Our Tacoma project truck continues to make progress and is now moving under its own power again with the addition of upgraded drivetrain, axles, wheels, tires, etc. This month we show you our Ramsey winch addition along with our homebrew front bumper on which it will hang. We pulled out the tubing bender to shape some round tube, cut up some metal, and burned some pieces together.
The 9,000-pound-capable Ramsey Patriot Profile we used sits up front and we opted to try their wireless controller to allow us to easily work the winch from inside or outside the truck. With the addition of the winch, we knew we needed a battery upgrade. To save on space, weight, and complication we chose to stick with a single battery in the stock location so opted to use an Odyssey battery from EnerSys. These batteries use absorbed glass mat (AGM) technology, can be mounted in any orientation, and contain no liquid acid that can spill.
Our last upgrade for this installment was the addition of a half dozen LED rock lights from Roundeyes. These low current draw lights help light up the ground around us for night runs and allow us to use them for long periods of time without worrying about battery depletion.
Check out our photos that show more details on the work this month. There's a few more additions planned for the truck, so check back again for our next installment on Project Venture Toy.
 Some years back we swapped...  Some years back we swapped over to using synthetic winch rope and now prefer it over steel cable completely. We feel much more comfortable (safety-wise) with the synthetic, especially when working in tight areas it becomes more difficult for everyone to stand a good distance from a working winch line. Ramsey offers their optional 3/8-inch x 100 feet synthetic line and we got the matching aluminum Hawse fairlead. Also, the swap to synthetic dropped the weight of the winch line from about 17 pounds to about 5 pounds. |  For pulling power we chose...  For pulling power we chose to use a Ramsey Patriot Profile 9000. They have their fairly new UT line with semi-automatic clutch but our physical constraints would more readily accept a winch with a remote mounted solenoid pack. Using a winch with an integrated solenoid would have meant mounting the winch lower than we wanted or doing some serious cutting into the grille. The Profile allows us to tuck the winch up tight and mount the solenoids separately. |  Plugging in a winch control...  Plugging in a winch control can sometimes be a hassle and then you often have to find a way to run the cable over the hood and in the cab if you want to use it from the driver seat. Dash mounted controls are nice as long as you don't need control outside the cab. Ramsey now offers a wireless remote which seems could address all possible situations with ease. We're installing one to give it a try so we can control the winch from anywhere within 50 feet. |
 The Patriot Profile Series...  The Patriot Profile Series is fairly compact but built to be heavy duty. They are available in 6,000- to 12,000-pound models. The 9,000 for us should provide enough grunt to pull us out of most any situation. |  We used a Budbuilt-made winch...  We used a Budbuilt-made winch plate as an integral part of our custom winch bumper. These laser cut plates are available in two widths and the -inch thick plate is bent up in the front and rear to form a rigid tray. Standard mount holes come pre-drilled along with mount holes and a slot for a front fairlead. |  We started our front bumper...  We started our front bumper by bending up a lower radiator guard from 1.75-inch round tubing and tacking it in place to the bottom of the frame rail. The V-6 radiator hangs fairly low so we needed to integrate some protection for it with the overall winch bumper. |
 The front frame rails had...  The front frame rails had been cut down and capped off with steel plate. We bent up a stinger tube and tacked it in place to start our front bumper. We ended up building up a bumper assembly that bolted to the frame using a couple of the factory threaded holes in the bottom of the rails. This allowed us to remove it to finish up all the welds. |  Here you can see the nearly...  Here you can see the nearly finished bumper. Once we finished all the welding, we shot paint on most of it. Once it was bolted on the last time, it was permanently welded to the frame rails and a couple of support tubes were installed to add further rigidity. |  The Ramsey 9000 fits well...  The Ramsey 9000 fits well in the bumper and sits reasonably high for good approach angle. We fit the remote solenoid box underneath the winch plate, tucked behind a front aluminum skid plate. |