found a writeup after i found a guy w/ one cheap (needs a rebuild.. but a helluva deal, found a writeup on that too).. about sinking one between the framerails on a CJ.. the YJ would basically requires welding in a new frame tube behind the winch mount and cutting out the old one to get clearance.

I was planning on cutting my bumper to accept the roller leads and using that UHMWPE stuff..

anyway.. anyone do this on a YJ before??? i'd like to sink it to avoid blocking my new radiator..

Yep, did it. Works great.

Removed the tube, made new bumper out of 2x6, tapered the ends. Had to extend the frame a little. Used 3x4 box tube narrowed to 2-1/2 x 4 because I couldn't find 2-1/2 x 4 locally. Welded nuts inside the new frame pieces for my *bling* chrome towhooks and then welded the new bumper on.

At this point, the front sheetmetal is just sitting on the rubber bumpers that rest on the frame. The center mount is gone. On a CJ we did, we just brought a 2x3 tube out from the pass side to pick up the mount. That worked fine, too.

While I was at it, I also moved the PS box a little to make room for moving the axle forward a bit and to eliminate some bump steer.

I recommend the mod although it turns out to be a decent amount of work for should be a simple little job.

Here's a pic of mine. (the blue one)

http://www.superford.org/registry/showpic.php?pID=4886

Originally posted by Jason Lockwood
Yep, did it. Works great.
Here's a pic of mine. (the blue one)

http://www.superford.org/registry/showpic.php?pID=4886 Looks good. Any more hint's on doing it to a CJ?

That's awesome. What's the rating on that winch?

The only thing that's really different on the CJ is that we didn't have to remove the entire crossmember. We were able to just notch it out and weld a strip along the edge where we cut. Don't have any good pictures of it, though. We were able to retain the center body mount.

The winch is a normal old Warn M8274 8000 lb winch.

the original writeup is over at www.4x4wire.com too bad you dont have any pics from the buildup..

Keep in mind the write up on 4x4 wire was done on a pre-amc CJ, with a slightly different crossmember setup. You could do the same thing though, replace the stock one with a welded in one up front and a welded in tube to retain the body mount for the grill. easy enough

btt