I am once again installing my old winch on another Jeep.
This winch has gotten me out of more trouble, saved me from my own stupidity,
and rescued my friends from themselves countless times. Since this
is a re-installation I will skip the steps of unpack the winch and plate,
bolt fairlead to plate, bolt winch to plate. That is all to simple.
Okay keeping the little nuts in the winch while you try to screw in a
bolt is a PITA. Don't forget to anti-seize these. It is even
worse when you try to take it apart for some reason.
1.
Remove the plastic Jeep cover that sits behind the front bumper
by removing the 2 3/8" screws from each side. After it
is removed put some anti-seize on the screws and reinstall them
in the holes. This will keep some of the water out of the
frame.
2.
Remove the 4 top T-55 Torx bolts holding the bumper on and the front
(2) 15mm bolts for the anti-sway bar brackets. I needed longer
bolts to replace the last 2. You will see why in a moment.
3.
Place 3 washers over the hole for the anti-sway bar bracket.
These will be used to level out the height difference them and the
bumper. Otherwise the winch will lean back into the grill
when you tighten up the bolts. This will scrape off the paint,
bend the grill slats and when the body move around do even more
damage to it. This is where I needed the longer bolts.
4.
Position the winch over the top of the bolt holes and thread the
power cable down between the grill and the anti-sway bar.
5.
Anti-seize all the bolts and thread them back in. I used a
crossing pattern to tighten them up.
6.
Now all that is left is to thread the power cables up to the battery
and attach them.
