Winch bumper

[mrcolieman]

The center section for the Move winch bumper I ordered arrived today for my 2019 Custom. I ordered the weld together classic winch bumper with 4 pod light holes, winch upgrade and full grill guard. It's going to house a Warn 12K winch with synthetic rope. When I get started I'll update the progress with pics and advice from my experience.

 

[mrcolieman]

The balance of the kit just showed up. Excited to get started but right now it's time for some green beer! Happy St. Patricks Day...

 

[PistolsFiring]

Diagrams look good, excited to see it done and on the truck. Do you powder coat it once it’s all welded?

 

[mrcolieman]

Diagrams look good, excited to see it done and on the truck. Do you powder coat it once it’s all welded?

Ha! That's a great question. I am undecided. I may color match it to the truck but most likely I'll epoxy prime it and spray it with truck bed liner.

 

[scotman623]

Looking forward to seeing finished pictures.. Should be very nice.

 

[mrcolieman]

Finally it has dried out enough to get some work done! I removed the stock bumper and tow hooks, leveled the truck, centered the middle section. I tack welded the mounts to the leveled and centered middle section and then the left and right wing sections. I then removed the whole thing and finish welded those pieces on the table. I'm a little disappointed on the strength of the Move mounts so I will be fabricating a better/stronger set up that fits into the frame of the truck... More to follow!

P.S. If anyone is willing to drive to Santa Cruz CA area to pick up, I'll let the stock bumper and tow hooks go for free.

 

[PistolsFiring]

That’s gonna look tough.

 

[mrcolieman]

Slow but steady. I had to order some 2"x3" square tubing to build frame mounts out of and it won't be here for a week. The winch is going to fit mounted base forward and be a really tidy install. I'll need to rotate the clutch housing 90 degrees so the lever is on top but it looks pretty easy. I'm 10 hours in and figure I've got 10 hours to go. With the savings of this kit over a pre-built bumper that math is paying me $50/hr. Not bad for a fun project.

 

[Grant]

How much weight do you figure this will add up to? Have you done anything to the suspension or stock?

 

[mrcolieman]

How much weight do you figure this will add up to? Have you done anything to the suspension or stock?

Stock suspension. I haven't weighed anything but I figure the winch weighs about what the stock bumper and bits/pieces I took off and the new bumper is probably in the neighborhood of 175lbs. I measured the ride height before I started and today measured again to where I am and I'm nose down 1/8 inch. My trigger point to address the weight/suspension sag is 1/2 inch. If I gewt to that point I'll add a 1.75 inch level kit and wheel spacers so my 34" tires will clear the upper a-arms.

 

[mrcolieman]

More good progress today. I had never made a "fish mouth" cut to weld tubing to the side of another piece of tubing... A little help from the University of You-Tube and I'm happy with the results! Really liking the looks of how this is coming together.

 

[Grant]

Did you take any special precautions before welding on the truck? I've welded twice on mine and didn't disconnect battery,ecm or anything and afterwards got paranoid about maybe a stray static charge invading the electronics.. I did make sure I had a good solid clean ground on the mig..

 

[mrcolieman]

Did you take any special precautions before welding on the truck? I've welded twice on mine and didn't disconnect battery,ecm or anything and afterwards got paranoid about maybe a stray static charge invading the electronics.. I did make sure I had a good solid clean ground on the mig..

I always disconnect the battery when welding on a vehicle with computer electronics and try to keep the welder ground clamp as close to where I'm welding as practical. Electricity is lazy! will always find the easiest path to ground...don't want that to be through an ECM which can't take the amps!

 

[Grant]

Is this the classic or precision version?

 

[mrcolieman]

Is this the classic or precision version?

It is the classic full grill bumper kit with winch/offroad upgrade and 4 cube light holes.

Weather and a holiday weekend held me up a bit, but yesterday I was able to tack up the mounting system I put together. This is my one big cautionary advice to anyone wanting to put together a Move Bumper... You will need to design and fabricate a mounting system as Move provides attachment points sufficient for tack welding the bumper together but not for everyday use. That being said, I am very happy with this bumper kit.

I chose 2"x3" square stock tube, 3/16" thick that slides inside the truck frame and uses 2 long bolts on either side to bolt up where the stock tow hooks were mounted. (see pics)

Hoping to get everything finish welded and prepped/painted soon but...today I'm going fishing!