My bumper and winch from hell

[Jeepoftheseus]

Roasts welcome.

So the PO of this TJ made a complete mess of the bumper. I've included some pictures and I would really appreciate some advice about how to approach removing it, and any advice about whether the winch is salvageable too.

So the old Rough Country RS9500 doesnt work. I tried to pull the solenoid off today to see what the issue is and discovered that its totally rusted out. I'm not sure how to proceed trying to remove the wires because the bolts are so completely rusted over that there is no good way to remove them.

Next, I wanted to take the whole winch off the bumber and take it to my work bench, but I can't access the mounting bolts because of the way the aftermarket bumper is designed.

But I can't take the after market bumper off because it appears that the PO did an insanely sloppy weld job over the mounting bolts!! What was he trying to weld to it? Good question. The only clue seems to be that there's a break cable extension for flat towing.

Before I just take an angle grinder to this thing and hulk out, does anyone have any advice about the best way to approach this so that I don't accidently wreck the Frame under this bumper, and does anyone have any idea whether the winch is salvageable?

 

[Tj1004]

Don’t know anything about the winch, but it looks like with some careful grinder work and maybe a cold chisel, you could clean up around that bolt and maybe weld a nut to the top of it to back it out. That would be my approach based on that picture.

 

[Ashim]

I wouldn't waste time on salvaging the winch or bumper.

 

[Rickyd]

Cover the paint with a disposable blanket or fiberglass welding blanket and use a grinder or torch to remove that whole pos

 

[5TTTj]

Cover the paint with a disposable blanket or fiberglass welding blanket and use a grinder or torch to remove that whole pos

And hope like hell the PO didn't do anymore handy work.

 

[NskLJ]

Roasts welcome.

So the PO of this TJ made a complete mess of the bumper. I've included some pictures and I would really appreciate some advice about how to approach removing it, and any advice about whether the winch is salvageable too.

So the old Rough Country RS9500 doesnt work. I tried to pull the solenoid off today to see what the issue is and discovered that its totally rusted out. I'm not sure how to proceed trying to remove the wires because the bolts are so completely rusted over that there is no good way to remove them.

Next, I wanted to take the whole winch off the bumber and take it to my work bench, but I can't access the mounting bolts because of the way the aftermarket bumper is designed.

But I can't take the after market bumper off because it appears that the PO did an insanely sloppy weld job over the mounting bolts!! What was he trying to weld to it? Good question. The only clue seems to be that there's a break cable extension for flat towing.

Before I just take an angle grinder to this thing and hulk out, does anyone have any advice about the best way to approach this so that I don't accidently wreck the Frame under this bumper, and does anyone have any idea whether the winch is salvageable?

View attachment 604688

View attachment 604684View attachment 604685

Gas ax to remove all of it, jack the Jeep up and roll a dumpster under it. Let it fall and move on to new bumper and winch.

 

[Moglocker]

Roasts welcome.

So the PO of this TJ made a complete mess of the bumper. I've included some pictures and I would really appreciate some advice about how to approach removing it, and any advice about whether the winch is salvageable too.

So the old Rough Country RS9500 doesnt work. I tried to pull the solenoid off today to see what the issue is and discovered that its totally rusted out. I'm not sure how to proceed trying to remove the wires because the bolts are so completely rusted over that there is no good way to remove them.

Next, I wanted to take the whole winch off the bumber and take it to my work bench, but I can't access the mounting bolts because of the way the aftermarket bumper is designed.

But I can't take the after market bumper off because it appears that the PO did an insanely sloppy weld job over the mounting bolts!! What was he trying to weld to it? Good question. The only clue seems to be that there's a break cable extension for flat towing.

Before I just take an angle grinder to this thing and hulk out, does anyone have any advice about the best way to approach this so that I don't accidently wreck the Frame under this bumper, and does anyone have any idea whether the winch is salvageable?

View attachment 604688

View attachment 604684View attachment 604685

Just take the bolts out that you can and cut the one off with a cutoff wheel and throw it all away.

