I don't see any pics. For me the best place to mount it, would be where it can be bolted to the frame and the cable will clear any obstructions, while in use at angles.

 

The gap between the headlights in your pic, right below that gap the frame rails start to angle together to meet the lower part of the frame. Sort of looks like an upside down triangle shape. There are gussets in the corners that also have threded holes in them. Those are how the factory plate is secured to the frame. Look at your first pic, the upper 2 mounts are visiable in it.

 

well ive decided to make a mount out of a couple of pecies of 1/4"x1"x8" flat bar. see pics for where i am going to mount it/

 

That looks like a better spot . I am not that familiar with the older style cats but i think that is the factory location for the winch . Make sure you bolt it in place , dont weld it . Have you considered just buying the mount from Arctic cat , It comes with all the hardware and it has two tow hooks welded to it . I like to build what i can too, but for some applications it ends up cheaper and or much easier and faster to just buy the part that you need . For $65 I would just buy it from the dealer , throw it on and be done with it.

 

just out of curiosity, why not weld it?

 

The heat can change the strength of the metal and weaken it. Also, if you have an accident, might cause more damage[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] if, the mount is welded to the frame. Especially if, you just damage the winch mount. To fix that, you would need to grind or heat up the welds to fix or replace the damage, instead of just unbolting it.

 

very true. any ideas on getting a drill in there to drill some 5/16" holes in the frame on the back rail?

 

If a regular drill won't work, how about a angle driver? Are you planning on drilling the frame tube? Before doing that, could U bolts work, to hold the plate to the frame?

 

im going to drill through the frame because ive had really bad experences with u-bolts

 

Right were you made your back marks in your last pic is were the wich goes. The ac winch plate bolts up right were you unbolted the screen. I made my mount by cutting a piece of 1/4 to fit were the plastic piece (screen for you) bolted up, use it as a template. Then I figured out were the winch fit in best verticaly, then I cut a square hole in the 1/4 plate that the fairlead sticks thru. Then I welded a piece of angle iron to the back of the 1/4 plate, this is the winch mount. you can kinda see what it looks like in pic 10 of my pics here.

pm me you're email if you want acouple close up pictures. Can you also take a picture of the switch that came with the viper winch please.