After traveling 165 miles Friday I brought my Warn winch I got from one dealer and the winch mount I got from another home to see how it would fit. Well the Suzuki mount was made to sit below the front bumper quite a ways down and even with the bumper as far as protruding. I didn't want it like that since it would deffinetly decrease my approach angle so I ordered a Moose winch mount which is supposed to sit behind the bumper. The only thing is that the Moose mount requires spacing the whole front bumper assembly out 2" in order for the winch to fit behind it. Isn't this gonna decrease my approach angle some and is it at all possible to just shove the winch down there without spacing the bumper out. Is there any other winch mount that is designed to fit behind the bumper which doesn't require spacing out the bumper. All replies are welcomed.

 

If your Warn winch will fit behind the bumper (the more compact SuperWinch likely would), you can modify the Moose plate so you will not have to set the bumper forward.

Re-drill holes for the rear U-bolts 2" forward of their present location, trim (cutting torch or bandsaw) the rear outside edges of the plate (cut a of 2" square off each side) so the plate extends 2" further into the frame, U-bolt the front edge of the plate to the bumper with existing holes, U-bolt the rear to the fame member with the new holes, bolt the roller fairlead to the front of the plate, and you've mounted the Warn without reloacting the bumper.

Setting the bumper 2" forward, if you must for physical Warn winch clearance, won't compromise your approach angle much if any, especially since you plan to mount larger tires.

Don't worry, be happy!

Tree Farmer

 

I meant to say in the post above (cannot access editing, somehow), I'm not familiar with the particular application of your Suzuki, but I am familiar with the Moose mount and have considered similar modifications to avoid setting the bumper forward on other machines.

Another suggestion, if clearance for the winch is a problem: consider setting the plate BELOW the bumper tube and frame member, suspending it by the U-bolts. You may have to relocate the U-bolt holes slightly for bumper tube clearance with the upturned front plate angle, but you may be able to steal some room this way.

Finally, if the suggestions offered don't work and behind-the-bumper low protrusion is important to you, I believe a good fabrication shop could rig up a serviceable mount without a lot of R&D.

Good luck!

Tree Farmer

 

Thanks Jim. I'll take a looksie later when I get my quad back from it's first oil change and hopefully my winch mount is in today.

 

venomous, u should've ordered warns winch mount for your quadrunner. i have put two on 1999 quadrunners and one on my quadmaster. its the same mount for either machine. fit is up high and behind the bumper. if you feel like grinding an arc on the bottom of the lt side headlight mount you can get it even higher. and its cheaper than most of the others. it was a boltup to the quadrunners but had to oblong the rear mounting holes to allow the ubolts to fit. (looks like the quadmaster frame down tubes are just a little different than the quadrunner)its a great looking installation with no torches sawsalls or major modifications. good luck,

 

Venomous, what did you end up doing to your Quadrunner for a winch mount? What type of mount kit did you use and did it require spacers?

Quadmasterbound, same questions for you too please.

I have a Quadmaster, and a Superwinch 2000 installed on it. I am not sure what brand the winch mount kit is? When the dealer installed the winch they used 1 5/8" spacers. I didn't like the look, so today I removed the spacers. The only problem now is the rollers fairlead sticks out 2" beyond the front bumper. I could remove the roller fairlead and then nothing would stickout beyond the front bumper. However, without the roller fairlead on I think I'll get a lot of extra cable wear.

The real solution is to get a mounting plate that is about 2" shorter. With this I could attach the roller fairlead without it sticking out beyond the front bumper.

Does anyone make a mount kit for the Quadmaster that does not require spacers and doesn't stickout beyond the front bumper???

Thanks

 

cr4drm I used a Moose winch mount and it did require spacing the front bumper out 1 5/8" but it looks fine to me and so far it hasn't been a problem with approach angles. I too thought about removing the spacers behind the bumper but with the Warn A2000 there is no way it would still fit. There is only about 1/8" space between the winch and the grill right now. This mount is deffinetly better than the factory Suzuki mount that locates the winch below the front bumper and really kills your approach angle. Hope this helps you out and if you need anything else then let me know if I didn't answer your question right.