Do the same math for your carpool...your skid pad numbers would be hard to argue with as well.

So - yes, its a difference, and worse for the bumpers that had larger expanses of metal adding excess weight, and heavier winch ropes, etc...

But my Shrock bumper and Al fairlead/synthetic winch rope set up din't handle much differently than with the stock bumper/no winch...

I saw more difference adding 500 lb of other armor, or the rest of my family (My kids are in their 20's...), on the overall handling, and that weight WAS pretty much centered.

So, of course you are adding some weight, and of course it changed the weight distribution, but the suspension is designed to take passengers/cargo without needing to be replaced to carry them...despite the fact that putting your 6'4" 260 lb son in the passenger seat behind you will change your skid pad numbers by about a tenth of a G.

(I have a G-meter...)

I thought you had already added upgraded torsion bars when you added the winch/bumper combo.

With upgraded t-bars loading effects will be less noticeable.

I can assure you that the loading/handling effects of a 200# bumper/winch combo are much more significant than a 260# front seat passenger. If you saw my diagram it yields nearly a 280# weight differential between wheels (238 - (-38)). A 260# probably won't evn yield an 80# difference. The passenger is taller, so it will affect the height of your center of gravity more.

If it dont feel good fix it.

Errr Man make fire... wheel go round. Pull stick out ass may help.

Bah. None of this arguement matters.

Get stronger springs if you're getting a winch, and intend on actually using it. If not, the winch will wear out the stock springs in a hurry. For those that don't know, a winch, when used, compresses the hell out of the springs, and will cause them to prematurely wear out, if they're not made to handle the stress.

I did the 300M T-bars when they came in after the rest...and they did improve the ride/handling over stock...

But the bumper/winch made very little difference, as it only added about 145-155 lbs total...about 105 for the bumper, plus about 40-50 lb for the winch with synthetic rope (The wire rope is deceptively heavy)....the roller fairlead is deceptively heavy, and the AL fairlead weighs almost nothing.



I put the winch/bumper on the same day...and swapped on the synthetic rope first...so I don't know how just the bumper itself felt...but I imagine it would merely be even less of an issue due to even less weight.

Winching DOES compress the springs when pulling from top down, and off angle on that side, etc...

I'm not sure that the full stuff/full extension type wheeling I like does anymore damage than winching related compression, or if the amount of winching is statistically relevent or not...I wheeled all last weekend and only used the winch once, and that was to stabilze/recover a partial rollover victim, and he was diagonally uphill from me at the time...with about 4-5 guys pulling on his uphill side with a spotter strap....a 20' pull maybe.



Other trips, like in the pines, I might pull a dozen mud puppies out in a few hours...

If I added up all the winch time I ever did on the new winch, (~A yr?) its probaly less than 3 hrs total...I might cycle the suspension that much in a day without winching, just articulating....

So - statistically, I'm not sure winch compression wear and tear is important....

It might be better able to hold position against the compression related movement downwards, but the forces involved are stronger than a beefed up suspension most of the time.

That said - I went with the new t-bars to improve over stock, not to get back to stock.



I think the overall enemy of the t-bars is weight, total weight dragging them down hour after hour, day after day, until the springs despair of their load, and depart to join other mortal coils.