Custom Adapted Offroad Bumper - Winch

One of the side benefits of having the FabFours Toyota FJ bumper work with the Trailblazer is that it is a winch bumper. From the get-go I liked their design and how the winch tucks neatly into the bumper. The winch I decided on is the Warn PowerPlant HP Dual Force. This model is the first winch that also has an integrated air compressor. This was an important aspect as I decided to start to lower my tire pressure when hitting the trails, specifically when driving through the Great Sand Dunes National Monument on my Colorado expedition. An additional side benefit of the PowerPlant design is that everything (control box, solenoids, etc.) is integrated into the design. There are no extra boxes or wiring to run, just a straight pos and neg to the battery. Depth-wise, the winch fit perfectly. When positioned in the bumper's mounting holes, and the bumper tucked up against the frame rails, the winch sits perfectly close to the front grille, which can still be removed. The problem was with its width, and the openening design of the FabFours. The PowerPlant is much bigger than a standard winch and it just wouldn't fit into the opening and line up with the mounting holes. Additionally, 2 out of the 3 control switches (plug for hand control, switch for winch/compressor operation, and switch for winch clutch) would not be accessible. So the only way for it to work was to strategically cut the bumper. It was cut along the red lines:

I then painted the edges with POR-15 to make sure rust wouldn't start. Although the bumper sat nicely against the frame rails and more or less followed the contours of the Trailblazer, there were 2 large gaps at the top just below the headlights. To solve that, my fab guy made 2 pieces out of aluminum diamond plate. I powder-coated them with a textured flat black, trying to match the bumper as close as possible.

The lights come with the bumper, one set for turn signals, and the others are Hella's used as driving lights. I ended up installing them but not without doing some cutting of their brackets as the mounting of the bumper got a bit in the way of the mounting location. The Hella's come with an H7 bulb, which I am going to change to a yellow (fog light) H7 bulb for better visibility in inclement weather.