Winch Fitment
Many people ask us what winch will work in conjunction with our FJ Winch Mount and our Tacoma Winch Mount . The answer is that just about any winch will fit the mount. (see known list of winches that will NOT fit below) We have holes drilled for the standard 10" x 4.5" mounting bolt pattern used by 99% of the winches out there. What can limit your selection of a winch is the bracing behind the grille of the Tacoma and FJ or the A/C line on various year model FJ's and the design of your winch and solenoid mounting.
Please read this full article but as a rule of thumb we suggest using a removable/remote solenoid style winch on FJ Cruisers and Tacomas but most integrated control box winches will fit fine. Most of the newer winch designs such as the Warn VR EVO and Superwinch SX winches have smaller control boxes that work fine mounted over the middle of the winch.
You can also stagger the solenoid box off to the side some to clear any center grille bracing or A/C line.
Mean Mother 9500s
One dimension to watch is the winch depth (front to rear). Most are around 6.25 to 6.5 inches. The winch tub on our bumpers is 8" wide and there are a few winches out there wider than that. Because of certain clearances it's best to stick with a winch that is less than 6.75" wide, which most are. Winch width (L to R) is typically not an issue.
For example:
- Warn VR EVO, Zeon and M series.
- Superwinch SX and Tigershark
- ComeUP DV-9S: 6.3"
- Smittybilt X2O and XRC
- HF Winches have been made to work with little effort (see the customer photos at the top of the page)
- Mile Marker SEC winches fit but the control port points upward so would need relocation.
...and most others, just check the specifications on the winch you are buying to make sure.
Test fit your winch before painting your mount to make sure you don't have any fitment issues to deal with! We also suggest testing the functionality of your winch, used or new, before installing it.
Here's an example of how much this setup will weigh:
Winch mount bumper: 55.00 lbs (63.5 lbs 05-15 Tacoma)
Most winches with no rope: 51-55 lbs
85' x 3/8" AmSteel rope: 3.6 lbs
Aluminum hawse: 1.5 lbs
Coating and fasteners: 1 lb
Total weight: 113+ lbs (121+ lbs Tacoma)
Warn, Smittybilt, Mean Mother, Superwinch, ComeUp or any other similarly styled winches that have a low profile or a removable solenoid/control box will work quite well. Pay attention to the control cable port orientation on your selected winch. If it's pointed straight up, for example, you won't be able to get a control cable connected without opening the hood or adding an extension cable and mounting it in the grille or somewhere accessible. Winches that enable side mounting the control box work well.
We are also finding that some winches with integrated solenoids can and will fit. Something like the Warn Zeon 10S fits, snug, but it fits. Depending on the year of your FJ the A/C line might be routed in a fashion that could interfere with the rearmost portion of the solenoid.
As you can see the Zeon is 10.52" tall but still fits. 2010+ FJ's route the AC line differently and will hit the solenoid on some integrated winches. The center brace behind the grille will interfere with the Elite as well. Some have made it work by trimming the brace. As a rule of thumb we suggest using a removable/remote solenoid style winch on FJ Cruisers and Tacomas.
Winches that will not fit:
MileMarker Mission Series will not fit the FJ Cruiser. Not sure about the Tacoma mounts. It is simply a super large bodied winch.
Warn Power Plant
Warn 8274 (should be obvious as to why)
Large 15000 lb and up winches will not fit.
Notables: