I got a '94 Rodeo in stock form at the moment and I want to get a winch put on it. Eventually I want to get a bigger bumper down the road but for now Im pretty new to putting things onto my vehicle. If I use a a winch mounting channel what would I be doing? Is it something I bolt onto the frame where the bumper bolts on too and it alows me to put a winch on my Rodeo without having to cut anything up or remove anything thats already on there and not be able to put it back on?? How does this work??

dude, i think you're pretty much out of luck. You're not going to fit a winch securely onto the factory bumper without good bit of custom modification which would likely involved a stout (custom, ie welded to the frame) mount behind the bumper and then cutting a hole for the winch to poke through. if you wanna see a good example of this, check out Bansil's work on their 2nd gen Rodeo.

I'm not aware of anyone that does front receiver hitches for the Rodeo, but if you could find one of those, a receiver mounted winch might be an option. If you truly had to live with the stock bumper and no modification, i suppose you could use a receiver mounted winch on the rear hitch... would get you unstuck in a pinch and better than nothing, but unfortunately, not gonna help you pull in the direction you want to travel.

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but you haven't given us much to work with. If you want bolt on winch mounting, you need to drop the coin for a heavy duty bumper. If you wanna save a buck or love the stock look, you can make it work, but you'll be modifying things in a mostly permanent type fashion.

-Rob

you're talking about something like this, right?



basically, in terms of Isuzu's, that plate is useless and gains you nothing in terms of getting your winch mounted. those plates work if your frame rails stick way out past the bumper (ala Jeep or old FJ style)... to us, its scrap metal.

-Rob

haha. thats what I thought. its a truck that is hard to get stuck enough as it is but for now its not the modifying issue for me as in getting a winch bumper or anything. I eventually want to get one, its just the money issue. I dont have that much to just drop into and being that I am going to college and paying for the Rodeo still it makes money a lil tight but Im trying to line up a second job at autozone too. As for now I can live with out the winch for sure. I want to get a lil more on it before I go to getting a new bumper for a winch.

don't wheel alone... find a local group. A strap from another vehicle can unstick you in most situations and chances are someone will have a winch and can serve as recovery vehicle for the group... that way, you can concentrate your limited funds on lift/tires/lockers... then the real fun begins!

-Rob

haha. I know that. I never wheel alone. my friend brandyn and I go out alot. He has a 91 Ford F150 with a 10 inch lift on it and 35s under it. but its 2 wheel drive so we have to hit spots one at a time to insure we can pull eachother out and not both get stuck. and we have 2 10 foot tow ropes and a 30 footer too. Where Im at there isnt much trails to go to that dont cost an arm and a leg to get out there cuz of gas so we usually hit up this place where they put in some new houses and the dirt pile left over is a good wheeling area.

Keep a tube winch bumper in mind for down the road. It's lightweight, so you don't need heavier torsion bars, but it's strong enough for the hardest pulls. But I agree with Rob. Get lockers and lift first. Here's mine.

yeah. I would like to get one. the less weight the better seeing how mine already weighs over 5000 lbs. I would like to find a winch bumper for another truck with the same frame width. That would make things easier. I dont really have to tools or money to make my own bumper right now.