Thread: Fitting a winch to a non-winch ARB bar

hey pricey ive got an arb bar on the front of my D2 but i can't tell if its the winch bar or not? whats the difference between the two and is it written anywar on the bull bar itself?

I'll swap you my winch ready TJM steel bar for your non-winch ARB bar!
Mines a 2000 TD5 auto too so it should be a straight switchover if you're interested
Alex

Originally Posted by discobaz4311

hey pricey ive got an arb bar on the front of my D2 but i can't tell if its the winch bar or not? whats the difference between the two and is it written anywar on the bull bar itself?

The winch bar has a hole for a winch in it . More seriously, under the main part of the bullbar, there are three openings on an ARB winch bar , the middle of which is a larger opening. On a non-winch bar there are only two openings and no mounting spots for a winch - hence my asking about the cradle.

Mounting points aside, I think the bars are the same. Can anyone confirm this for me?

And no Alex, I will not swap your ugly TJM bar for my good lookin ARB one

Originally Posted by gusthedog

And no Alex, I will not swap your ugly TJM bar for my good lookin ARB one

Fair enough too, but I had to ask

You can cut up a non-winch bar to fit a winch, but I would just add a thick backing plate to mount the winch on to spread the load. The non-winch bars aren't rated so if they failed on you under load there would be some hard questions to answer!

Capacious:
You can cut up a non-winch bar to fit a winch, but I would just add a thick backing plate to mount the winch on to spread the load. The non-winch bars aren't rated so if they failed on you under load there would be some hard questions to answer!

Hmmm. That's interesting. How about the ARB crush cans? Are they the same between both bars I wonder? I know from previous D2 ARB bar converstations that Slunnie et al have said that ARB crush cans are designed to cope with winching loads. I wonder if they just have the one type?

At a quick glance, the winch bar looks identical other than the holes in the bottom. I will have to investigate further.

If you happen to see me on the ground under your D2 inspecting your ARB winch bar, please do not run over me as I am completing some recon

Yes you can fit one, i am buying one second hand now and the person I'm buying it from has never had any issues with it on his 99 TD5.

Thanks jimmy. Some good feedback.

Now to convince SWMBO!