Sorry, I know this is the suspension forum but this is the one people look at the most so I figured I would get the most practical advice from this one. I am purchasing a Warn XD9000i winch. I found a reasonable price for the winch alone but Warn wants to get me with all kinds of excess costs for the mounting system. Does anyone have a winch on their truck? Has anyone dealt with these mounting systems? I would prefer to spend $100 on a mounting plate or something basic. Paying more for the mounting system than the winch is not my idea of fun. Any advice or solutions would be greatly appreciated.

 

warn only reccomends its mounting plates. if you know your getting a good one for a cheaper price then, by all means, get it. warn doesnt make a super special mounting plate. its just an overpriced normal one.

 

JMC has one mounted behind his front bumper. He's got some pics of it in his gallery.

 

For 04+, you have to purchase at least the grille guard... if I'm not mistaken.

 

i also have one on my truck with the warn hidden mount
works great
jmc has some pics of his & the installation i believe in his gallery

 

I made a plate for my 2000 F150 that bolted to existinjg holes in the frame behind the front bumper and the plastic part of the bumper was trimmed out for the roller fairlead. It was sweet and 500% nicer looking than anything anyone was selling at the time. There is a hidden kit from warn for 04-05, it will not work with 06-07 according to them, and it requires the use of a short drum model of winch that is narrower than their other models and holds less line. I promise you something could be fabricated that would be awesome. I am going to get my synapsis firing soon on this project for my 06' KR I have a brushguard I love and want to stuff the winch somewhere. I'll post some pics when I sort it out. I'm thinking if a lift kit is installed, the crossmember hangs down so low anyway, why not make a plate from rail to rail and mount the winch upside down on it, with a skidplate to cover it up and then mount a skinny roller fairlead (the Warn kit for a 2000 model uses a skinny fairlead) under the bumper but up flush in a cut out in the black plastic strip under the bumper. By this summer I'll fire up AutoCAD and have a solution for this one way or another.

 

Do you have any pics of your 2000?