Terrano Winch Bar Build (Kiwipetes)

[kiwipete]

I have decided this weekend to make a new set of mounts for the winch to get the top of it to sit flush with the bottom of the grill. This has raised the height of the original winch mount by about 150mm.

After months of looking at options, scavenging the necessary bits n bobs, including a shiny new MIG welder., I pretty much have all I need.

I have a set of bars off a 2004 Navara that I am going to bolt up to this when finished. They will need shortening as they sit proud of the guards by about 100mm each side, but I do not think this will be too hard to do myself.

I have cut up my old winch brackets to use with it to save having to re-drill the mounting holes where it bolts to the chassis rail.

I am considering using the stock bumper mounting irons for added bracing too. I know they are only held on by 2x 6mm diameter bolts, but they will not be taking much weight, if any at all. Just preventing any extra rotational forces when winching/snatching etc.

I have the bulk of the fabrication done today, hoping to basically finish it tomorrow. Angles of brackets cut and tacked up.
A slot is to be cut out of the bars to allow them to sit over the fairlead and act as a WOF man pleaser to prevent people getting caught up on it.

I need to source some 2-3mm strapping steel to make a rectangular insert when I cut the pipe away. Anyone have anything laying about I could scrounge?

What it looked like when I originally built the brackets.



Let the strip out begin.


Bumper and winch removed, spot the leaky ATF hose. That's sorted now!.


Brackets, cut and tacked up.


Side profile (outside)


Side profile (inside)


Winch and plate just sitting there.


Bars sitting place to see how it looks.


Hole for fairlead marked out ready for cutting.

I need to source some suitable 2-3mm thick strapping steel to make an insert for the bars here. Anyone have anything laying about I could scrounge?

I think I will place a 3mm thick webbing between the underside of the winch tray mount and the inner brackets for added strength?

There are more plans in mind for to finish it off nicely too, just need to source some more bits n bobs.

[sibainmud]

Might be worth putting a gusset from those brackets to the top bumper iron mounting (12mm head M8 x2) That's how the ARB bar is. I can take some pics of their gusset plate if you wish.
Still pissed I missed out on that custom one.
Watchin' this build Pete,
Chur,

[kiwipete]

Might be worth putting a gusset from those brackets to the top bumper iron mounting (12mm head M8 x2) That's how the ARB bar is. I can take some pics of their gusset plate if you wish.
Still pissed I missed out on that custom one.
Watchin' this build Pete,
Chur,

Yes that would be appreciated please Simon, I think I understand what you mean, but you know what they say about a picture.
I wish I had not thrown out that old BBQ plate that was lying around here for years now, would have been ideal for the other gussets I want to make for it now.

[kiwipete]

Another long day on the end of the grinder and MIG.

Brackets all welded up. I have yet to make the bracing web and weld in place.


Bar mounting brackets welded in place.


Trial fit.


I'm not entirely happy with the way the bars fit, they are not quite level and are out of square by about 25mm at the ends. I might have to slot the mounting holes.
Mounting the front tow hooks is proving to be a bit of a headache now, there is no where suitable up high for them. More thought through the week is needed.
Still have to design the back bracing to where the old bumper irons were attached and cut the mounting tabs off the bumper, weld to the bars and mount the indicators proper.

I have to pull the winch apart and re grease as it is stiff as hell to operate the sliding lock/unlock thingy.
Also noted the armature end cap part is cracked, nearly in two halves. I have emailed Runva to see if I can get a replacement one.

[Drurban]

Another long day on the end of the grinder and MIG.

Brackets all welded up. I have yet to make the bracing web and weld in place.


Bar mounting brackets welded in place.


Trial fit.


I'm not entirely happy with the way the bars fit, they are not quite level and are out of square by about 25mm at the ends. I might have to slot the mounting holes.
Mounting the front tow hooks is proving to be a bit of a headache now, there is no where suitable up high for them. More thought through the week is needed.
Still have to design the back bracing to where the old bumper irons were attached and cut the mounting tabs off the bumper, weld to the bars and mount the indicators proper.

I have to pull the winch apart and re grease as it is stiff as hell to operate the sliding lock/unlock thingy.
Also noted the armature end cap part is cracked, nearly in two halves. I have emailed Runva to see if I can get a replacement one.

Hi kiwipete,

I have the same winch with the clutch handle on the side, I also found it hard to disengage the clutch as it was stiff and thought it would free up but that was not the case.
I decided when I had the bar off to give it a birthday and
being in Auckland I took it to the Runva dealer and got the winch serviced after that the winch is sounding alot better have not tried the free spool but Iam sure it will be alot smoother than when I first used it.
Bummer that you are not closer so you can do the same thing.

Awesome winch bar setup.

[kiwipete]

Thanks Drurban, looks like I will just have to pull it apart myself. I do not think it will be too hard, I have a PDF manual on it here somewhere.
I don't know how the end cap got broken, maybe I stood on it sometime? Hope the replacement part wont be too dear.

[suzolla]

Hi,
Just a question from an engineering strength point of view.
Is each of your winch mounts only attached to the chassis at the bottom with just the two bolts.
If so when the winch is under load there will be a huge moment or turning force as the pull is not inline with the bolts, this is going to put a huge load on the bolts and the chassis.
Need some straps at the top of themount to hold it back.
If you slot the holes it just move when under load.
Cheers
Tim

[kiwipete]

Hi,
Just a question from an engineering strength point of view.
Is each of your winch mounts only attached to the chassis at the bottom with just the two bolts.
If so when the winch is under load there will be a huge moment or turning force as the pull is not inline with the bolts, this is going to put a huge load on the bolts and the chassis.
Need some straps at the top of themount to hold it back.
If you slot the holes it just move when under load.
Cheers
Tim

Thanks for the input Tim, it is appreciated.
If you look at the 4th? picture down from the top you will see there is 4 bolts per side, 2 horizontal and 2 vertical. Yes I fully understand about the rotational forces applied when under load and have a plan to brace the top of the mount. I just ran out of time this weekend.
As for slotting the bars, their simply "bolt on" and have nothing else attached to them. As seen in the pictures above, the stock brackets that I cut up for them were slotted in the first place, but I think I will put a third bolt through them just to lock them firmly into place.

[suzolla]

Cool, no worries, good to see you have got the bases covered.
Sometime hard to khow on the internet the extent of peoples understanding of the effects of various forces.
Cheers
Tim

[kiwipete]

Just a couple of updated pictures.

Tonight I tidied up the custom wiring loom across the top of the radiator, wound some spiralling across it all, replaced the corner park lights with some shiny Bling Bling ones, re installed and wired the fog lights and fitted the grille proper.

I think I will cut the tabs off for the fog lights and move them further out.



Indicators taped in place, mounting tabs are still to be welded in yet as are the brackets for the day time running lights.


Outside of bracket. (Yes I know there is a bolt missing, it's all come for painting).


Inside of bracket.




Overhang, right side.


Overhang, left side.

[Filthy4x4]

Looking awesome dude

[Drurban]

Starting to look good kiwipete great job keep it up.

[aroma]

looking good but looked good before you started it,
have you thought of drilling out factory bumber bolt holes to take an 8 or 10mm bolt if you can get to them that is,unless you have better plan
got a factory recover hook here if you can use it

[kiwipete]

looking good but looked good before you started it,
have you thought of drilling out factory bumber bolt holes to take an 8 or 10mm bolt if you can get to them that is,unless you have better plan
got a factory recover hook here if you can use it

Thanks, yes I know it looked good before, but I had to do something to protect people getting caught up on the winch sticking out for the WOF man. I have had those bars for some time and needed to lift the winch up as it got hung up on banks etc too often.

I think they are M8 bolts after all so should be OK. I can only get to one per side as the second ones are half obscured by the body lift now, unless I take the grinder to the body but i'd rather not.
Simon is sending me some pics of how the ARB bars mount to the stock bumper mounts for some further ideas before I go any further with it.

Thanks for the offer of the hook, I have two rated ones from the old set-up, it's just trying to sort out where to mount them now. There are not a lot of options left.

[kiwipete]

Starting to look good kiwipete great job keep it up.

Thanks, I do not have a lot of hi tech tools and equipment but it is amazing what one can do without them. Just a welder, drill, grinder, sore knees, bad back and a wonky eye.
Oh and paint hides all manner of sins too,

[kiwipete]

Looking awesome dude

Cheers.

[SP450andLE]

Probably a stupid question, but are you going to cover the ends of the bars? If so, will you weld a cover on, or just use a plastic cap?

[kiwipete]

Probably a stupid question, but are you going to cover the ends of the bars? If so, will you weld a cover on, or just use a plastic cap?

No not a stupid question at all. I have thought about this and have decided to go for some type of plastic cap. Have to pour some blackguard in it first, looks a little rusty in those photos.

[SP450andLE]

Probably a stupid question, but are you going to cover the ends of the bars? If so, will you weld a cover on, or just use a plastic cap?

