Damage while using winch on improperly installed Rough Country High Mount

[Tricky Dick]

I have a coworker who has an imported Nissan Safari (right hand drive), we were chatting about this problem this morning. His vehicle came stock with a 3/8" or 1/2" (he couldn't remember exactly) steel reinforcement backplate as opposed to the factory nut plates from Ford. I asked him if it was for a winch and he said no, it was just for the tow recovery points. With this info, I'm surprised Ford chose to use such weak backplate material on these front recovery points.

So in terms of your homemade solution, it sounds like quite a few vehicles have this as a stock upgrade already.

When do you think you'd have something available? I've been in contact with LoD and they do not ship to Canada , and their Dealers that do ship to Canada have none in stock.

I'm going to try to get a prototype drawn up in the next 2 weeks before Moab, then it will be 2-3 weeks before I get a physical version in my hands. That will most likely need some tweaks as well so late May/early June is a likely timeline.

I'm targeting 1/4" for the brackets and 1/2" for the nut plates.

My store doesn't currently ship to Canada either, but I could work around it on a case by case basis.

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[Tex]

Aww man I got unsubscribed from my favorite thread somehow and missed everything

I was going to suggest putting the bumper on upside down and winching against a tree to straighten the plate, but it looks like you got it all squared away. Keep me in mind for more ridiculously bad ideas that might work

 

[Bronkers]

We needed some new excitement, we can only have so many "what trim should I pick" and "how to fit 37s" and "I color matched my shackles" threads.

Working on my own contributions, with this download of what else should I gussy up before I start yankin

 

[tdiddy]

I haven't read the entire thread but if someone is in a pinch, I have a set of LoD brackets sitting in a box on the shelf. I was waiting to install them along with the JKS Max clearance kit which I haven't ordered yet.

 

[Tricky Dick]

I haven't read the entire thread but if someone is in a pinch, I have a set of LoD brackets sitting in a box on the shelf. I was waiting to install them along with the JKS Max clearance kit which I haven't ordered yet.

Very kind offer. @techdisaster hooked me up with a set and they arrived today, I'm going to start hacking on them as there are several things I would have done differently.

 

[huey]

Very kind offer. @techdisaster hooked me up with a set and they arrived today, I'm going to start hacking on them as there are several things I would have done differently.

 

[MillerAndCheeto]

Very kind offer. @techdisaster hooked me up with a set and they arrived today, I'm going to start hacking on them as there are several things I would have done differently.

Oh..... please share once you're done hacking! I found a distributor that ships to Canada.

 

[Tricky Dick]

The CAD work is done and I'm super stoked, the TrickPlates are going to be bombproof. If I submit the files now there's a chance the prototype shows up before I leave for Moab but I don't want them sitting around a week if they miss me.

The question is before I can commit to a batch, what is the ultimate reinforcement kit worth to you? As it stands now $250 a set is a possibility - raw material costs alone are killing me.

 

[Tex]

The CAD work is done and I'm super stoked, the TrickPlates are going to be bombproof. If I submit the files now there's a chance the prototype shows up before I leave for Moab but I don't want them sitting around a week if they miss me.

The question is before I can commit to a batch, what is the ultimate reinforcement kit worth to you? As it stands now $250 a set is a possibility - raw material costs alone are killing me.

I wonder if it would be worth using on a bumper that doesn't have a winch, just to make the bumper itself a little more stout in the event of some hard hits on the trail. I'm running the RC front bumper and it uses standard nuts on the back side, but I might be down for a set if I could simply drill the threads out so the bolts can pass through. Do you have a render of them? I'll take a look in the morning to see if it would even work.

 

[bcool2525]

The CAD work is done and I'm super stoked, the TrickPlates are going to be bombproof. If I submit the files now there's a chance the prototype shows up before I leave for Moab but I don't want them sitting around a week if they miss me.

The question is before I can commit to a batch, what is the ultimate reinforcement kit worth to you? As it stands now $250 a set is a possibility - raw material costs alone are killing me.

At $250 a set shipped doesn't sound bad if its a bolt on kit that will fix the problem IMO. If grinding and welding is required, then my smooth brain that can barely weld will probably pass for the LOD brackets.

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

The CAD work is done and I'm super stoked, the TrickPlates are going to be bombproof. If I submit the files now there's a chance the prototype shows up before I leave for Moab but I don't want them sitting around a week if they miss me.

The question is before I can commit to a batch, what is the ultimate reinforcement kit worth to you? As it stands now $250 a set is a possibility - raw material costs alone are killing me.

Interested to see what your design will look like. Was thinking about asking flip to price up the reinforcement parts from the Ford mount. Guessing that would be way more than $250. 1/2" plate will be some weight on that front end though.

 

[Tricky Dick]

I wonder if it would be worth using on a bumper that doesn't have a winch, just to make the bumper itself a little more stout in the event of some hard hits on the trail. I'm running the RC front bumper and it uses standard nuts on the back side, but I might be down for a set if I could simply drill the threads out so the bolts can pass through. Do you have a render of them? I'll take a look in the morning to see if it would even work.

Anything that bolts to the factory horns should bold up with the plates. I wanted to do away with futzing around with nuts, so there's three 1/2" nut plates.

At $250 a set shipped doesn't sound bad if its a bolt on kit that will fix the problem IMO. If grinding and welding is required, then my smooth brain that can barely weld will probably pass for the LOD brackets.

It is designed to be 100% bolt on, but can be welded as well if desired. The only DIY part will probably be painting, I'm leaning towards providing them in raw steel.

Interested to see what your design will look like. Was thinking about asking flip to price up the reinforcement parts from the Ford mount. Guessing that would be way more than $250. 1/2" plate will be some weight on that front end though.

The brackets themselves are 1/4", which is still a lot of beef, but the nut plates are 1/2".

 

[bcool2525]

Anything that bolts to the factory horns should bold up with the plates. I wanted to do away with futzing around with nuts, so there's three 1/2" nut plates.


It is designed to be 100% bolt on, but can be welded as well if desired. The only DIY part will probably be painting, I'm leaning towards providing them in raw steel.



The brackets themselves are 1/4", which is still a lot of beef, but the nut plates are 1/2".

Raw steel is fine with me, plus it saves you from worrying about returns from customers due to scratches, or slight rust.

 

[Dusty]

Anything that bolts to the factory horns should bold up with the plates. I wanted to do away with futzing around with nuts, so there's three 1/2" nut plates.


It is designed to be 100% bolt on, but can be welded as well if desired. The only DIY part will probably be painting, I'm leaning towards providing them in raw steel.



The brackets themselves are 1/4", which is still a lot of beef, but the nut plates are 1/2".

Great looking parts TD! I have a question on the nut plates, are they threaded? And if so, are the plates just mild steel? If so I would suggest backing them with a Grade 8 nut instead of cut threads in mild steel. In a past life at a former company we had problems with cut threads in mild steel plate pulling through. It was an adapter plate for steering box conversions. The plate was 3/4" thick and the bolt threads were 1/2-13 (3 of them), and there were still incidences of the steering box pulling the threads out.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Great looking parts TD! I have a question on the nut plates, are they threaded? And if so, are the plates just mild steel? If so I would suggest backing them with a Grade 8 nut instead of cut threads in mild steel. In a past life at a former company we had problems with cut threads in mild steel plate pulling through. It was an adapter plate for steering box conversions. The plate was 3/4" thick and the bolt threads were 1/2-13 (3 of them), and there were still incidences of the steering box pulling the threads out.

They are mild steel. I didn't think it would be a problem so good catch. My goal is no loose nuts and I was hoping to skip the step of welding nuts to the plate.

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