Outer Limits 4x4 Board

alright well that pretty much says it but i cannot get a steel winch bar for my 1st gen hilux and i like the bullbar i got on but its not winch compatible and i was wondering if you can change/modify it to make it suit a winch.

the idea i thought of was to buy a winch cradle to bolt onto the chassis and have two bolts onto the front of the bar,then cut the hole for the rope and fairlead?
is that a wise thing to do?

i dont know much about winches and how they mount so help is much appreciated.

cheers..smiley..

By the time you get/make a winch cradle and fab up mounts to secure it to the car you could almost make a steel bar from scratch.
You'd have to gut the ally bar and bolt it to the cradle anyway.

Best option is to sell the ally bar and put the cash towards a custom tube/bull bar that is more suited to a winch.

83-mud-lux wrote: the idea i thought of was to buy a winch cradle to bolt onto the chassis and have two bolts onto the front of the bar,then cut the hole for the rope and fairlead?
is that a wise thing to do?

i .

that's how i have mine on my 80 series. 'cradle' is a bit fancy though. it's just a bit of 4mm plate bolted to the underside of the chassis, and the winch bolts to the plate between the two chassis rails. The alloy bull bar may fatigue over time, especially if you get real stuck and don't do any leg work.

I had thew same problem.

made this cradle



is pretty over kill but the materials are what i had at the time like 8mm thick.

has 8 bolts to the cross member under tension and 4 or 8 cant quite remember under shear intot the bottom of the chassis and cross member, then cut and mounted my hawse fairlead off the alloy bar.

i actually put some tabs ontot the cradle to bolt the car onto the cradle as well if it didnt hold up to taking the load on the fairlead, but have never used them, it seems fine.

I only had to make small mods to my bar to make this fit.

How about using this?


http://locktup4x4.com.au/hilux-solid-fr ... e-218.html

83-mud-lux wrote: the idea i thought of was to buy a winch cradle to bolt onto the chassis and have two bolts onto the front of the bar,then cut the hole for the rope and fairlead?

is that a wise thing to do?

Only if you use pop rivets and rivet on your fairlead.

hi i run a alloy welding fabrication shop in melbourne and we use alloy that is stronger then steel and a third of the weight what you need is some 6mm 7000 grade flat sheet and reinforce your bar, Will be as strong as hell and still be light.