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Winch solutions

wrbix

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So...have no friends? Join an off roading group, there are tons of off roading groups everywhere. Anyone that is actually a serious off roading enthusiast knows the rule and why it's important.
But, but, the point I’m making is that going off road (as opposed to recreational “offroading”) is commonly part of overlanding to a destination, which I suspect many do as a solo vehicle.
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da_jokker

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da_jokker

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I had front bumper mount winch's and never liked the 1. weight on the front, 2. UV hitting the rope, 3. dirt and grim accumulating in the gearing, and most of all 4. 50% of the time I needed to winch, it was from the rear...
Here is what I stuck with on the 19 Rubicon that will transfer over to the Bronco (if I ever get it, out to 2023 now with the painted top): And yes, I just picked up my buddies 2019 Rubicon since I was pushing 150K on my BMW X5, also no sales tax on a private in sale in Nevada, so whenever we get Demo Bronco's to even sit in they will have to be beautiful, my Wildtrak order is still on hold for a non-sandstone interior and a painted top.
https://www.etrailer.com/p-65079.html?hhyear=2019&hhmake=Jeep&hhmodel=Wrangler+Unlimited
https://www.4wd.com/p/smittybilt-winch-cradle-2811/_/R-DSBP-2811
Then pick any winch you want and load it in the back in the cradle and if needed, attach it to the receivers in the front OR back.
This is the setup I had on my XJ. Although sounds great on paper, hauling around a 120lbs winch/cradle in you trunk takes up alot of room. I swore my next vehicle I was going to get integrated winch.

In addition many folks have posted they use their winch to help people during everyday stuff (aka not offroad) ... you'll never have it with you for those situations.
 

Nodrama43

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recovery points are frame rails......not a single receiver mounted winch.........ESPECIALLY........with a 12k winch pulling God knows how much weight. You will regret it eventually. If you are only planning one pulling your Cub Cadet out of the ditch line in front of your house it's fine.
 

duc135

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All Bronco's are tow rated at 3,500 lbs, Sasquatch does not boost the tow rating to 5,000 llbs.
I think he meant the weight of the Sasquatch is 5K lbs. Not that the tow rating of the Sasquatch is 5K lbs.

Buy a kinetic energy recovery rope instead.
Kinetic ropes are only useful when you have room for the recovery vehicle to perform the yank in a straight line. They are useless in rock gardens or on a narrow trail in the side of a mountain. Winches are used when slow, precise recovery is required. You can't substitute one for the other in all conditions and there is no one best solution for all occasions. You use the one that is best suited for the situation.

Having tow straps, kinetic ropes/straps AND a winch would be ideal. If I had to choose only one, it would be the winch. It can do anything the other two can do, just not as efficiently. Whereas the ropes/straps cannot duplicate the ability of a winch to perform delicate, precise recoveries in technical areas. Nor can they be used with rigging gear to perform complicated pulls.
 

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mike12779

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Not sure if this one has been brought up before, but while browsing through light options I noticed this hidden winch rough country's site but not seeing it on any product listing.

bronco-ditch-mount-install5.jpg
 

chtucker

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I think he meant the weight of the Sasquatch is 5K lbs. Not that the tow rating of the Sasquatch is 5K lbs.



Kinetic ropes are only useful when you have room for the recovery vehicle to perform the yank in a straight line. They are useless in rock gardens or on a narrow trail in the side of a mountain. Winches are used when slow, precise recovery is required. You can't substitute one for the other in all conditions and there is no one best solution for all occasions. You use the one that is best suited for the situation.

Having tow straps, kinetic ropes/straps AND a winch would be ideal. If I had to choose only one, it would be the winch. It can do anything the other two can do, just not as efficiently. Whereas the ropes/straps cannot duplicate the ability of a winch to perform delicate, precise recoveries in technical areas. Nor can they be used with rigging gear to perform complicated pulls.
Exactly- I carry a kinetic rope, soft shackles, multiple pulleys, static straps, winch extensions...and a bunch of tools. My truck weighs 8750 when I have the in bed fuel tank full.

