Fab Fours Winch Bumper Install

Story & Photos by Mike Anson
.

 

Based on his experience with such matters, Schneider chose to mount the bumper brackets to the vehicle first and hand-tightened them enough to hold them in place, but left enough slack for movement and final adjustment. Schneider hooks up the wires to the Warn winch then places it in the winch mount and hand-tightens it in place. "It really fits well," said Schneider. "It didn"t require any shims to make it level."

With the winch mounted in the bumper it took the entire 4WP crew to lift the bumper into place while Kenny Reitan (under the vehicle) secures the bumper mounting bolts. Now Schneider secures the fasteners that hold the bumper and the winch in place.

 

Fab Fours provides access to both the winch controls and the plug-in for the remote operation of the winch through designed-in holes/access panels in the top of the winch mount bumper. Next step is to mount the Warn driving/spot beam lamps to the Fab Fours bumper.

 

Schneider measured and marked the position for the new driving/spot beam lamp mounting holes. He then center-punched the mark, drilled a small pilot hole, then the 3/8-inch mounting hole. And then test fitted the Warn lights. Before connecting the heavy-duty cables a Blue Man Group hand wraps them in split plastic for protection against chaffing, routes and connects them to the closest battery, the one on the driver"s side.

With the hood closed, and checked for smooth non-interference operation Schneider did the final tightening of the bumper bolts, aimed the lights and the big Ford pickup is ready to tackle any burly, off-road situation. Installation of the rear bumper was even easier, so we didn"t include the step-by-step. It matches the front bumper, uses the factory lighting and looks great.

SOURCES:
www.fabfours.com
www.warn.com
4 Wheel Parts Performance Center
2500-B Marine Ave.
Redondo Beach, CA 90278
310-973-6115

Page: 1 2