No room for the winch!?

Hi all, I stopped by Harbor Freight Saturday and they had a great sale on the 12,000 LB winch, it was $300. I brought it home and there is not enough room to mount it. The power steering box is in the way. Any suggestions? The winch is 21 inches from end to end. From the inside edge of the staring box to the inside edge of the passenger side frame is just under 20 inches. See pictures.

 

You can send it to me.

How about mounting it on plate that would fit into a square receiver when you need it? We do that on our fire trucks. When you aren't winching mount it on the rear or stow it.

 

That thought had crossed my mind but I didn't want the winch/plate kicking around it the back of the jeep and the fact that it is easy pickens for someone trying to get a new winch with a five finger discount. But your idea about stowing it in the back receiver is a good idea, I just need to make me a receive in the back. I guess there is also a receiver lock that will prevent the five finger discount. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

12k winch is a very big winch...
You could extend the bumper so you have the space?
Mount on top of a metal plate too.

I wonder how the cable does in real world scenario. Over the summer we used the same winch to pull a new water line through the old one. We snapped the line about four times. This was not the intended purpose and it was all under ground.

The point is becareful with the line that came with it. I personally don't trust that line and would becareful using that winch. Winch performance was good though.

 

Mine is on a plate that has brackets to raise it up, you could do the same just adjust the height as you need to clear the steering.

 

You will need a winch mounting plate then will need to modify it to raise the winch or build one from scratch since your steering gear is mounted so high on the frame rail.