 

[Jeepoftheseus]

And hope like hell the PO didn't do anymore handy work.

oh he certainly did. This seems to be the worst of it though.

 

[Plumber1]

Gas ax to remove all of it, jack the Jeep up and roll a dumpster under it. Let it fall and move on to new bumper and winch.
View attachment 604710

.

 

[Moglocker]

.

View attachment 604728

Yes,not necessary to remove 4 bolts.

 

[basedbb69]

Id get a new winch, that thing looks rough. I got a Smittybilt 9500lb steel cable for about 250$ a few years ago. I prefer steel cable myself and they're cheaper. A lot of people also run the harbor freight winches which comes with rope if you prefer that.

Id use a torch or grinder to get the head off the bolts they welded to, weld a new nut on top and hit them with the impact.

 

[basedbb69]

Actually are those bolts that are halfway under the plate? There's no bolt head lol

 

[tnjeepguy]

Id get a new winch, that thing looks rough. I got a Smittybilt 9500lb steel cable for about 250$ a few years ago. I prefer steel cable myself and they're cheaper. A lot of people also run the harbor freight winches which comes with rope if you prefer that.

One way. Better to get a good used Warn older (born in the USA) winch. Hard to beat a Warn.

(Actual winch does not look all that bad. Can probably be made to work again if the motor is good. Can jump easy to check. New solenoid, etc and new winch plate. Take it apart after testing.)

 

[Jeepoftheseus]

One way. Better to get a good used Warn older (born in the USA) winch. Hard to beat a Warn.

(Actual winch does not look all that bad. Can probably be made to work again if the motor is good. Can jump easy to check. New solenoid, etc and new winch plate.)

Yeah I found what appears to be an identical solenoid on Amazon. It definitely needs a new cable, but those probably aren't insanely expensive. Yet it also likely needs the clutch rebuilt, the lever feels totally loose which I can't imagine is correct. In addition to that the rods that the solenoid are mounted to are bent. I just have no idea how that would happen. I'm thinking about all the time it could take to rebuild the damn thing and wondering if it wouldn't just be better to buy a new one. I think I'll at least use jumper cables to test it and see if the motor still works, maybe even take it apart.

 

[macleanflood]

You don't need an identical solenoid...just one rated for the right amount of amps. Error on the high side of you don't know what your numbers are. Doesn't need to fit in the box because you could relocate it under the hood...I've moved all mine.

Have you tested the winch motor?

Odds are you can even find a replacement motor.

If you get it running invest in a synthetic rope and fairlead.

-Mac

 

[SRCustom]

Damn, man. My dog can weld better than that...

Rocky Mountain Gas Axe... throw all that shit away. That winch is more trouble than it's worth; it's been underwater. If the inside of the solenoid box looks like that, so does the inside of the motor. One of those disposable units from Harbor Freight is just a few hundred bucks on sale.

 

[tnjeepguy]

One of those disposable units from Harbor Freight is just a few hundred bucks on sale

heretic

(I do like your dog! however)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1893407067970367787

 

[SRCustom]

heretic

Once you reach a certain age, you realize you only have so much time left and you stop spending it on silly stuff... like rebuilding old winches.

 

[tnjeepguy]

Once you reach a certain age, you realize you only have so much time left and you stop spending it on silly stuff

double heretic

(at 78 was thinking of being buried with one of my Warn winches !)

 

[Jeepoftheseus]

Once you reach a certain age, you realize you only have so much time left and you stop spending it on silly stuff... like rebuilding old winches.

Yeah this is in many ways the most important question. I like wrenching, but not all jobs actually end up being fun and engaging activities. The winch could end up being a total waste of time. On the other hand though I'm probably only going to need it once a year, so I don't want to drop $1k on a warn (even though I'd love to own one). If I drop $100 on a solenoid and then find out the winch is toast though I'm going to wish I had allocated that money to a new winch.