Receiver Winch Mounts.. thoughts?

Looking at winches and winch mounts for a jk 2dr... I see where a winch can be mounted to a tow receiver (front and rear)... seems likes good way to be prepared either way ( front\rear)..

What are the upside\ downsides to using a receiver winch, instead of a solid bumper mount? Thx!

For me personally, I didn't want to go that route because I always wanted to have the winch with me.... And if it's on a receiver, it will probably be sitting in your garage unless you think you might need it... Personally there have been a few times when I was out, not wheeling, and came across people in distress who needed a winch... Had it been on a receiver I would not have been able to help them because it would've been sitting at home.

Next, I think it's about 50 times easier for someone to steal your winch if it's in a receiver... They break or disable one little pin lock and they get themselves a new winch.... Don't give them that opportunity!!

Despite what you may think- it is possible to winch yourself backwards from a front winch.... You have to run your cable down under your axles, and it's NOT IDEAL, but it will work.

Also there is major approach/departure angles sacrificed with a receiver style winch..

This is simply MY opinion. Whatever you do, I'm just glad to see another winch out there!! :thumb:


05 Tj, long arm, one ton, lockers, winches, 39.5" Iroks

My thought was to keep the winch inside the jeep, and only mount as needed.. weight would be centered, and less theft prone bolted to the floor behind the seats.. I'm running a 2dr, no need for the back seat..


Will a receiver be able to pull the vehicle, hitch is only rated at 3500lb..

Hmmmm. Well, that might be a good idea then if you can keep it bolted down good enough that it doesn't take your head off in a rollover..

As far as the hitch being strong enough- 95% of the time you only need a little bit of force to get you out... That's why I only have a 4k winch in the rear.. Unless you get bogged down in deep mud, you'll probably be fine... Now, if you did get bogged down in some deep mud and had to use a lot of force to pull it out, you could run a snatch block and then come back to a frame mounted recovery point, therefore splitting the force equally between the receiver and the frame hook.. That would probably get you out of anything you might get into..




05 Tj, long arm, one ton, lockers, winches, 39.5" Iroks

In order to use the winch in the rear you will have to run some very big cables from the battery to the back of the jeep with a receptacle to plug in the winch on both ends of the vehicle. Otherwise you will have to have another battery setup in the rear to run the winch back there. There will be very few times you use a winch in back.