Winch bumper and bull-bar question

[JackSA]

Hi guys,

I have a "compatibility" issue I need help with, please.

Before I purchase a Warn XD9000i winch, I want to make sure that my current bull bar (nudge bar) will fit with whatever winch-bumber is available for a Defender. The bull bar is your standard Land Rover straight bar with lamp protection slats (fotos attached) ... and here's where the problem lies ... will it fit with a Warn winch?

A few shots ->

I just want to check that someone else in the forum has indeed got this particular bar installed with a Warn winch, and what bumper did you use? (Mantec? Britpar?)

Cheers for the help, much appreciated.

-JackSA

[SacredDog]

Hi guys,

I have a "compatibility" issue I need help with, please.

Before I purchase a Warn XD9000i winch, I want to make sure that my current bull bar (nudge bar) will fit with whatever winch-bumber is available for a Defender. The bull bar is your standard Land Rover straight bar with lamp protection slats (fotos attached) ... and here's where the problem lies ... will it fit with a Warn winch?

A few shots ->

I just want to check that someone else in the forum has indeed got this particular bar installed with a Warn winch, and what bumper did you use? (Mantec? Britpar?)

Cheers for the help, much appreciated.

-JackSA

That looks like my Bull Bar (http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=21179), in which case I don't see you having any problems so long as the Winch Bumper you get allows you to physically use the Bumper mounting Bolts for the Bull Bar.

I'm in the process of fitting a Winch Tray on top of my strengthened standard bumper and have just enough clearance for my Superwinch EP9 with the Motor & Gearbox rotated to get the Terminals and the Freespool out of the way and remote mounting the Solenoid Box.

With a proper winch bumper, I should imagine that at worst you might have to relocate your Solenoid Box.

Colin.

[JackSA]

Hi Colin,

Spot on, thanks for the reply. One thing I've noticed from other winch bumpers is that they only allows for nudge-bars with 2 fixing points per strut, but our bull-bars have 3 bolt entries per fixing. I'm not sure if this will present a problem having to drill extra holes ... what do you think?

Cheers for the help,

JackSA

[bishbosh]

I'd go one further than that - the XD9000 will fit. The solenoid pack is remote on this winch anyway so you'll have to find a home for it.

Why an XD9000? Don't get me wrong - an excellent winch and I had one for many years, but there are other equally good winches available now for considerably less money. I am specifically thinking of the Superwinch EP9 or the Goodwinch TDS. both these winches will also fit with your bull bar.

[SacredDog]

Hi Colin,

Spot on, thanks for the reply. One thing I've noticed from other winch bumpers is that they only allows for nudge-bars with 2 fixing points per strut, but our bull-bars have 3 bolt entries per fixing. I'm not sure if this will present a problem having to drill extra holes ... what do you think?

Cheers for the help,

JackSA

Sorry I'm no expert on Defender Winch Bumpers (have only ever had a Winch Bumper on a RRC before and that was Tubular), as I said earlier I'm building my own Bumper for my Winch (mainly so I can keep a centre Front Tow attachment).

But the only problems I can foresee is getting access to put the nut on the end of the bolt once you have drilled the extra holes. From memory a lot of the Winch Bumpers I have seen have had that part Boxed in to strengthen that part of the bumper, you might have to drill a Hole underneath large enough to get a 17mm socket through to fit the nut and then fit a Bung to fill the hole to keep the Mud out (or leave it open to let the water out ). I doubt that would affect the structural integrity too much.

Colin.

[JackSA]

Hey bishbosh,

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not an expert on winches, so I go with reviews I read and opinions I get from the forums, so I'm definately guilty of having to do more research

I wasn't aware of the 9000 having a removeable solenoid pack (reading the Warn website now) ... that makes a hell of a lot more sense to fit (cheers for the pointer!) ... I'm assuming any winch bumper (Mantec, Britpart) will do the job? Where did you mount the solonoid pack if not on the supplied bracket?

Cheers for your help on this, much appreciated. I'd like to know of any other winches you'd recommend at the same price range.

Rgds,

JackSA

[JackSA]

Hi there,

OK, thanks for the info. I'm going to crawl under my Landy later to double check where that 3rd bolt goes ... cheers for the pointer. Do you have any photos of your home-made bumper? I'd love to see what it looks like; nice one!

Cheers,

JackSA

[SacredDog]

Hey bishbosh,

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not an expert on winches, so I go with reviews I read and opinions I get from the forums, so I'm definately guilty of having to do more research

I wasn't aware of the 9000 having a removeable solenoid pack (reading the Warn website now) ... that makes a hell of a lot more sense to fit (cheers for the pointer!) ... I'm assuming any winch bumper (Mantec, Britpart) will do the job? Where did you mount the solonoid pack if not on the supplied bracket?

Cheers for your help on this, much appreciated. I'd like to know of any other winches you'd recommend at the same price range.

Rgds,

JackSA

I'm going to mount my Solenoid under the Bonnet (probably somewhere behind the Drivers Side Headlamp). I have a Radio Remote so I don't have to physically connect to it but if the worse comes to the worst I can just pop the bonnet & connect the original controller.

I would certainly recommend the SuperWinch EP9 it has plenty of power for what I want and nice & easy to work on when you need to (see here http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopi...perWinch+Strip) and as I have found you can re-align the Motor & Gearbox ends to suit your application.

Colin.

[JackSA]

OK, cheers for the info Colin, I'll definately look into Superwinch.

