottom of the bumper bracket. Inside of those holes are to nuts. I had to undo those nuts to loosen the arm of the bracket to get the entire thing back on. I am thinking that because I tightened down the winch plate to the bumper bracket before reinstalling I may have torqued the bumper bracket just a bit not allowing it to go back on smoothly. The studs were off by just a hair so by loosening these just a few turns it gave me plenty of needed room.
And now with the bumper cover reinstalled.
Looking straight down with bumper reinstalled.
You may have noticed these in the other pics. I believe these are here for the light brackets they sell. I hope they weren't for something else that I missed, but they are threaded and will make a good home to some lights down the road!
I have not wired it up yet as I did this late tonight and need to get some battery cables. Without wiring it took me 2-2 1/2 hours while paying attention to my 15 month old and with no help.....except the kid of course.
Now I need to go get stuck somewhere and see if my whole front end rips off:frusty:
I'll get some daytime pics up tomorrow hopefully. Maybe even give her a bath first.:rockon:
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