FJ Mod Report

Installing the Lucrum winch mount

Install proves to be easy and straight forward

By Jim DeFord

VANCOUVER, Wash. (April 29, 2007) — I have had the Lucrum winch mount installed for about a month now. It get rave review from both myself and everyone who sees it. The guys at my Toyota dealer were all over themselves when they saw what a cool mount this is.

What sold me from the start was the ability to keep the original designer's look to my FJ. I just do not care for the "Mad Max" look the aftermarket bumpers give. Granted they will give more protection from a 45-degree direction than the stock bumper or the Lucrum mount provides, keeping the stock look was paramount for me.

Not to mention the massive weight savings the Lucrum mount provides. I estimate just a 90 lb gain from adding the Lucrum mount and a Warn M8000 winch.

The mod created a little heavier steering feel, but 2 lbs of air added to the front tires immediately resolved that.

The Install

Though fairly easy, this install is not for the faint of heart. Removing the grill was a breeze. Getting the bumper off proved to be a little troublesome as the side brackets grip the bumper pretty tight. Once that is done the bumper literally falls off.

Removing the "tube" bumper is just a matter of a few very tightly torqued nuts. On my particular FJ a couple of the studs on the driver's side were a bit mis-aligned. After a few calls to Chris at Lucrum we relieved the holes slightly and the mount slipped right on.

Once dry mounted (after re-positioning an A/C line) it was time to mount the winch. It's a tight fit to get the bolts into the winch but everything lined up perfectly. Once deciding where to mount the controller, we lifted the entire assembly and bolted it in.

We used a Dremel tool to trim the flanges on the bumper and re-mounted it. The look is nothing short of amazing! The winch is mostly protected, unobtrusive and very attractive.

Though I have not actually used the winch as of yet, we will perform a test on the next run (May 12) and report the results here.