Winch locks

[rockhound]

I was thinking the other day ( Ya I know thats scary) that A good way to make a locking setup to lock your winch or other things down for that matter, would be to use wheel locks the kind with the special sockets to remove, that would work pretty good. You would just have to get the proper threaded bolt and it would lock that winch down good. ( then you could sleep at night)..:p

[AZWILDYOAT]

You can also weld the bolts and nuts together.

[rockhound]

Ya that would work. After I thought of it I just saw my idea has already been used. Downey sells a kit that uses those same wheel locks.

[TNToy]

LOL, yeah... just weld them up.

My winch couldn't be removed with tools of any sort. Then I burned it up and we just used my buddies plasma cutter to surgically remove it from the vehicle.

Good tools rock. ;)

[rockhound]

Ya the Ol Plasma cutter is the ultimate fit all wrench:p But I like the winch lock idea better. More costly though. But easily removeable .

[Tumbleweed]

I went to the old time auto parts house, dug through their selection of steel freeze plugs. Found 4 that fit over the winch mount nuts, and spot welded them on. Gonna be a pain for anyone without a die grinder to get them off-or at least take them some time. Didn't weld on the bolt or nut, some say it might weaken the bolts.

[littlebluetoy]

Take a piece of 1x1 steel tubing and weld it firmly to the winch plate around the bolt head (MAKE SURE YOU ARE CENTERED) then drill a hole through both sides of the tubing and put a pad lock through. This way they have no access to the bolt without removing the padlock. Hope that helps
P.S. Dont use a cheap lock!!!

[CoreyPerez]

What ever you do, DO NOT WELD THE NUTS AND/OR BOLTS!!!!

If you ever buy a new warn winch, just follow the instructions. THere are reasons you don't weld the nut or the bolt. The heat destroys the bolts, and they can / will snap.

If you want a sure fire way to protect the bolts, follow the directions that warn supplies. Get a piece of "C-Channel" that is just large enough to fit over the bolt heads, and weld the channel to the bottom side of the mount plate. This will not allow a individual access to get to the bolt head to remove the winch. All you have to do later is grind the welds off.

Corey

DO NOT WELD THOSE BOLTS OR NUTS!!!!!

[jvmin]

my winch is welded in place and since I don't ever plan on needing to remove it it don't matter. If I ever have to remove it I'll just remove the whole mount anyway since all the mounts would be in the way of anything the winch is in the way of.

[hideoustrail]

My Warn winch was snugged up nice behind the ARB front bumper, It takes removal of the front bumper to get the winch out. Came out of work the other night to find my poor ARB bumper on the ground and my wonderful friend for 4years (winch) gone. :cuss: :cuss: Nothing in this world is safe anymore. At least I know whom ever took it didnt know the bumper was worth more then the damn winch. Guess Im lucky in that aspect. Appreciate your guy's advise on securing my future winch up. Thanks

P.S. I walked around HomeDepot for an hour brainstorming the ultimate way to safe guard the bumper from being removed, Ill put my idea down on a new thread, once I get some photos of it.

[MaverickToy81]

Sorry to hear about your buddy Mr. Winch,:Angel: that's a tragedy. But, as with all things, you have to find the humor:kidding: in it. I cannot believe that they did not take your ARB bumper. Dude, bumpers are like the first thing I look at on a nice rig. They must not have done their homework. Sorry if finding that funny offends you, but I think its a riot.