I did this recovery about two weeks ago. Only way to get a straight pull was to redirect off a tree, the length of the pull(distance from truck to tree to stick truck) necessitated a winch line extension. The stuck truck probably weighed close 9k. The pulling truck was sliding even with foot on the brake and rocks used as chocks. I had to strap a second truck to the winch truck.

wish I took more pictures, but it was a Friday night and I wanted to go home from work.
Ford Bronco Winch solutions 10D46F93-A9F2-43FC-ACB6-F12F6999EC15
Ford Bronco Winch solutions 0B1225DA-CBD2-49D7-9CDA-58814D6C42AC
Ford Bronco Winch solutions 12C7C7A4-A401-47C5-BB60-009BEA691386
Ford Bronco Winch solutions 478F2F97-FB16-435D-8ACB-ADD2C8863512




Ford Bronco Winch solutions B4196308-C2CF-41CA-A65E-81973130DDCC
 

Vantcrst

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I think it's pretty sad that Ford did not design the grill and bumper around a winch. It seems like a major oversight.

However, I'm more interested in your take on a winch being an essential tool. In my 50+ years of off-roading in BC with my Dad (and later myself) we've been in two situations where a winch was necessary, and the first time, it would have been much better to have the winch on the rear as pulling forward was not ideal. In the other situation, while a winch would have helped, I managed to recover with some shovelling and traction boards.

So I'm curious what kind of situations you're getting into where a winch has saved you?

Not to be a jackass, but if you're often getting into a situation where you need a winch, isn't that more a statement about bad judgement, than the necessity of a winch?

Now if you're doing trails where winching over some obstacles is a known necessity before you even depart, that's another story... but if you don't have a winch, you just don't do those trails... right?
I look at having a winch in a totally different way. By having the winch it allows me to do or try things that I otherwise wouldn’t. I think of it as insurance. I don’t use it often but the times I have I would have been screwed without it. One of the biggest priorities for me when heading outdoors is to try to get away from people. Which means a lot of the time I am not traveling with other vehicles. Going out solo isn’t a great idea in the first place but doing so without a winch and other means of self recovery is foolish. I feel as though the winch just gives me a little bit more freedom to explore. I think the problem here is that I am also trying to use my “get the hell away from humanity” vehicle as my daily driver as well. It is very hard to make one vehicle that can satisfy the hard core off roaders and mall crawlers. I think Ford has done a great job for the most part. I just hope someone in the aftermarket comes up with a solution that will let me put a winch on my Badlands Lux so I can have my cake and eat it too.
 

Vantcrst

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I'm just hoping aftermarket will have a front hidden hitch soon to put my receiver mounted smittybilt xr on
Absolutely love this set up on my van. Integrates the winch, receiver and recovery points in to the factory plastic bumper.
45085C71-B92F-466B-9E75-18F66C110058.jpeg
 

Virtual-Chris

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I look at having a winch in a totally different way. By having the winch it allows me to do or try things that I otherwise wouldn’t. I think of it as insurance. I don’t use it often but the times I have I would have been screwed without it. One of the biggest priorities for me when heading outdoors is to try to get away from people. Which means a lot of the time I am not traveling with other vehicles. Going out solo isn’t a great idea in the first place but doing so without a winch and other means of self recovery is foolish. I feel as though the winch just gives me a little bit more freedom to explore. I think the problem here is that I am also trying to use my “get the hell away from humanity” vehicle as my daily driver as well. It is very hard to make one vehicle that can satisfy the hard core off roaders and mall crawlers. I think Ford has done a great job for the most part. I just hope someone in the aftermarket comes up with a solution that will let me put a winch on my Badlands Lux so I can have my cake and eat it too.
Yeah… I’ve come around to thinking exactly this.
 

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Blaylock1988

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Not sure if this one has been brought up before, but while browsing through light options I noticed this hidden winch rough country's site but not seeing it on any product listing.

Ford Bronco Winch solutions 45085C71-B92F-466B-9E75-18F66C110058
This looks ideal since it doesnt interfere with either the camera or the ACC. It must be under development right now, I sure hope they have a version that is compatible with the modular bumper too.

