Alright guys, it's been 13 months and I've never tracked my modifications in 1 thread so I'm going to try to lay out my build over the last year. As most of you know I bought this machine as a future family hauler as we all grow. I'm married and I have 2 boys who are now 1 and 3. This should provide us several years of off road adventure and this first year proved that.
So let's get started!
Sitting at the dealer. The unit I choose was a 2016 Deluxe. 3 were in stock at the time but I liked the factory Honda roof and the side view mirrors looked like a good idea at the time
Coming Home. At the time of purchase I had a 8x12 deck over trailer which quickly proved to be less than ideal but we've since upgraded
The first upgrade was the winch. I chose a 4500lb Superwinch. I also upgraded to a synthetic cable with a hawse fairlead. I chose the KFI mount because it mounts to the frame at both lower bumper mounts and at the front differential. I do not really like the EMP mount with the cheesy u-bolts or that it is bolted to the bumper rather than the frame
Here's the electrical under the hood. I wanted everything tucked under the hood and off to the side so I didn't loose any storage space or a future second battery location. Both the positive and negative cables to the battery were cut significantly shorter than the original kit cables.
Here's the winch cables routed down the left side of the radiator and under the shroud.
Here's the winch mounted on the KFI mount and the winch cables cut to length at the winch
Since the winch kit I bought came with steel cable and I switched to synthetic, I had a temporary roller fairlead installed until I bought a hawse. I didn't actually use the winch with the roller. I also didn't like the steep angle of the cable to the winch fairlead cut out in the bumper
Again, steep angle up above the top of the drum just to get to the fairlead cut out
Here's my thought of where the winch cable should have come out.
In order to route the cable through this location a few holes were needed in the stock front bumper
Here's the fairlead and the adaptor bracket I fabricated placed on the bumper
Here's the bumper mounted back up with the hawse in place
In order to do this mod, you will need the stock Terra45 mount inorder to attach the fairlead and bumper back to the frame. I alsu used the Terra45 bolt holes to transfer punch the hole pattern onto the back side of the bumper
Here's the cable routed through the cut out and quick edge installed around the cut out
Here's the fairlead bolted in place. I tightened up all the bumper bolts before installing the fairlead. I then tightened the bolts on the back side of winch mount. Lastly I tightened the jam nuts. This allows the bolts to put the bumper in compression and to make the structure more rigid
The final product, a straight line pull off the winch drum and a solid fairlead mount
Here's a side profile shot of the bumper after installation
With my winch fairlead relocated, my next task was adding a tow point for recovery and hooking my winch cable when using a snatch block. I made a 1/4" plate to mount behind the stock fairlead hole with a 12k weld on D-ring. End result turned out pretty good with spray on bedliner.
A little bit of cardboard aided design (CAD?) for hole layout and initial dimensions
Here's the hook plate with the 12k D-ring welded on
Parts ready for fit up. Bolt and washer, 3/16" spacer to allow the tow point to sit flush behind the fairlead cutout, washer and lock nut on the back side
Mounted up and winch hooked
Painted with Rustoleum bedliner
Excuse the extra images... they'll be used later and I can't make them go away
So let's get started!
Sitting at the dealer. The unit I choose was a 2016 Deluxe. 3 were in stock at the time but I liked the factory Honda roof and the side view mirrors looked like a good idea at the time
Coming Home. At the time of purchase I had a 8x12 deck over trailer which quickly proved to be less than ideal but we've since upgraded
The first upgrade was the winch. I chose a 4500lb Superwinch. I also upgraded to a synthetic cable with a hawse fairlead. I chose the KFI mount because it mounts to the frame at both lower bumper mounts and at the front differential. I do not really like the EMP mount with the cheesy u-bolts or that it is bolted to the bumper rather than the frame
Here's the electrical under the hood. I wanted everything tucked under the hood and off to the side so I didn't loose any storage space or a future second battery location. Both the positive and negative cables to the battery were cut significantly shorter than the original kit cables.
Here's the winch cables routed down the left side of the radiator and under the shroud.
Here's the winch mounted on the KFI mount and the winch cables cut to length at the winch
Since the winch kit I bought came with steel cable and I switched to synthetic, I had a temporary roller fairlead installed until I bought a hawse. I didn't actually use the winch with the roller. I also didn't like the steep angle of the cable to the winch fairlead cut out in the bumper
Again, steep angle up above the top of the drum just to get to the fairlead cut out
Here's my thought of where the winch cable should have come out.
In order to route the cable through this location a few holes were needed in the stock front bumper
Here's the fairlead and the adaptor bracket I fabricated placed on the bumper
Here's the bumper mounted back up with the hawse in place
In order to do this mod, you will need the stock Terra45 mount inorder to attach the fairlead and bumper back to the frame. I alsu used the Terra45 bolt holes to transfer punch the hole pattern onto the back side of the bumper
Here's the cable routed through the cut out and quick edge installed around the cut out
Here's the fairlead bolted in place. I tightened up all the bumper bolts before installing the fairlead. I then tightened the bolts on the back side of winch mount. Lastly I tightened the jam nuts. This allows the bolts to put the bumper in compression and to make the structure more rigid
The final product, a straight line pull off the winch drum and a solid fairlead mount
Here's a side profile shot of the bumper after installation
With my winch fairlead relocated, my next task was adding a tow point for recovery and hooking my winch cable when using a snatch block. I made a 1/4" plate to mount behind the stock fairlead hole with a 12k weld on D-ring. End result turned out pretty good with spray on bedliner.
A little bit of cardboard aided design (CAD?) for hole layout and initial dimensions
Here's the hook plate with the 12k D-ring welded on
Parts ready for fit up. Bolt and washer, 3/16" spacer to allow the tow point to sit flush behind the fairlead cutout, washer and lock nut on the back side
Mounted up and winch hooked
Painted with Rustoleum bedliner
Excuse the extra images... they'll be used later and I can't make them go away
Last edited:
