I want to keep the front bumper ,fog lights, and front air dam on the vehicle at this point ...But I wanted a winch as well.. So when I saw BadDad's hidden winch thread I knew this was going to solve the problem...hidden winch mount thread
I purchased the mount with an idea in mind so bear with me as it unfolds I'll post the progress as I go... First step is removing the front bumper, check out the assembly tag on the radiator support..pretty cool..

 

Next step is cutting the rad support.. Careful measuring,marking, and a welding blanket to control the sparks..

 

A little more fine tuning for the clips followed by some epoxy paint to finish up this stage of the bracket prep...

 

As you can see in the previous pic the steering box is unbolted so I took advantage of this to add an Aries steering box brace.. When finished the steering box will be pretty much bullet proof...This new brace with the winch bracket on the other side of the frame, coupled with the steering box brace and the sector shaft brace will make for the best upgrades possible..

 

To prep the winch a few things need to happen..First is to take the steel cable off for replacement with synthetic rope..I coiled it up and zip tied it for a clean process..Got to the end of the drum and loosened the set screw and out it came...Last item on the list was reclocking the lever to face forward instead of up.. I added some quality grease to the planetary gears then sealed everything up on the way out..

 

With the winch prepped and ready I bolted it to the winch bracket...

 

I've got to tell you this bracket from Baddad fit like a glove !! It came with clear directions and a hardware kit.. A very smooth process...Check it out...

 

As you can see it's tucked in there nicely...And now for the hardest part of the winch addition..Where to put the solenoid{control} box ??? Looking under the hood I can see why some give up and put it under the vehicle in harms way...I REALLY didn't want to relocate the radiator overflow to somewhere it would haunt me with all the factory stuff still intact.....So after some time staring into the engine bay It just came to me like a light bulb moment...I present the best place hands down to add this style box...I'm adding a wireless remote control so I won't have to open the hood to add a cord every time I want to use the winch..


It touches NOTHING in there...All wiring and cables come out the bottom and have the most direct route to the winch and battery... WOW what a relief to find it a home ...And a wonderful spot at that...

 

Wow I love that winch setup. That front end looks incredible as well. Nice XJ

 

Thanks.. I'm spending a lot of time researching every aspect of doing this correct hopefully it shows...
I finished up the winch mount by installing the steering box bracing...If this thing moves I must have hit something...lol... Check out the housing and sector shaft braces..

 

Two boxes came this week so I got to work installing these..

 

NO they didn't just magically appear...The week before I measured, checked all the angles, and did some math on where I was at with the shafts...

 

Anyhow, before I installed the driveshafts I adjusted the Azzy's transfer case linkage and check the operation.. Smooth...A worthwhile upgrade just to get away from plastic bushings and linkages all over the area..I'm not sure why the factory didn't do this in the first place..

 

I gave Tom Woods the nod for the shafts...Turn around time was a day or two.. A nice change from everything else that gets ordered{and backordered most of the time now}..I sprung for the upgraded splines and greaseable U joints..They made a good argument on the strength of their greaseable compared to the other offerings..And I like the idea of being able to purge the joints for longer life..I bought all new hardware for each end so now the drivetrain is complete..
The install was as expected everything went together smoothly...On a side note It appears my guess at 6* rear housing shims was about 2* off..The rear needs spun down{the shackle relocation kit bit me}



it's almost dead even with the shaft at rest and wouldn't allow for the axle wrap under load as wanted to bring the housing/shaft on plane with each other...Oh well no biggie I'll order some other shims after recalculating..

 

So getting back to the hidden winch install.. Like I said in the beginning this rig will be light wheeling only with hopefully not too much trail rash in a short time..With that in mind I wanted to keep the front and rear bumpers for now.. I like the look of the factory bumper and fog lights/spoiler so I want to keep them.. And being plastic I'm sure it won't be much of an obstruction and will probably fold up if I get in some tight areas...Here's the process on that.. First problem {if you've read the hidden winch thread} is the factory bumper "won't fit"...Well, technically this is true..But just how much modification is needed to make the first gen standard winch mount and bumper mate up ?? We're going to find out...

Obviously the bumper needs the D ring mounts cut so they can protrude through the bumper..And it appears the bottom of the winch mount sticks out further than the bumper itself... So the D ring mounts got cut out and with some careful measuring I cut the bottom of the bumper between at the winch mount...At that point it slipped on and would meet all needed points....


Followed with some trimming to expose the winch fairlead mount...Here's the metal bumper in place with all factory mounting hardware intact..