If it's possible, what's involved?

[DVR]

I dunno Pro-Nav, I looked at this with my boss today at work and we both thought that 2mm is a bit on the thin side should be a least 4mm but preferably 6mm. But I think an 8mm version of this universal mounting plate would be a lot simpler and it could be gusseted as well.

 

[Old.Tony]

The instructions that came with my winch specified 6mm thick mounting plate for the winch. Knowing that the sideways load could be significant, I'd assume 6mm minimum for the fairlead mount too.

Remember that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

 

[Dion]

The winch cradle takes a much higher load and has a longer span than the fairlead mounts, but having said that I haven't bothered to find the main strength condition and identify a section so I was having a stab at a guess and you're welcome to identify your own section thickness. I wouldn't be concerned using 2mm, remembering that your chassis rails, body mount brackets, etc are all 2mm, but it's your car not mine

 

[DVR]

I spotted this on EBAY

I should stop looking at ebay really, it can be an expensive hobby. Now I've seen these on the telly but never really given them much thought but i've got to thinking that putting a hitch mount on the front might be a good thing. All it would take it to weld a bit of heavy tube to the cradle and have that poke through the bar.

On the plus side you have the choice of using it on the back if need be and it would keep the weight of the winch off the front end when your not using it. It would also keep it dry high and dry too.

On the down side if you find yourself nose down in a ditch you might not be able to access the front to put it on. But then again you could always put it on the back couldn't you.

I'm interested in ALL your opinions on these things as I've only just thought about them.

 

[Old.Tony]

That winch cradle should probably be a 2-person lift, if it's strong enough to actually handle the winch.

Back to the "weakest link" though - my towbar is rated at 3,000kg max. It means I am not allowed (and probably for good reason) to tow anything that weighs in excess of 3T.

Using the same thing on the front, I'd be looking at the same limit - 3T max pull from the front, but if I have my van (1.8T) hitched up and I'm pulling that and the Navara (2T) I've well and truly exceeded the capacity of the hitch.

That being said, the hitch is designed to handle 3T for a very long period of time. Transient (ie temporary) loadings may well exceed that by a significant amount so you could easily do this.

It's a rather neat idea. Wouldn't take a sideways load, so hopefully there won't be much slippage, but it looks pretty good.

Getting 400+ amps all the way down the back would be fun though, I'd imagine better than 2G cables would be needed for that distance!

 

[DVR]

Back to the "weakest link" though - my towbar is rated at 3,000kg max. It means I am not allowed (and probably for good reason) to tow anything that weighs in excess of 3T.

That occurred to me also. I gave it some thought and came to the realization that lots of people use these dont they

So I cant see the difference.

Getting 400+ amps all the way down the back would be fun though, I'd imagine better than 2G cables would be needed for that distance!

Yaeh that's an issue allright.

 

[Old.Tony]

On the rear you're absolutely right (unless you're winching out someone who is towing something, and not just winching yourself out). I still think it's neat discovery you've made. particularly if you can restrict yourself to straight-line recovery. I'm not sure what the side-loading on the hitch would be. I am sure it'd take a few hundred kg at least, but I'd want some idea of the limit there before I had to rely on it.

 

[Dion]

The hitch can take an off-centre recovery, not sure on the cradle.

The main factor in a tow bar's load rating is fatigue lifetime at a certain loading or more accurately the difference between min and max loading (amplitude), and the number of cycles.

So you shouldn't have any issue with your winch but I'm not going to promise anything.

My biggest concern would be, as stated, the cabling???

 

[ants_oz]

Within the broad 4wd community (in my experience anyway) a hitch seems to be the defacto recovery point as it spreads the load across both chassis rails. If your bar is solidly mounted, then realistically you should have no problems - let's face it - your bar is probably mounted AT LEAST as well as two recovery points.

I use one of the billet blocks (as shown by DVR) to help relieve stress on the pin and ensure that the stresses are placed as close as possible to the walls of the hitch itself.

Without the use of a block, I've seen LOTS of bent hitch pins over the years. It used to be common practice to thread the eye of a strap into the hitch receiver and insert the pin through the eye of the strap - hence bent pins. I used to (and still do) carry a couple of spare pins "just in case". The billet block however also allows simplified attachment of a winch from the rear of the vehicle.

Regarding those pics of that Patrol and the fairlead mount....would bend like spaghetti under any kind of load in my humble opinion. But I think that is already established.

 

[DVR]

Here's some interesting reading

 

[Old.Tony]

It's not a bad piece. A bit advertisey but still, shows an inexpensive way of doing it.

I'd still be wary of recovery angles that exceeded a few degrees from straight (and that includes the vertical axis) unless you've engineered the mounts accordingly.

One of the reasons I'm using a Hayman Reese hitch and not the genuine Nissan hitch - and this was advised and suggested (and performed) by the dealer pre-delivery - the Nissan hitch doesn't securely mount on both the horizontal and vertical axis underneath the rear of the vehicle, it only mounts with vertical bolts. Torsional loads - twisting loads caused by off-horizontal forces generated by load levelling devices - would tear the hitch from the chassis.

I also think that as long as you don't operate those cables for too long, they'll be fine. 2G cable is mighty heavy. The plugs in the middle might put up some resistance (and they'll get warm because of it) so I'd keep an eye on those. Using alligator clamps on a battery terminal for this sort of exercise is not the most efficient way to transfer power because of the small amount of contact the clips have with the battery terminal, if you could take the time to bolt the connectors to the battery you'd have less problems there too.

Difference with this and a starter assist - duration of use. The start-assist draws 400-600A for about 5-10 seconds and it's all over. The winch will pull 400A for a minute or more.

Cautions aside, it's a very interesting idea and would love to see it in practice!

 

[joshy]

If you make something like that patrol cradle i suggest you put some stops infront of where the winch will sit to help absorb any movement and take the strain off the bolts. most winchs are mounted so that the load is across the body of the winch not on the 4 bolts.

 

[DVR]

Well the plot thickens!!!
I just scored that Tigerz detachable winch mount on ebay pictured earlier for only $95 delivered!!!
For some reason they knocked 30% off the last one

 

[DVR]

Well here it is FINALLY

Easy to make but a PITA to get it fitting right in the bar as it had to be trial fit about 6 times to get right.
It's an 8mm plate 200mm wide bolted by 6 M10 high tensile bolts to the top on the chassis horns. The hitch it self is from a H/D tow bar that I scored free from one of our clients who manufactures tow bars here in Adelaide. It's welded to the top of the 8mm plate and gusseted by 4 6mm plates.
I'm very happy with how it turned out and doesnt look out of place at all.

Yeah the winch IS heavy!!

 

[sypher]

very NICE!!

 

[Old.Tony]

Good stuff, Shane. That thing's gotta way close to 50kg, you don't lift that on your own, I hope!