No not a stupid question at all. I have thought about this and have decided to go for some type of plastic cap. Have to pour some blackguard in it first, looks a little rusty in those photos.

yeah, That's what drew my eye to it in the first place

Just get some of the rust converter in a spray can it'll get it pretty good

[kiwipete]

OK folks, I need a little help please.

I want to cut the bars, out past where the indicators are, and shorten the width of them by around 60mm.
I am thinking of sleeving the pipe back together, having drilled weld holes in the bars first, inserting the sleeve and welding it through the drilled holes, then seam weld the join. Thought about 200mm long sleeves for this.

To do this I need some 55mm OD heavy walled pipe please. Now I would like 2 meters of it as I also want to make two diagonal support braces to go from the chassis brackets to the ends of the bars.
Has anyone got any lying about I could do an exchange for thirst quenching liquid or similar or know where I could buy some from?

I am also in the market for two T plates that Hi lift jacks insert into, to mount on the bars as well. Does anyone make these?

As always, I'm always open to other folks ideas and thoughts here.

[aroma]

I used 50 x 5 ? flat for my hi lift jack points on the bars I made for the navara, sorry got no pic's of it,oops do have pic
you can just see them below the bottom bar

[vvilly]

also to Pete for caps on the end try finding a brass frost plug big enough to slide over the edge with the help of a rubber mullet

works a treat


Jase

[kiwipete]

also to Pete for caps on the end try finding a brass frost plug big enough to slide over the edge with the help of a rubber mullet

works a treat


Jase

Thanks Jase.

[kiwipete]

I have sorted the pip I needed now, got some 2mm walled 57mm OD pipe. I will split it and tack weld it to make a sleeve the right size, plug and but weld it all back together.

Now I need to source some frost plugs that will fit in a 55mm hole. Where should I start to look for these?

[vvilly]

Pete put them the other way round as in over the hole

try BNT or a trucking parts outfit

[kiwipete]

Pete put them the other way round as in over the hole

try BNT or a trucking parts outfit

OK cheers Jase.

[kiwipete]

I have done some more welding, cutting and grinding today. I have made up the two tow hook mounts from some 6mm thick 75 x 75 box section. I also adjusted the mounting position for the bars too, now they sit nice and level and square to the truck.

Start here.


Cut there.


Separate and grind.


Cut grind weld.


Sussing position.


That looks about right.


Just a coupla welds and some grinding to finish it off.


There you go.


Almost done, still have to make back brace.


Hurry up and dry dammit!



Tomorrow I will cut the bars to narrow them, 50mm per side has to come out. Make the box section for the fairlead to fit through and make the back brace. I will use part of the stock bumper mounts and some flat bar so it bolts to the winch bracket.
I also need to make some tabs to mount the indicators and a bit of ali chequer plate to cover the top between the bars and front of the truck.
Lastly I have to make two diagonal braces to go from the bottom of the winch bars up to the bottom corners of the bars near the park lights. They will be welded to the bars and bolted to the winch bracket for future bar removal.

More photos to come tomorrow.

[haydgq]

Hi there, this is looking good and its a great feeling making something yourself inst it.

is there going to be other braces/gussets that will tie in the winch mount to the chassis area that are a similar height to were you have now mounted the tow hooks.?

There will be a HUGE load put on this mount while snatching and winching and i cant really see were other braces could be added to take the force so thought id ask the question as this in one area where things need to be heavily over-engineered for safery etc

Cheers Hayden

[kiwipete]

Hi there, this is looking good and its a great feeling making something yourself inst it.

is there going to be other braces/gussets that will tie in the winch mount to the chassis area that are a similar height to were you have now mounted the tow hooks.?

There will be a HUGE load put on this mount while snatching and winching and i cant really see were other braces could be added to take the force so thought id ask the question as this in one area where things need to be heavily over-engineered for safery etc

Cheers Hayden

Thanks Hayden.
Yes there is more bracing going back to the chassis where the stock bumper irons used to bolt to.

[kiwipete]

Today's progress seemed a little slow, but there was much painting to be done, more cutting welding grinding drilling and sanding.

Bars ready for cutting.


Insert plug welded.


The other half.


Just a little more grinding and sanding to do.


Brackets all done.


One half done.


Trial fit, again.


Overhang before.


Overhang after.


Back braces made form old bumper irons. I would have liked the brace to be parallel to the winch, but it was not possible in the end.



Freshly painted bits bolted on.


Inside view.


Outside view.


One more day tomorrow should hopefully see it finished.