Rgds,

JackSA

[SacredDog]

Hi there,

OK, thanks for the info. I'm going to crawl under my Landy later to double check where that 3rd bolt goes ... cheers for the pointer. Do you have any photos of your home-made bumper? I'd love to see what it looks like; nice one!

Cheers,

JackSA

I'm still in the process of building the Winch Part of the Bumper but it is just a Standard Bumper with a bit of 'U' shaped Steel reinforcing (mainly for the Front Towbar) behind the Bumper. See here: http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=39102. (you can see the extra Bull Bar bolts in a couple of the pics)

I'm just going to sandwich a fairly standard Winch Plate between the Bull Bar & Bumper (with a few extra bolts to hold it all together).

I'm hoping to get it all finished next weekend when I will try to post up some pictures of it's build.

I am awaiting some more Bolts to arrive and will have to get a lots of Hammerite to replace the flaking power coat on the Bull Bar, paint the Front Tow & touch up the Bumper.

Colin.

[JackSA]

Nice one, Colin, I can now see what you're trying to do. Is that the standard Landy bumper you have there?

[SacredDog]

Nice one, Colin, I can now see what you're trying to do. Is that the standard Landy bumper you have there?

Yep, standard bumper with all the other stuff hanging off it, I'll see if I can get a picture of it as I have it set up in the shed ready to be drilled and hacked about a bit (the Winch Tray) to fit perfectly.

Colin.

[SacredDog]

Yep, standard bumper with all the other stuff hanging off it, I'll see if I can get a picture of it as I have it set up in the shed ready to be drilled and hacked about a bit (the Winch Tray) to fit perfectly.

Colin.

Please see attached picture as promised, Winch, Winch Plate & Bull Bar ready to be Cut & Drilled to fit on top of a Standard Defender Bumper.

Colin.

[JackSA]

Please see attached picture as promised, Winch, Winch Plate & Bull Bar ready to be Cut & Drilled to fit on top of a Standard Defender Bumper.

Colin.

Aaahh, nice, I'm impressed. What model Superwinch is that? Where's the solenoid pack? Is this one of those detachable jobbies?

[JackSA]

... and will have to get a lots of Hammerite to replace the flaking power coat

Hammerite ... don't get me started Excellent stuff!!!

[SacredDog]

Aaahh, nice, I'm impressed. What model Superwinch is that? Where's the solenoid pack? Is this one of those detachable jobbies?

That is an EP9.0 and it has a detachable solenoid pack which would normally sit above the motor (on the left of the picture) and will hopefully sit behind the Headlight when I get it wired up.

Colin.

[JackSA]

That is an EP9.0 and it has a detachable solenoid pack which would normally sit above the motor (on the left of the picture) and will hopefully sit behind the Headlight when I get it wired up.

Colin.

OK, I see ... this brings me to another question, it seems like most of you guys prefer a removable solenoid pack to an integrated one. Is that a fact?

Is it because it's the first part that goes on a winch? (ie due to wading?)

Rgds,

JackSA

[SacredDog]

OK, I see ... this brings me to another question, it seems like most of you guys prefer a removable solenoid pack to an integrated one. Is that a fact?

Is it because it's the first part that goes on a winch? (ie due to wading?)

Rgds,

JackSA

It certainly doesn't hurt having the Solenoid pack mounted higher up and tucked away from the Mud & Water. I have heard that it is not much help getting Bogged down in the Mud and having to dig the Winch out before you can connect the Controller. Luckily I haven't been in that situation yet but I'm sure it would just be a matter of time.

Colin.

[JackSA]

It certainly doesn't hurt having the Solenoid pack mounted higher up and tucked away from the Mud & Water. I have heard that it is not much help getting Bogged down in the Mud and having to dig the Winch out before you can connect the Controller. Luckily I haven't been in that situation yet but I'm sure it would just be a matter of time.

Colin.

OK, good point. Cheers for all your answers, it's much appreciated. I'll take your advice on this.

Rgds,

JackSA

[dantd5]

My Warn winch XD900i looks like this without the Kangaroo bar .....

[SacredDog]

My Warn winch XD900i looks like this without the Kangaroo bar .....

Those pictures look useful for JackSA, it looks like he might just have enough room to squeeze a Warn XD (complete with Solenoid Pack) under his Bull Bar but it looks like it will be pretty tight.

I think some careful measuring is in order.

Colin.

[JackSA]

My Warn winch XD900i looks like this without the Kangaroo bar .....

Ah, nice one, cheers for the shots!

[JackSA]

Those pictures look useful for JackSA, it looks like he might just have enough room to squeeze a Warn XD (complete with Solenoid Pack) under his Bull Bar but it looks like it will be pretty tight.

I think some careful measuring is in order.

Colin.

Yip, you're right, need to give this a bit more thought. I'll drop you guys an email with photos in a couple of weeks time

Cheers for all your help!

Rgds,

JackSA

[SacredDog]

Yip, you're right, need to give this a bit more thought. I'll drop you guys an email with photos in a couple of weeks time

Cheers for all your help!

Rgds,

JackSA

First Stage of the Winch Tray butchering (I mean careful cutting & drilling). The attached is after the first bit cut out for one side of the Bull Bar.

I now need to buy some more Jigsaw Blades & Drill after a couple of accidents where the Tray fell off my makeshift jig.

I did manage to finish it so the Bull Bar fits, just need to drill a few holes in the Bumper to firmly attach it all together.

But ran out of enough light to take any more pictures.

Colin.

[ajh]

I just had to completely rebuild my XD9000 on ARB after only 2 winters and a little offroading, it was packed solid with mud and needed a new motor. I strongly recommend going with something waterproof unlike the WARN units.