Thread: Winch mounting 1996 disco

I don't think you can mount a winch on that style of bar. I think you need to get one designed for a winch like from ARB or OL. Somebody else may be able to tell you better though .

The eyes on the bottom of the bar should not be used for recovery. You will either rip them out or rip the whole bar off.

The winch style bar may have recovery points on it already or you can get Jate rings for it (The cleanish black things near the front) You then use an equaliser strap to recover off the two points.

Andrew

Short of fitting a winch compatable bar, you will need to mount the winch in a cradle that mounts direct to the chassis behind the the bar, you will need to modify or move oil cooler and some of the plastics. bit of effort but can be done.

glen

There are discreet winch cradles available from Troutbeck sales, some simple 100mm angle (large ) can be made into a simple cradle that would fit behind your nudge bar and possibly factory bar as well.

I've had a look at the Troutbeck price list and it lists a discrete winch cradle as a part for Series 2 discos. Do you know if its still possible t fit to my series 1 (upgrade) disco and if so, does anybody know how and where it mounts.

Also, While i am more than happy to bow to the collective wisdom of the forum, I am supprised that i cant recover of the two eyes on the bottom of the bar.

The eyes themselves look pretty solid:


And the entire bar mounts to what seems to be the same place as the aftermarket recovery points:


I know im probably asking some fairly simple questions but I've had enough experience with natural fibre and wire rope rigging on ships to know that this is one thing i really don't want to stuff up.

I cant post a pic but a mate of mine has made a very simple yet strong winch cradle for his rangie that sits flush with the end of the chassis rails , if you email or pm me i will send it to you.

OK... A few things for you:

The thing to watch out for on your Disco are the 'crush cans' at the front of the chassis rails (you can see them in the picture just in front of where the bar is bolted). These are there to absorb impact in a crash situation and are all part of the airbag system. They pose an 'interesting' problem when fitting winches to Discos and RaRos.

Recovery points... Unless it has a SWL (Safe Working Load) on it, don't use it. Those eyes don't look anywhere near strong enough for my liking and I suspect they would sheer under heavy load.

A recomendation... Don't bother. I know it looks 'cool' to drive around with a winch on the front but in reality you'll hardly ever use it (you said it yourself that it'll be for occasional use). You're better off throwing some money at decent recovery points front & rear and getting yourself a hand winch instead. Remember - If you've got an electric winch on the front, you can only winch forwards (usually further into the **** that you're currently stuck in). With a hand winch you can go in any direction you want... Quite handy when you want to reverse out of the afore mentioned ****!

My 2p worth.

Mark.

And sideways:







Two hand winches and it was the only way out gently

Travel with hand winches and good company.