I see most everyone has a winch up front and only a few put one on the rear bumper. Aside from pulling myself BACK out of a mud hole, what is the advantage to having it back there? To haul yourself up a ledge and out of a ravine backwards? I've been debating a Thor Parts style rear bumper lately as I bent mine up a little offroading a while back and hit it again last time out but hear Thor Parts is not making them anymore. If I build a rear bumper, would it be worthwhile to put a winch under there? I figure I would have to also get a roof rack for the spare then.

 

I have been in several situations where going forward is no longer the desired direction. If it gets that bad I retreat. I have used several ****** blocks and winched backward with the front winch but is sometimes difficult to do.
I made a rear one using a Warn tray and a receiver hitch. Yea there is some overhang but I can take it off and strap it down in the back.
I once broke a steering rack going up a hill and as I topped the hill lost steering going down the other side. I used my two winches to move laterally to avoid dropping down 40 feet into a ravine. The tree helped too! NO dents, it buffed out.

 

RSC, I'm still in the early R&D of it but have been doing the same thing. However I'll share my conclusions. In order to run a rear winch inside the rear bumper you will need more room to do so height wise.

So your options are fairly limited.

Build a rear bumper that extends down, think Thor only taller, and relocate the solenoid. Doing so will compromise your departure angles though, so keep that in mind. You will also strain a whole new set of points on the H3 that typically don't see that type of stress and I would speak from personally experience and advise you to scrap the stock rear leaf spring shackles before they catasrophically fail on the trail.

Ok back to the bumper lol, the other idea I have is to re mount the spare on to an H2 style swing arm in the oposite direction as the swing gate. Than you would be able to have the spare tire provision eliminated from the bumper and giving you the height you needed.

Lastly would be worse case scenario, since it would require so additional fab in order for the fitament to be true as far as pressure on the frame. Get rid of any exhaust system from the stock location, not hard to do by anymeans. And do a hitch like frame support to house a winch in said location, a fair lead could fit the stock bumper with little trimming... But there would already be a couple inches maybe a foot of line sticking out... Which could be a point of concern at the wrong angle...

Mull it all over, build one, and send it to me... I'll gladly field test it for ya -

 

Placing the winch too low or where the muff was presents the same issues I have with a front concealed winch when it is used often. Laying cable or line on neatly to prevent overrides or binding or not being able to pull it out and being buried under mud and water and risking while running it to ingest water. I guess it depends on the terrain you wheel in.
It is possible to use a receiver winch mount both in the front and back. The inconvenience of storing it inside sort of kills that for some people. If you infrequently offroad it is an option if done right.




When you need it all the concern with overhang sort of don't matter as much. Just think of it as a longer H3, lol
If you know you are in a situation where it would be a problem, remove it.
I want to make a docking mount inside the back for mine but have been ratchet strapping it down to the mounting points in the cargo area when I need to.
The power tap can also be use to connect a jumper cable setup.
Warn recommends running a negative cable from the battery rather than just connecting to the frame.
And yes, there are some loose wraps on this winch after pulling up some hedges but just the outer wraps I will pull out anyway as I did not secure the end when I stopped and it unwrapped. I try to be neat!

 

Okay, so I'm not the only one scratching my head over this! Those are some good pointers, I hadn't considered water/mud into the mix if mounted underneath. I have considered putting it on the hitch like you showed, but since I dont have a roof rack yet (still thinking about that one) I don't want to go there yet and lose interior space. I have thought about a removeable/dropaway pinned mount at bumper level behind the spare. Would have to work around the swing gate opening clearance and I'm not sure about the stresses the farther away and from and above the bumper/frame mounts you mount the tray for the winch.

 

I run around in some pretty hot temp, like regularly above 100 degrees and dont want to block ANY cooling airflow to the radiator...hence the thoughts about a winch in back. I already am running shackles in the back to get a little better clearance ad still have occasional overhang issues.

 

the tow hitch receiver seems the easiest to set up and use. what are your guys thoughts on a 5-ton come-a-long? are they more hassle than what theyre worth? they are far cheaper and easier to store. ive seen them used from time to time but wonder if they have a more specific purpose....

 

When time is of the essenence or in extreme angles a come along is a major PIA!!! This coming from the guy who loves a good workout... But that's just my .02... That and I watched alot of Tool Time when I was a kid, so power tools (including winches) are a way of life! Haha!

 

Warn makes a electric pulz all.... that with tree saver strap, waspand synthetic line the bomb.
chris

 

of course block and good quality hardware is a must.
chris