Muscling Up
HOW-TO | INSTALLS
UP
by Bruce W. Smith
MUSCLING
T
he diesel fuel had barely started filling our 2010 Ram 2500 4x4’s tank when a landscaping contractor, equipment trailer in-tow, pulled up to fuel his 2010 F-250 Super Duty. He strolled around the pump island to take a gander at the winch-laden bumper on our Project “Big Boss.” “Nice looking winch bumper,” he said. “Mind if I ask where you got it? I’ve been looking for something along that line to put on my truck.” Nothing improves the personality – and functionality – of a professional’s pickup more than swapping out the factory chrome bumper for a well-designed, heavy-duty aftermarket winch/bumper combo. And the cost of such an upgrade will pay for itself the first time they’re called into play. our web site (www.propickupmag.com/2010/04/10/body-protection-buyers-guide.) When it came time to outfit our Big Boss, we followed our own advice: We selected the Warn Heavy Weight Series M12000 because it has the muscle to move our big Ram and stand up to the rigors of job site use/abuse. The guts of the 136-pound M12000 center around a powerful 4.6hp, series-wound motor driving a three-stage planetary geartrain connected to a drum with 125 feet of 3⁄8-inch wire rope. Pulling power at the innermost wrap is 6-tons, while the outer layer can pull 2,000 pounds. It’ll get the job done. But a strong, stout, reliable winch is only as good the bumper it’s mounted in. A front bumper needs to provide as much impact protection as possible while serving other purposes, such as providing attaching points for tow straps and mounting locations for auxiliary lights. It also needs to look like it fits the truck. We found all those attributes in the Stealth winch bumper from Road Armor, a premier winch-bumper fabricator known for their rugged, yet stylish designs. The Stealth Base model is constructed like one a contractor
INSTALLING A WARN 12,000-POUND-CAPACITY WINCH AND ROAD ARMOR STEALTH BUMPER ENSURES MAXIMUM PULLING POWER AND FRONT-END PROTECTION FOR ANY HEAVY-DUTY PICKUP
MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE
Choosing the proper winch was detailed in our Spring 2010 issue, while selecting heavy-duty bumpers was covered on
38 PRO PICKUP SUMMER 2010