Good deal, thx sir, that makes me feel better about it all. I was wondering on that since most hitches don't have any cross bracing or side to side stiffening at all, and even change elevation so there's even more of a twisting load on the single side plates. With that in mind i will likely will beef up the frame now on my log trailer so that twisting is prevented better, and probably check my rear hitch on my truck if i ever want to do a winch there (unlikely since i plan on one on the front of the bed i hope to build someday). I got the idea from the grcs mount thing, but as the loads go up with bigger winches its gotta have better design to account for it. I'll still likely do a hitch swap design for my different projects since it's so handy, but I'll make sure that there's minimal torque on it and account for that load better now.
If Dave went so far as to build a custom front bumper, i would think that since it comes straight out and basically boxes the frame in the front that a hitch mounted winch wouldn't be an issue, especially on that light of truck, as there would be no twisting moment. It would have to be substantial enough to handle the torque of course, but it wouldn't be 2 flat plates being bent sideways like a rear hitch, the plates simply attach the tube/ pipe bumper section to the frame rather than welding them. The rear hitches that you bolt on are very flimsy in the side to side direction since it's only a plate (thx again, i never even considered that before, learn something every day!).
If one would weld some angle or flat to the bottom of the hitch plates that would stiffen them immensely, as would adding some cross braces. On a front bumper you could possibly also add a skid plate going back further to the frame which would stiffen it even further if desired, I'll look into that if/when i get ready to do mine. I definitely agree a dedicated winch mount is superior since it's not sticking out further than needed tho, but i think a front bumper has a far better design to handle the load of a hitch mounted one. Building it so it has 2 receiver tubes rather than 1 would also be a decent idea, and i think i might do that on my log trailer to help spread the load of the large hand winch since the line angle is horrible. Thx again.
