The Jeep has been running hot, so an effort has been made to find ways to improve airflow through the various coolers and the radiator. I have had my eye on the GenRight Low Profile bumper with winch guard for a while now. Finally! GR offered a deal for free shipping, so the cart was loaded and the order was placed. Since the aluminum version of this same bumper requires a second and third mortgage to be taken out on the house, I went with good old fashioned 3/16 double-walled plate steel. The bumper design consists of a separate heavy-duty tray that fits between the frame rails, and a solid cover that fits over the bumper ends and winch tray. Actually a really cool design, however, it was a royal pain in the keester to install.
First things first, scrub the metal rust inhibitor off the metal for the cover portion of the bumper and scuff with some 220 grit paper. I used a DA to scuff the bumper surface because I wanted to coat it with bed liner. Bed liner doesn’t show the sanding swirls as regular paint does. The winch tray is mostly hidden and GenRight ships that piece powder coated satin black. I put 3 even coats of bed liner on the bumper and it turned out fabulous! The old bumper was removed and the fun begins. The Jeep bumper ends have a stamped edge flange at the top which impedes with sliding the bumper cover over the ends. I cut halfway through the bend of the stamped steel and hammered the flange over flat and level with the other bumper end caps. Next, I had to remove the evap pump and cut the factory bracket out of the way. The new winch tray came with a relocation bracket for the evap pump. The next step was to drill the existing holes in the top of the frame rail just below the grille and tap them to 1/2×20 thread to receive a new bolt. All the new cuts, grinds and holes were painted to protect the metal from rust and the winch tray was bolted in place. It fit like a glove and all the holes lined up with adequate wiggle room to get the tray aligned perfectly.
Here is where the fun begins! Time to bolt the Warn Zeon 10s into its new home. I had the winch lifted by an electric hoist in my attic. The little 800-pound winch comes in handy for odd lifting tasks, and also hanging items for painting. The winch dropped in the hole beautifully and I was able to easily get the winch bolt hardware to attach to the tray. Next step was to slide the bumper cover over the winch tray – like a glove! Things were looking really good. I absolutely love this bumper! For a little while anyway. Last step. Time to add the fairlead to the bumper using a rectangular T nut that was made for center drum winch installations. The only problem, there was no way in hell it was going to fit. I read over the instructions again and it stated that the Zeon family of winches might have to be cut to fit in the tray with the fairlead. Cut my winch?! Yes, cut the winch. I had to cut away a portion of the winch body to allow room for the hardware. I was really nervous about hacking too much material out of the Warn body so I would cut and grind, and test fit. I must have done this four or five times to get the proper fit. With the hardware fitting nicely and the nuts and bolts in place, I dropped the winch back down in the tray. It doesn’t fit! The nuts for the fairlead protruded a bit farther than my initial cuts. I cut some more of the winch body away and was able to get the winch to fit in the tray. Now to fasten the winch back onto the tray. By this time the fairlead had pinched the tray and the cover together so the winch bolts had to be put in place so I could drop the winch on the protruding tray bolts. Meanwhile, the attic hoist is getting used more than ever because each time there is a do-over I have to lift the winch back up using the hoist. Oh! Keep in mind the cover is designed to slide over the winch mounted in the tray, not drop into the hole of the cover. Why you might ask. Because the hole in the top of the cover is smaller than the Zeon winch body! every time I needed to put the winch back in the tray I would have to stand it on one end and insert the winch in the tray at an angle.
Freaking FINALLY! Everything fits! I had to use an open-end wrench on the winch mounting bolts and turn the bolt about a sixteenth of a turn then flip the wrench over for another sixteenth turn and repeat until tight. After eight hours, start to finish, the job was complete and I love it!
