VICE Hidden Winch Mounts

[VICE Design]

I know we've got a few mentions in winch threads on here but just wanted to step in and make an official introduction and thread for anyone who's thinking about getting a winch without a big aftermarket bumper and has questions.

We manufacture hidden winch mounts to put a medium body winch behind the factory bumper of gas Ram trucks.

Our model specific to the 19-22 2500/3500 Rams has been around for a while now and gets great feedback.
https://www.vicedesign.ca/collectio...ts/ram-2500-3500-2019-2022-hidden-winch-mount

​

Our standard Hook Anchor keeps your winch hook for bouncing around and damaging your factory bumper and the optional light kit also provides an easy location to get some extra lumens on the road in a clean factory looking package.
We've also offer CONTROL BOX RELOCATION kits, which get the winch control box off the winch and out of the mud, and relocate it up into the engine bay to ensure it's working and not full of mud and water when you're buried and need it most.

​

kristof has an excellent thread here walking through how to get the factory Power Wagon bracket retrofitted into your truck.
So there's definitely other good options but we pride ourselves in making a solid product that's easy to install and well supported. We've spent a lot of time and energy polishing our installation videos to make your install go as smoothly as it possibly can.

**note they're just for gas trucks still. We get a ton of interest in diesels but haven't got a solution for the intercooler in the way yet..

You can also check out the shop and behind the scenes action if you're on the gram @vice.design

Post up your 25/3500 with our Winch Kit, post Tips and Tricks you found when installing yours, and ask Questions. I'll do my best to answer them.

-Allen

 

[Linked4door]

Damn that looks good. Hope yall find a solution for the diesels. I would love to add one to mine

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

Cool. Especially since it looks like it can be installed without even removing the stock bumper.

I didn’t see the specs of the build materials maybe I overlooked them.

 

[VICE Design]

Not sure we specifically mention it anywhere but our winchmounts are all 1/4" steel and powdercoated black. All the hardware we supply is metric 10.9 (or SAE grade 8). But we use metric wherever possible to keep it consistent with the rest of the truck.
They're computer designed and we do a thorough FEA simulation and analysis. It simulates the worst abuse 11,000lbs of truck can throw at it using similar software to what RAM uses when they design the rest of the truck.

We usually remove the bumper here, but we've done it so many times it's actually quicker and easier for us; and it helps show everything clearly when we're doing install videos. We've heard back from customers that they've done it bumper-on with great success.

 

[Havoc Powersports]

How much in the way does the intercooler interfere? Any way to do a 1/2" to 1" bumper spacer to get it to fit with a winch? I've been tempted to order one and see what it would take to get it to fit on a diesel lol, really don't want a big bumper on the front.

 

[elephantrider]

super clean piece of kit!

 

[VICE Design]

Hey Havoc, the intercooler interferes significantly. We've made a lot of bumpers for Cummins trucks in the past and have spent quite a bit of time holding winches up thinking about how we could shift things around to fit one in behind the stock bumper. Our existing bracket definitely won't work. Intercooler runs right through where the winch sits.

We usually recommend going with a hitch receiver mounted winch set-up for folks who really don't want to go with an aftermarket bumper. It's slightly less convenient but has the added benefit that you can wire up a second electrical connector to the rear of your truck. With big full size trucks when you get stuck the quickest way out is usually the way you came in... so having the option to run the winch on the back and pull yourself out makes life a lot easier when you need it.

And thanks elephantrider! We take a lot of pride in our design and fabrication, glad to hear it shows through.

 

[ERiXN]

Hey Havoc, the intercooler interferes significantly. We've made a lot of bumpers for Cummins trucks in the past and have spent quite a bit of time holding winches up thinking about how we could shift things around to fit one in behind the stock bumper. Our existing bracket definitely won't work. Intercooler runs right through where the winch sits.

We usually recommend going with a hitch receiver mounted winch set-up for folks who really don't want to go with an aftermarket bumper. It's slightly less convenient but has the added benefit that you can wire up a second electrical connector to the rear of your truck. With big full size trucks when you get stuck the quickest way out is usually the way you came in... so having the option to run the winch on the back and pull yourself out makes life a lot easier when you need it.

And thanks elephantrider! We take a lot of pride in our design and fabrication, glad to hear it shows through.

Thanks for the thorough response. I watched your video, went to buy and became very disappointed. Is there no chance of you all coming up with an innovation for us diesel owners? So sad! LOL

 

[Redfour5]

Thanks for the thorough response. I watched your video, went to buy and became very disappointed. Is there no chance of you all coming up with an innovation for us diesel owners? So sad! LOL

Even Ram couldn't get one on the new Rebel "Cummins" if you note...