Here are some more pics I found on their site https://www.roughcountry.com/imagegallery/2021-ford-bronco-4wd-3-5-inches
 

Hemisfear

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I think it's pretty sad that Ford did not design the grill and bumper around a winch. It seems like a major oversight.

However, I'm more interested in your take on a winch being an essential tool. In my 50+ years of off-roading in BC with my Dad (and later myself) we've been in two situations where a winch was necessary, and the first time, it would have been much better to have the winch on the rear as pulling forward was not ideal. In the other situation, while a winch would have helped, I managed to recover with some shovelling and traction boards.

So I'm curious what kind of situations you're getting into where a winch has saved you?

Not to be a jackass, but if you're often getting into a situation where you need a winch, isn't that more a statement about bad judgement, than the necessity of a winch?

Now if you're doing trails where winching over some obstacles is a known necessity before you even depart, that's another story... but if you don't have a winch, you just don't do those trails... right?
This from a BC off roader, not the advice I am used to, any experience?
 

Broncotrax

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I drive a Rubicon on 35's with a front winch and it has saved my ass off road (and various random others) quite a few times. Frankly, it's an essential tool for the Bronco if you want to compete with Jeep. I ordered a Badlands/Sas/Lux and had this very discussion with the Bronco reps last week. Disappointingly, they do not have an answer right now. I implored them to take the message back to Ford that Badlands/Lux is an EPIC FAIL without some kind of relocation bracket for the radar antenna and front camera allowing a winch. The aftermarket guys are pretty good at this stuff, but Ford would clean up if they "fixed" the design to solve this problem. I'm just hoping that they're on it .... cause I'm not selling the Rubicon until the Bronco provides me the full functionality I'm used to with my Jeep. I WILL sell the Bronco if they can't fix this. And I'll be real pissed about it because the Bronco is near perfect in every other way. I can't help but believe they're on it and a solution will be at hand by the time my Badlands/Sas/Lux finally ships.
I pretty much agree. For me tho Id like the lux package but I definitely do not need cameras. I've been wheeling over the toughest stuff in this country for thirty years and oddly enough never needed a camera or spotter. Picking lines is a learned craft that most everyone will get soon enough. The cameras are a novelty item that most people will quit using within their first year of wheeling. I'd love a camera delete code. You will all see that approach angle and a winch are a thousand times more useful than any camera. If I need to remove the camera to gain a high clearance winch bumper than so be it. Like I said,.. It's a gimmick or novelty item not necessary to survival, recovery or trail completion. My JKU below still hits on some rocks and ledges. matter of fact, I recently hit my fairlead roller on a rock and pinched a hole in my license plate. You younger people grew up watching videos (Virtual reality) wheeling is total reality. pull away from the video feed,....live in the reality. you will see it's very easy and fun. If you put a low winch bumper (Bottom pic) on your Bronco, the Jeep guys really will laugh at you. That one posted a day or two ago is hideous.
Ford Bronco Winch solutions all Iphon pics 12-9-14 228.JPG

Ford Bronco Winch solutions 1630534360827
 

Raskew

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Not sure if this one has been brought up before, but while browsing through light options I noticed this hidden winch rough country's site but not seeing it on any product listing.

Ford Bronco Winch solutions 1630534360827
Not sure if this one has been brought up before, but while browsing through light options I noticed this hidden winch rough country's site but not seeing it on any product listing.

This the exact solution I'm waiting for.

Full camera view and the ACC will still work. Make it happen Rough Country!
 

Virtual-Chris

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This from a BC off roader, not the advice I am used to, any experience?
I agree a winch is a good tool to have. My original post was that a winch shouldn’t encourage reckless behaviour… like wearing a helmet shouldn‘t encourage someone to crash more often ;) it’s important to know your vehicle and it’s limits and not get into situations that require a winch… even if you have one, and especially if you don’t. But my thinking has evolved a bit since this thread started. I get the importance of having a winch. Anyway, I think we’re all on the same page now. And yeah, I have lots of experience.
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