Mounting winch to an ARB Defender bar?

**trout1105** · 10th November 2021, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by VladTepes

What's an offset fairlead? I have two rope style fairleads - one that came with it and another I got from nuggetstuff when Wayne was making them.

As far as nuts are concerned -

I have seen square nuts available for $7 each!

Looking at the winch there are holes in its feet (flats) where it mounts to the bar.
So nuts don't seem to be what's needed but bolts.
And I need to know what maximum depth so it can actually have decent thread engagement but not be so long as to bottom out in the holes.

Cheers

The holes in the base of the winch won't be threaded, This is where the square nuts come into play

**DazzaTD5** · 10th November 2021, 11:01 AM

*As others have noted, use square nuts, the purpose of this is they fit into the housing of the winch behind the mounting holes.
*I mount the winch to the bullbar before mounting the bar to the Defender.
*I use a trolley jack with a block of wood on top of the jack to put the bar into position.
*It is easier with two people, but I pretty well remove bars and re-mount them all the time by myself.
*If you are getting new bolts, I'd say get 10.9 rather than 8.8
*10.9 are more forgiving than 8.8 with regards to getting the torque in the ball park (honestly I dont think it really matters in this situation)
*Metric bolts, nut, fixing can be readily purchased from any bolt supplier.
*In W.A I use Porter Industries in Malaga, they generally have what I want (Note: he is my brother in-law, so take that as you will).
*On a Defender, remove the rubber plugs on the end of the chassis, clean it out, hit with a rust converter if needed, repaint the chassis end, hit with some other product like lanolin spray, anti-seize on all the bolts in the chassis.

**VladTepes** · 10th November 2021, 01:13 PM

I agree torque isn't a relevant consideration in this application it just needs to be tight-ish.

So what would be the actual specs of bolt and nut I'd need to ask for?

**loanrangie** · 10th November 2021, 02:49 PM

Call up your local 4x4 accessory shop and ask for winch mounting bolts , should be $20 or so. You may find that the fairlead will bolts into the lower holes and check it's inline with the lower part of the cable drum.

**Tombie** · 11th November 2021, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by VladTepes

I agree torque isn't a relevant consideration in this application it just needs to be tight-ish.

So what would be the actual specs of bolt and nut I'd need to ask for?

A simple grade 5 will do.
A grade 8 will be stronger

You still need the square nuts. They slide into the feet.

**ramblingboy42** · 11th November 2021, 08:32 AM

I'm interested in these square nuts.

The last time I used square nuts was on fencing and gates long ago

Anyone have a photo of these nuts installed?

My memory of them is cheap, poorly manufactured , usually heavily galvanised.

I have a "buggery box" of old assorted nuts and bolts....hundreds of them... but don't think there is a square nut in there

**Tombie** · 11th November 2021, 09:00 AM

**Wojer** · 11th November 2021, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by W&KO

Take winch to nut n bolt shop, Grab required grade 8 bolts.

Or drop around to my place and I can measure up the bolts for ya.

Also suggest stainless bolts in that area.
High Tensile SS 304 will be available at a quality Nut & Bolt shop

**VladTepes** · 11th November 2021, 09:55 AM

Thanks all,

Purchased from that link @Tombie cheers

**POD** · 11th November 2021, 10:15 AM

If it's a warn winch, there is a trap that I discovered when I rebuilt the motor in mine several years ago; there are two slots in the motor end cap that are at 90 degrees to each other. They are drainage points to prevent water building up in the motor end where the brushes are. Depending on which way the winch is mounted, one of them will be pointing downwards and the other will be pointing horizontally. The one that points horizontally should be sealed with a dab of silicon. Problem is, in the U.S. the most common way to mount a winch is with the bolts downward whereas here in Aus we almost always mount them with the bolts facing forward. The winches come from the factory with the correct hole plugged up for the US system; we mount them with the feet forward and the motor ends up filling halfway up with water and the brush business rusts away. Make sure your winch has the drain hole that faces the ground clear and the other one plugged with a dab of goo.

I have a winch front and rear on the 130, the rear one is pedestal mounted, i.e. bolts pointing down, so the bolt strength is critical. I emailed Warn for advice on the bolts when I set this up and their advice (which they happily and helpfully gave) was an 8.8 rather than higher grade as they have found that the higher tensile is less forgiving in shear and this provides better service for this application.

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