BlueAlgernon

Thanks guys, I am looking for one that the holes are over the frame. I have seen others od it with mounting the plate there and placing the winch under the plate to hide the winch. I just need it to line up and do not know wich one will. I found a $80 warn universal one on 4wheelparts.com, and I am looking at the one from rough country now...but i do not know if they will line up. I would like to find the one from smittybuilt that they were offering with the winch for a while but i just can't seem to find it on 4wheelparts right now. Geko45 do you have a link to find in on the site? Also, do you have pics of yours mounted?

BlueAlgernon

Geko45 all i can find on 4wheelparts.com from smittybilt for a winch plate is for the TJ but will it fit my JK?

Geko45

PM sent with link.

Here are some pics. I mounted it upside down so the winch hangs in between the frame rails, but the plate is intended for right side up mounting. The plate is identical to the Mile Marker winch plate and Harbor Freight used to sell this one too, but the one they offer now is slightly different.

ETA: Actually now that I look, the Mile Marker looks different now too.

Geko45

Yes, that's the one. It lines up with the existing frame rail holes perfectly. You just just have to drill two more to make it nice and solid. You may also have to notch the front of the frame just a bit in order to fit a box wrench in to tighten down the bolts. I did this with a Dremmel tool and a cutting disc.

BlueAlgernon

That's it I just ordered it and not bad on price either. I saw the pictures on how you mounted your and my application should do well. I am still wondering if I need to drill all the way through the frame (the entire box) or did you mean enlarge the hole in the area with the two holes on the end of the frame where the bumper bolts on to get the box wrench in there and use the short bolts that will come with the plate. Also on the end of the frame where the bumper bolts on...the end flange comes up above the frame rail and in bent in to the back of the jeep...will i need to cut off these extentions to mount the plate level...i cant see under your stock bumper if you did or not. Anyway thanks so much for all the help. I will post pics when I am home and putting this together.

Geko45

Glad I could help! I just did my install last weekend so it is all still fresh in my mind. PM me if you hit any snags and I'll try to help.

Yeah, I notched the hole on the end of the frame to make it larger to fit in a wrench. Some have gone all the way through, but I wouldn't. I would think the shear strength would actually be higher on a short bolt with the nut directly underneath. Seems like a longer bolt would actually be weaker to me.

I didn't have to trim those off. I do remember seeing on here that one guy did, but he was using a slightly different plate. I don't think you'll need to do this.

One more word of advice, when you uncrate your XRC8 winch you'll find that the bolts holding the tie rods on are loose. This allows the winch to wiggle a bit when you're trying to line it up with the winch plate. Whatever you do, don't take those tie rods off completely! They are the only thing holding the winch together and I had a heck of a time getting it back together after accidentally backing them out to far.

BlueAlgernon

Ok thanks man for all the help and advice I know it will make my install go a lot smoother.