wht type steel.

[garethc976]

Hi there people, I have now purchased a winch, which I am mounting on the front of my B series LWB. I am making up a template this weekend, for the winch plate out of wood to send to the fabricators, my question is, what sort of steel do I want it made out of??? is 6mm to weak??? is 10mm over kill??? suggestions on a post card?????

[gregster]

Regular mild steel plate will be cool, 6mm will be fine if made into a tray that is attached all around it, 10mm is probably a bit overkill, but might be neccesary if will more unsupported....all depends how you are planning to mount it.
Have seen some winch trays made out of 4mm b4, but much to thin I reckon, always over engineer is my moto though....
Just a thought though is to watch your approach angle, I have seen a lot of fronty winches mounted straight on the end of the chassis rails which will encroach on your approach angle, and make you winch go swimming regularly! Try and design your mounts so the winch will sit higher if you can, but triangulate the chassis mounts so they will stop the winch twisting downwards.

Hope this helps you matey

[alex]

Like Greg said, 6mm is fine. Try and think about the design, if you have room make the tray an inch or so wider and longer so you can gusset the corners. Or even an external gusset using angle.

Steel is odd stuff, very strong but prone to twist fairly easy, If its a drop in tray (the winch drops in) look at a bolt in cross brace on top to stiffen from above.

Made well a 4mm box would be strong, but you need to have a very good shape and the weld itself needs to be good. 6mm plate is getting to the thickness where you can get enough heat and penetration to put a propper weld down. IMHO anything under 6mm is glued together rather than welded.