Rayster

A coworker bought an AEV "Call of Duty" bumper from eBay. He discovered it did not come with the winch plate, so he bought that from an on-line source. Looking over the instructions it seemed more complicated than most bumper installs, and called for 4-6 hours with common hand tools. We began about 11am, and the instructions required drilling the frame in three locations (two were for the recovery points) . Also cutting the frame for the nuts on the back of those recovery points. The recovery hardware was optional, but the bumper would bend if towed from directly. So we installed them.

We installed a Recon 10,500 winch, and after the bumper was loosely mounted. We Realized access to the winch was almost non-existent. We had to remove the bumper again to attach the synthetic line. After getting the bumper on again the engage/disengage lever would not have full travel without modification to the lever or cutting the bumper.
The bumper is stamped steel that is welded together, and twists into shape as you bolt it on. I told him functionally; it was a piece of crap, and he should put it back on eBay and buy something that was truly functional. He wanted that "call of duty" clone look, so that was out of the question.

I have found most bumpers with winches to be 2-3 hours, and straight forward. I am a machinist and fabricator by trade. so if you're thinking a couple novices had trouble (it's the wrong assumption).

Anyhow, if you are looking at one of these AEV bumpers. You should do your homework beforehand. The winch is so enclosed that if you have any issues with your winch. You will need to pull the bumper to service the winch effectively. Truly a poor design for people that actually use their jeep/winch. We had 6 hours in the swap, including a trip to the local hardware store.

My apologies for not having any photos.