Where to attach winch on Gen 3 Explorer

[JCUZ]

Winch tested - I hooked it up to my 1800kg Ford Fairlane V8, and dragged it about 10m up the driveway. There is a bit of flex in the winch mount, but no welds popped or anything.

I will be adding some triangle braces to the underneath of the front of the mount to add strength there, and still plan on strengthening the back of the mount between the chassis rails - but so far so good. It's not the same as pulling the 2000kg explorer out of a bog or up a dirt slope, but at least it passed this first small test.

 

[Donner]

Sweet! (need a pic or two)

 

[JCUZ]

Sweet! (need a pic or two)

You mean pics of the additional bracing? Raw materials, or once fitted? LOL. Of course I will post pics when i do it - I have a couple of ideas of what I'm going to do to strengthen it, but I need a full weekend to do it, and won't have another free weekend until 13 September!I doubt I'll need the winch before then though, so it should be OK as is for the time being.

 

[ktford]

good test J, but not equal as you know to dropping it into the mud & dragging it out & for the record it weighs more like 2300kg's with driver onboard
Scotty

 

[Donner]

^^ Those are the pics we need x2

 

[JCUZ]

OK, Forgot that I had a half day off work today - but I used it well! Braces have been added. I'm getting used to pulling this winch out and refitting - it's a bit of rigmarole, but I can have the winch on the floor in under an hour, and refitted in under an hour too. Took me 6 hours on and off today to cut and weld the braces to the bar.
Bar without braces:

Braces Raw

Braces Cut

Braces welded (they were then painted satin black):

Now I just need a section in between the chassis rails to attach these new braces to (that will be a few weeks away).

 

[ktford]

Good stuff J
Scotty

 

[JCUZ]

Finished work at 3.30pm today - just enough daylight left to do some welding. In the following photo, the bottom bracket is what I had securing the baseplate to the chassis, and the top one is the new improved stronger version. Will be finishing off the bottom one to make it the same as the top one tomorrow.

 

[JCUZ]

LHS bracket all finished - these brackets have reduced the flex in the support plate considerably. Instead of up to 3 or 4mm movement, it's probably down to around 1mm, if that (you can barely see the movement), and that's with only one fitted!

Just gotta wait about another hour for the paint to dry, and then it can be fitted (RHS was fitted this morning). I'll try and get some pics from underneath once both are fitted, but I doubt they'll work out.

 

[ktford]

awesome, I'd reckon no twist when both fitted
Scotty

 

[ktford]

have you tried pulling the fairylane up the drive with it in Park or just the handbrake on, that'll give you some load !!
Scotty

 

[JCUZ]

have you tried pulling the fairylane up the drive with it in Park or just the handbrake on, that'll give you some load !!
Scotty

No, I like my tyres! You reckon it would work without stuffing up the gearbox on the fairlane? Maybe in neutral with handbrake on is the way to go - will let you know how it goes after Saturday. Or Maybe I'll just wait until my T-Rex recovery kit turns up, and I actually pull the explorer up an incline using a tree as an anchor. It's in China at the moment (the kit), but expected to land within the month.

 

[ktford]

wet the concrete & put the handbrake on, don't stand in the firing line please
Scotty

 

[JCUZ]

I might just give it a go.

 

[section525]

Any updates?

 

[JCUZ]

Any updates?

Not really - have tried it on a few different cars (dragging them up the driveway in neutral), but haven't used it in anger yet.

 

[auburnfan138]

jcuz what kind of "security" do you have against theives (if they were to try to steal your winch)

 

[loaderopp]

jcuz what kind of "security" do you have against theives (if they were to try to steal your winch)

just tack weld the mounting bolts once your install is complete

 

[blue_goose]

Very impressive!! I am amazed someone is doing all this to a 3rd gen! How does it do off road? just courious why you are doing all this to a vehicle that didn't have off roading in mind when you bought it. That said, I wish sooo bad that I had the time and resources to do to my 02 what you have done to yours. very well done.

 

[JCUZ]

jcuz what kind of "security" do you have against theives (if they were to try to steal your winch)

The winch is heavy, and is almost impossible to get to the bolts/nuts without first taking off the sump/radiator guard.

Very impressive!! I am amazed someone is doing all this to a 3rd gen! How does it do off road? just courious why you are doing all this to a vehicle that didn't have off roading in mind when you bought it. That said, I wish sooo bad that I had the time and resources to do to my 02 what you have done to yours. very well done.

Cheers. When we bought it, I figured I may go on the odd dirt road etc, but then after a while, and especially after reading this forum, I figured I could take it to some real 4WD places. In making that decision, I then started on a path to:
1. Make it as easy as possible to take offroad (hence the lift, larger A/T style tyres, snorkel etc)
2. If it did end up stuck, I wanted to be able to recover it myself (hence the winch, snatch strap kit etc).

Having taken it on the 3rd largest sand island in the world, I am extremely pleased with how it performed, and glad that I didn't need to use the winch, but happy with the knowledge that I had one in case I needed it. I realise sand driving is not the same as driving on rutted and muddy trails, but is is also not as easy as driving on tarmac etc, so was a good introduction for me and the beast, and I now have some idea of what it is capable of (and the answer is that I believe it is as capable as a Pajero, Hilux etc).