Just picked up a Mile Marker for a great deal.

I will be fabbing up a full Winch Bumper soon, but the funds dont allow it right now.

What would be the best way to mount it temporarily? I have a Trail Run Sept 1st, so it needs to be completed soon. I was thinking about trimming the front clip of the Trooper since I do not have an AC Condensor, beefing it up, and mounting it back there. Thoughts?

You would have to do major beefing up to mount it to the clip.The clip isn't that strong , trust me on this , I just finished changing them off when I did my project and there aren't that many bolts that hold it on , even then they aren't very big.If you went to use a winch with it mounted on there , you would do major damage.The winch should be mounted to a very strong bumper that is soild to the frame.The frame is what takes all of the force with the winching , and if you use something not up to the task of all that force , you will find out very quickly what can or will happen <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

My advice is just wait untill you can get a nice strong bumper mounted on there.When they did the mounting point for my bush bar with winch mount , they used very heavy steel , I think its 3/4" and bolted it and welded it to the frame.I then have 6 I believe 3/8 bolts holding the bush bar on , and they are grade 8 or grade 10 bolts.The bolts are also mounted to the mount points right off the frame , so its very solid.

please follow the advise above. do not skimp on the mounting of that winch. I saw one that was bolted to the front fender of a rig. scary let me tell you. Make sure that you have a good bumper or maountign point. You could always installa trailer hitch up front for now and use one of the portable mounting plates. You would have to weld in the hitch though.

I think he's talking about cutting some of the front clip to make more room back there for a frame mounted winch.
If I had to do it again I'd do that. alot of toyota guys do it that way.

You could also do what I did, I bought my winch and wanted to mount it before my bumper was made. So I made my winch mount, then built the bumper around that. The winch mount and bumper bumper are two separate peices.
That way I was able to make a strong welded on winch mount. Also this way you can take off the bumper and keep the winch in place..

Have a hitch? maybe run a hitch mounted plate to run the winch in the rear if you are pressed for time. no fabrication. maybe???





Otherwise I like the simplicity of chris's idea. You might even want to go a step further and (easier) by buying a prefab 3/8" thick plate that has the MM pattern and the holder for fairlead, then just drop some supports to the front frame crossmember.

There was no way I would think about attatching it to the front clip. I was thinking about CUTTING some of the front clip, reinforcing it, and mounting the winch more into the front clip.

I was looking last night and it would call for some major structural rework, so I think I am backing down from that. The Winch Tray ill be 1/4"x2"x2" Tube, with some 3/16" Plate. PLENTY strong enough. I mean look at the stock bumper mounts we are mounting to, they are extremely weak!