trying to mount a winch

forgot to update yesturday, it didn't really pan out how I thought. it started to bend the rails if it something heavy it could have been bad but I got the car loaded eventually. luckily for me its a work truck and I don't really care what happens to the bed since when I got it, it was all dented up
i

Originally Posted by bigdog72

forgot to update yesturday, it didn't really pan out how I thought. it started to bend the rails if it something heavy it could have been bad but I got the car loaded eventually. luckily for me its a work truck and I don't really care what happens to the bed since when I got it, it was all dented up
i

If you don't care what happens to the bed, you could get 2 - 6' lengths of sturdy steel square tubing or even thick angle. Lay them in the bed and drill through and mount them to the rails under the bed with long threaded bolts (at least 3-4 per side to avoid sheer). Then mount your winch on a steel plate, which then mounts to the steel brackets. Not sure how the frame is set up on your truck if this would work. If it does, you can easily take it out of the bed and the brackets would be able to be removed fairly easily too. This would also raise it up off the truck bed a few inches so the cable wont drag. Or you could leave the brackets in the bed and when you want the truck for hauling just put a piece of plywood down for a flat surface.

Either that or find a mounting plate for a 5th wheel and modify it to fit a winch.