Winch Mounted on Nissan Alloy Bullbar.

I need a winch for a trip next year so have been deliberating about winch bars and the multitude of winches on the market. been through all the debates on the forum and google etc.
I have a standard nissan alloy bullbar fitted which is no good for mounting a winch.

Naturally looking for the best deals and value for money, I had almost decided on the bullbar and winch when I spotted a steel cradle on ebay.
I decided it was the way to go and bought it for around $300

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251113423785...84.m1497.l2649

Fitting it was quite straightforward, I disconnected all the lights and arials etc, took the alloy bar off and the cradle fitted perfectly into existing threaded holes in the chassis members.

I was initially going to risk it and buy a cheapy winch for about $350, but because I had saved a heap of money I decided on a mid price range and bought a tigerz11 Grande with dyneema rope.
This mounted straight on to the cradle, no problem. it also took the aluminium fairlead.

The next job was modifying the alloy bullbar for the winch access. I used an angle grinder to remove the three centre holes and left 1 on each side. A bit of panel beating, filing and sanding was needed to tidy it up. Fitting the control box was a bit tricky but it was just a matter of making a bracket and securing to the chassis (with the bull bar removed) Also had to make a neat hole in the top of the bullbar for access to plug in the winch control and /or the remote.

Then it was just a matter of bolting the winch bar back in place. 2 of the bolts were quite tricky to get to because the winch was now in the way. but got to them eventually with a variety of socket extensions and spanners. Also had to buy 2 more high tensile bolts.
The alloy bar is quite light and was easy to take on and off

Really dead chuffed with the finished item and the winch looks great, its a very well made piece of gear. I can't see why it shouldn't work well, The proof of the pudding.......!!

Took 2 days over a weekend, but definitely worth the effort.
Really must find out how to put photos on here!!

Sounds great and is exactly what I want to do. Photos would be great

Can't wait to see how it went, hope you took step by step photos.

I've got one of those winch cradles to suit a alloy bar , I just finished mounting my 12,000 pound winch in it, here's some pics :

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Originally Posted by MEGOMONSTER

Can't wait to see how it went, hope you took step by step photos.

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I didn't take any step by step photo's , but this website from the bloke who makes then is pretty good and it was a easy fit
http://www.nissangupatrol.com/chassis-differences.html

Hi Guys
I'm the bloke that runs the website http://www.nissangupatrol.com/index.html that sells the winch cradles. I'm glad to see that your fit ups have gone well. I can tell you that I now include the two high tensile bolts require as part of the kit and I have also made the fitting instructions public.

I do sell the cradles on ebay however it is cheaper from the website as I don't have to pay ebay fees. You still get the security and buyer protection via paypal payment. Currently I'm out of stock of the cradles but the next shipment is due next week. Oh, and it's an Australian supplier so I can keep a tight control over quality.

I'm always looking to improve my products so I really like reading threads like this and acting on comments. I'm looking to add to the instructions the procedure to cut out a slot in the top pan of the bullbar so you can see the cable spool onto the drum. I would welcome your thoughts on this.

Anyway, thanks guys for your support and be sure to check the website over the next month as I intend to add a DIY section if I get some spare time.

Dave

Must be a few different styles this was Ebay find

No, that's me as well. If you can zoom in you will see that the winch is an M8000lb warn unit as I didn't have a new XD9000 to put in it at the time.

Glad to hear that these things go alright. I too was just about to bite the bullet and change the bullbar out to a winch compatible version, and this little find on ebay is going to save me at least 1200 over replacing the whole lot, plus i like my bullbar, and i'd rather keep it... just need to decide on a winch now. Think i might go the 12000lb Grande Tigerz11. Seems like the best value tbh.

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Originally Posted by Honky

just need to decide on a winch now. Think i might go the 12000lb Grande Tigerz11. Seems like the best value tbh.

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Good luck with your purchase, hope it turns out well. (Sarcasm, just in case)


Never argue with an idiot, cos he'll bring you down to his level, then beat you with experience.

Have you had much xp with these winches mate? Everything i've read seems positive so far.

Have a squiz around some of the forum topics that relate to anything Tigerz.....
Pandora's box.......

I have the cheap winch from tigerz11 and has been great so far. I use it on the old bomb mud car I got. just this week pulled me 10mtrs though sticky mud up to the bullbar. that's with 4" worth of lift too


Sent from my GT-I9305T using Tapatalk 2

Just came across this thanks for the tip. Was about to chuck the wallet at a new bar myself. Sounds like Ill be able to spend a bit more on a winch.
Any ideas on best value for money at the moment ?

Have you considered making a cradle for the GQ - I used one of the TigerZ cradles and made 10mm right angle backets that bolted to the rear of the cradle and to the chassis rails on the GQ - There was no room for the cradle to sit on top of the chassis rails - so mine sits between

hi toolman, I was wondering if the normal roller fair lead for the steel cable fits on and how much lower winch sits below the chassis rails, thanks mate

excellent thread...I have a alloy bar as well....another job to the list.

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Originally Posted by benno77gu

hi toolman, I was wondering if the normal roller fair lead for the steel cable fits on and how much lower winch sits below the chassis rails, thanks mate

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Hi Benno77gu, sorry about the slow reply to your question.

Yes the steel cable fairlead fit OK. The cradle was actually designed around it. With regards to how low the winch sits, the bottom of the cradle is at the same height as the bottom of the chassis rails as you can see in the pic.

There are some dimensions listed here www.nissangupatrol.com but if you need any dimensions that are not listed please let me know.

I hope this answered your questions. If not please let me know.

This is mine, its one of those flat universal mounts, I have had some bits welded in to make it more like a box, So far so good, bit of a pain to fit but I used it to pull a bogged 60 series out no problems at all!


Cheers,
Eric.

Awesome, didn't know this could be done. I have the factory Nissan bar and thought I would need it replaced to put on a winch (on the list of needs). are these engineer approved for the task/loads? and does it affect cooling air flow to the engine/radiator in anyway?

I just mounted the above cradle to my 99 GU patrol everything works and now my bullbar is slightly crooked, and I have no room on the bottom brackets for adjustment :(

I also found my bullbar crooked after the install - I will need to play around with it when I get time. Apart from that I am very happy with the product, very easy to install and it fit like a glove - great instructions. Most of the time was spent trying to find somewhere neat to mount the control box. I have a Roo Systems winch which has a large control box. I ended up mounting it high up behind the grill on the drivers side but had to move the A/C radiator down a bit on that side and extend one cable. Very neat very happy with the outcome.

Hey Marty can you pop over to the introductions and tell us a bit about yourself
and your patrol. no harm done but being polite and all,
Its something the Forum asks of us all