Front bumper w/ winch cradle

[jessef]

Ideas and designing input would be appreciated and more heads are better than one in this case !

http://www.delica.ca/forum/laid-off-wit ... -4770.html

Only one I've found so far about a wrap around bumper (took body corner fender panels off)

Something along these lines is what I would like to do.

[delicat]

Jesse,

Here's a few more options. Granted, most of them aren't from a Delica but I still like how they are. It's just a starting point. The Delica pics aren't great but it's hard to find...

front bumper 6.jpg (49.9 KiB) Viewed 9654 times

front bumper 7.jpg (38.01 KiB) Viewed 9656 times

front bumper 1.jpg (92.54 KiB) Viewed 9647 times

front bumper 2.jpg (106.59 KiB) Viewed 9641 times

front bumper 3.jpg (141.86 KiB) Viewed 9630 times

front bumper 4.jpg (144.85 KiB) Viewed 9626 times

front bumper 5.jpg (37.89 KiB) Viewed 9593 times

David

[jessef]

Cool beans. Thnx David.

I'm going to do a few mockup designs and hand them to my eng friend and let him have a go at them.

I'll have to remove the front corner body panels, front bumper/bush bars to have him look/measure the mounting points and places to reinforce if needed.

I want to make this one a true 'cow guard' so that the bumper->frame will take the brunt of the impact *knock on wood*

Also relocating the oil/AC rads and having sloped steel plate in the corners should improve the approach angle which IMO is one thing the Delica suffers for an offroad rig.

The departure angle is nice and short. Almost like a truck going backwards

[sturmy]

Not quite a winch bumper, but interesting anyway? Its a bit shiny for me though!

http://www.ama4wd.com.au/index.php?a=de ... 167&id=756

Sturmy

[jessef]

Not quite a winch bumper, but interesting anyway? Its a bit shiny for me though!

http://www.ama4wd.com.au/index.php?a=de ... 167&id=756

Sturmy

Nice and shiny.

I'm still looking at something to integrate into the frame/corners to expand the impact zone.

More ideas !

[Profister]

How to install the winch in your driveway.

[jessef]

tsk tsk tsk ... no safety goggles while grinding..

A spark on the eyeball is definitely an experience

[Profister]

... and how to test it. The sign: NO DRIVE THROUGH!

[almac]

nice winch man.

my thoughts would be to mod a trailer hitch with a duel receiver . then make a custom duel mount tray. the duel receiver would give better 'shearing strength' when pulling at an angle than the wimpy warn single tray...
then you could just move the winch from front to back.
with theft on the rise, it would be nice to be able to remove it and store it at home when using your Deli as a daily driver...

i bet it could be designed around the stock brush guard too...

[jessef]

The problem with a removable winch is weight and accessibility.

Try lugging a 100 lb winch + 20-40 lbs cradle in mud or snow let alone trying to align it.

I've been a member of overlander/portal forum for a number of years.

They have every vehicle under the sun put through things none of us would ever think of.

Out of the thousands of members and hundreds of test/users, I counted less than a handful that use a removable cradle winch system.

If I would total the amount of hours each person has with dedicated experience with this and summed it up, it would be that a removable system is great in concept but difficult to use in many conditions, let alone dangerous.

I would never pick up 120-140 lbs myself. With two people it can be done but if one slides, no shin/shoe armor, etc... it can be nasty.

I like the mockup's though.

[Meanman]

Her's a thought......I know the winch on the front looks cool but in reality, having the winch on the back is more useful. Why? how many times have you backed into a ditch and got stuck so that the winch on the front could pull you out? Probably few to never.....but how many times have you gone head first into something then realized you don't have either the power, the clearance, or the traction to continue? Then all of a sudden the winch on the back to extract yourself out the way you went in seems way easier then winching yourself through or over what ever stopped you in the first place.
Just a personal experience observation.

[jessef]

I was in a loooong debate over front vs. rear winch in a jeep/toyo/overlander forums for a long time.

99% of people with tons of experience amature/pro say front.

If you are rockcrawling, then a rear could be useful but for this topic, it's about general offroading and getting from a to b with the aid of a winch.

Few reasons :

- You are going forward and need to keep going forward. Usually a road or trail of some sort. If you're stuck, you still need to get over/through the obstacle to get to your destination.

- With extra line/snatch blocks, you can recover yourself or others with a winch in the front.

Having a winch in the back can pull you backwards but in most of the cases above (overlanding/exploring) you still need to get over/through the original obstacle you got stuck in.

Obviously, this is debatable and is an ongoing debate in many forums and backyard beer parties. Front or rear winch.

I will put it up front permanently for those reasons.

Also safety. I don't want to heave over 120 lbs in sketchy terrain. It's a huge safety concern with me and others.

I met two overlanders in their late 60's from Germany last year who are certified euro offroad course instructors and they gave me the reasons why a permanent front mount is 'usually' 90% functional compared to rear or cradle mounted. But they stressed that there are many things outside of a winches capability that affect using or not using one. Meaning, a lot of the 'stuck' is driver error. So a good 4x4 course is what they recommended before even buying a winch.

On that note, there's a few courses that you can pick up locally. I plan on doing that when I have some free time.

Free time.. maybe in a few years.

[Meanman]

I personally would always go front (and carry a come-along for rearward extraction)....I just wanted to throw in a different perspective.
I've wheeled most of my life in one form or another. Best training ever was serving in The Armed Forces driving Army cars of different wheeled and tracked varieties and learning to extract them or better yet to DRIVE correctly.

[loki]

I would just go with a jack-all or high lift jack with the accessories needed to use it as a come along, it's not terribly heavy any can be used front, back, side where ever. and I think it would be much cheaper, just my 2 cents, would love to hear if I'm mistaken. :)

[almac]

ive never owned a winch. i guess that makes me a winch noob.
with a winch mounted on front, what's the approach angle on the Deli like?
also, what about weight? do you have to mod the front suspension at all?

and finally, since the deli is pretty light, why not go with a winch with a lesser pull like a 4 or 6000 lb pull... save some money, weight, and space.