bkw

hey all-

Got my XRC bumper and winch on Monday and decided to take the day off to do the install.. luck would have it that we got about 2" of snow, but whatever, I still set out to do the install.

Read all the instructions and DIY's available and went at it. Install wasnt that bad until I got to the bottom 4 bolts which required some drilling of the cross-member. I guess I was shivering when measuring and I was off about a 1/4" on one of the bolts. No matter, I made the hole a tad wider and in it went.. but it stripped the threads. At the time I didnt think it was a big deal, so I proceed to tighten up everything and admire my new bumper..

Then came the winch.

In all the materials I've read, I guess I mustve missed the part where it states that you must install the winch FIRST, before mounting the bumper. For the life of me, I can't get the two rear bolts of my winch in. It's not that they don't line up, well, I think they do - but I cant tell because I can't see them, nor can I reach them! I'm hoping that I'm just being dense and not attacking the issue from the right angle, but I just cant seem to figure out how to go about it without removing the bumper.

I've tried and tried to remove the stuck bolt, and it's seized on there nicely.. before I go to my local body shop so that they can chisel/chip/pound/cut/plasma the f*cking bolt off, I was wondering if there was Anyone out there have tips on getting the rear bolts to thread in? The cuts on my cold frost-bitten hands make it difficult to type this post, and to make matters worse, I've lost one of the square nuts and will need to go hunt down a replacement 'special' nut.

thanks in advance!

bkw

Sorry, got inside and poured a nice big glass of scotch to warm myself up before typing -- bad idea.

Summary>>

- Bumper cannot be removed due to one of the bolts being stripped
- Was able to thread in the front two bolts of the winch, cannot reach the rear two to mount the winch to the bumper properly
- Help!

bkw

Bump!

Did everyone who installed a winch on this bumper have the bumper off the truck?

JFRE5H

I took mine off to install the winch...but a lot of people said they have installed one while still attached to the Jeep.

backwoodjk

I installed the bumper first because I did not have my winch yet. It was a little work getting the bolts for the winch in, but not really that bad.

My hands must be pretty small, because I was able to get them in the hole.

2climbbig

I used a magnet on a pointer (the sell them a lowes) to put the bolt it place. A long needle nose (flat head screw driver also works) to hold the bolt in place and an extension with a swivel joint to add the nut. Use the lightning holes at the bottom to access the bolt for the nut. Requires you to have a calm hand. Good luck.

xerofall

Yeah, I put the winch on well after the bumper... it might be the cold where you are, it's always harder to do tight work when your hands are frozen.

I'm sorry, but for the life of me I can not remember how I did it... it must not have been hard, otherwise I would have remembered it being a pain in the ass. I think I probably just went slow and carefully. I do not remember having to drill anything either.

BIGJ

i remember when i installed mine, i tried to put in on with our removing my SRC bumper. what a PITA that was, busted my knuckles, had to go buy a swivel joint, the lost one of the friggen nuts, had to run to home depot, then came back and tried again, nut was a hair to wide so i had to beat it into the slot and make sure it was lined up, messed with it for a couple hours more, then finally got pissed off, cut all my front light wires and ripped of the front bumper, finished installing the winch and was done sonn after that, total time spent, maybe 8 hours, GRRRRRRRR,

now i have quick discos on my front lights,

bkw

quick disco lights! Slap a JKS sticker on it and it'll sell like hotcakes!

Thanks for the tips guys. My new IPF lights from northridge will (hopefully) be here soon and then I'll have to take the grill off to install them. I'm going to try to come in through the back of the bumper to get the threads started. If that doesnt work, I'll cut the bolt and take the bumper off.