F250 Winch Questions

Demonical

Demonical

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I have a 2003 F250 Superduty. I bought a Warn M12 winch for it and a Warn bumper.

So I want to know if there is any problems when I remove the stock bumper? What I'm wondering about is the Air Bag Sensor going to be a problem? Is it attached to the bumper or is recessed up in by the rad or somewhere, where I don't have to worry about it?
 
the air bag sensor doesn't need to be in the bumper , for instance my 2002 dodge diesel has on the top of the transmision tunnel .
all it is , is a sensor that detects sudden impact , and that can be detected anywhere on the body/frame .

goto a ford dealer and ask them , or goto a ford dealer and ask to borrow the factory ford repair manual for a couple hours ( a good dealer will let you sign a manual out over night , providing you give them some contact info , and your credit card number , if they don't know you at all ) .
 
WarnWinch006.jpg

Warn M12 12,000lb winch.

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Winch & bumper.

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2003 F250 Superduty, 'Before'.

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Have the bolts all removed. There are just 6 bolts that have to come off and a couple of wiring clips to remove.

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And the bumper removed. I also removed the towing hooks. They had to go.

I won't have the new bumper installed for a day or so. I have to find a strong guy with some spare time to help me lift it up into place...
 
I got my winch bumper mounted today. No time to get pics of it.

The bumper has slots, where the bolts go through, which allows you to raise/lower the bumper.

When I mounted it, I raised it as high as it would go. I'm wondering if that is the right thing to do, or should I set the bumper to the lowest mounting position?
 
I put a 15000 pound Ramsey Patriot on a 2004 F 350. Great winch but that extra weight will raise hell with the stock suspension.
 
^ My Warn M12 weighs 136lbs. I think the bumper is another 100lbs. I dunno, that's kinda not much different then taking a 'fat' friend hunting. :)

The Ramsey Patriot 15,000lb winch is a 'fly-weight' at only 120lbs. :p
 
Demonical said:
I have a 2003 F250 Superduty. I bought a Warn M12 winch for it and a Warn bumper.

So I want to know if there is any problems when I remove the stock bumper? What I'm wondering about is the Air Bag Sensor going to be a problem? Is it attached to the bumper or is recessed up in by the rad or somewhere, where I don't have to worry about it?
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We took a cutting torch to slice out a stripped bolt from the steering wheel.



No, the airbag did not go off... :p






SRS has multiple failsafes. You could punch the sensor and totally crush it, but it wouldn't do anything if the car wasn't moving.
 
Your fat friend isn't cantilevered out off the front end. Just passing along some real world experience is all. I put the Ramsey on when the truck had less than 5 k on it and changed the front springs before 100 k. Your mileage may vary, but you truck looks pretty much already whipped so you may have nothing to lose.
 
Omega said:
Your fat friend isn't cantilevered out off the front end. Just passing along some real world experience is all. I put the Ramsey on when the truck had less than 5 k on it and changed the front springs before 100 k. Your mileage may vary, but you truck looks pretty much already whipped so you may have nothing to lose.
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Maybe I should install a winch on my Yaris. :D




You wouldn't also happen to have a plow attached to the front end, would you? ;)
 
firemachine69 said:
Maybe I should install a winch on my Yaris. :D




You wouldn't also happen to have a plow attached to the front end, would you? ;)
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No, I never changed the bumper either, I used the Ramsey add on mount for the winch which weighed about half of the difference of a complete bumper. Ramsey themselves were the first to warn me of the dangers of adding that much weight on a stock suspension. I of course never listened to them.
 
With a heftier ARB accessory bumper and a Warn 12K winch we burned the ball joints on our diesel F350 by 65,000 Km's, although the diesels are harder than hell on suspension as is. Rebuilt with Spicer parts and we'll see how it fares this time around.

IMG_2741-1.jpg


As for your bumper, you will find with that style the lower skid bar is going to be very visible, and a little ugly. It is important though, so unless you plan to replace it with a front skid plate, I would take the time to paint it while the bumper is off, so at least it is not so obnoxious. Ours was very clean when we mounted the bumper, so it matches and hides reasonably well under that monster.
 
Omega said:
Your fat friend isn't cantilevered out off the front end. Just passing along some real world experience is all. I put the Ramsey on when the truck had less than 5 k on it and changed the front springs before 100 k. Your mileage may vary, but your truck looks pretty much already whipped so you may have nothing to lose.
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Ouch!! :runaway:
 
Demonical said:
^ My Warn M12 weighs 136lbs. I think the bumper is another 100lbs. I dunno, that's kinda not much different then taking a 'fat' friend hunting. :)

The Ramsey Patriot 15,000lb winch is a 'fly-weight' at only 120lbs. :p
Click to expand...

adding extra weight to the front, wheel spacers, cheap lift kits, etc will all have an impact on the steering and suspension performance of trucks, cars, and atv's. there is a huge difference between adding weight where its meant to be (passengers/box/trunk) vs the very front of the vehicle where the vehicle isnt designed to handle that much extra weight.

it will add extra stress to the front end and may "finish off" any parts on a used vehicle that are nearly worn out.

that said, id much rather pay for a few extra parts than be stuck in a truck ;)
 
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Here's the winch with skid plate installed. It protects the radiator and tranny cooler (okay).

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Side view.


I've still got stuff left to finish this job. The Ford has two driving lights, that mount in the stock bumper. They are disconnected and remain in it. I've got to find an after-market light, that uses the Ford wiring connectors, then mount them on the new bumper.

We did a fair bit of driving the last couple of days, looking around for bear. I have to say, I have noticed a bit of a different feel in the front end-suspension, due to the added 250lbs weight of the winch & bumper.

Ah, my trucks 'whipped' already. I'll just pund it out...
 
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