bigcountry78 93 Posted February 17 Casually shopping for winch mounts for my 2001 rancher. I know everyone says to go with KFI, but it seems like the mount angles the fairlead down. I guess it matches the 04-06 bumper profile, but it looks weird on the 00-03 bumper. Can anyone confirm that? Is there a way to tweak it so that the fairlead sits vertically like it should? I’m thinking about making my own, but I like the way the KFI ties into several frame points. It looks like it would spread the load better. Are there similar designed mounts that fit my generation better? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,869 Posted February 17 6 hours ago, bigcountry78 said: Casually shopping for winch mounts for my 2001 rancher. I know everyone says to go with KFI, but it seems like the mount angles the fairlead down. I guess it matches the 04-06 bumper profile, but it looks weird on the 00-03 bumper. Can anyone confirm that? Is there a way to tweak it so that the fairlead sits vertically like it should? I’m thinking about making my own, but I like the way the KFI ties into several frame points. It looks like it would spread the load better. Are there similar designed mounts that fit my generation better? kfi is the best winch mount. does not matter if winch is angled ?, as long as you have the roller fairlead ?, you will be fine. you can not go wrong with a kfi winch mount !. DO NOT USE A REG FAIRLEAD !!..USE ONLY A ROLLER FAIRLEAD !. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigcountry78 93 Posted February 19 Honestly, it’s an aesthetic thing. I just think it looks funny if the fairlead is angled lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,611 Posted February 20 Motoalliance lists one for 00-03 Ranchers which is different part number than their 04-06 mount. No idea if it would be square though. They make good stuff though. Equal to KFI, just usually more expensive. https://www.motoalliance.com/atv-winch-mount-plate-rancher-350-400-2000-03-scratch-dent 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 4,048 Posted February 20 I put a KFI mount on my '00 Rancher that Jeepwm69 gave me. I didn't have any issue with the fit of the roller fairlead. I did cut the two side bolt brackets off of it and relocated them with my welder though, so I could slide the mounting plate up the frame tubes as high as possible. Here's pics of the finished mount. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,611 Posted February 20 44 minutes ago, retro said: I put a KFI mount on my '00 Rancher that Jeepwm69 gave me. I didn't have any issue with the fit of the roller fairlead. I did cut the two side bolt brackets off of it and relocated them with my welder though, so I could slide the mounting plate up the frame tubes as high as possible. Here's pics of the finished mount. Is it bad that even with you mentioning that, I have no recollection of it? I gotta lay off the beer........ 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 4,048 Posted February 21 It's been a good while eh? 5 years ago I think.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,869 Posted February 21 17 hours ago, jeepwm69 said: Is it bad that even with you mentioning that, I have no recollection of it? I gotta lay off the beer........ lol..i see old age is catching up to you ?, or the beers are ?..lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigcountry78 93 Posted February 21 Well, maybe they have different part numbers for the different generations. When I google searched some Images, I saw the angled ones on both models. Maybe those people were using the wrong ones. I guess I could call and ask lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 4,048 Posted February 21 This is the mount that I put on my '00 Rancher and likely it's the same part number you're looking at? https://www.kfiproducts.com/100505-honda-rancher-350/400-winch-mount.html As I said I modded the plate a bunch by cutting away a portion of the plate where it comes close to the row of harness connectors and I cut off the two brackets on each side of the plate then welded my own homemade creations back on so I could slide the plate up higher on the frame tubes. I don't remember whether I had to bend the Fairlead bracket to straighten it up square to the bumper or not.... maybe I did and forgot about that? I imagine a lil' customizing might be necessary on the KFI mount in order to get a good fit that you like. Here you can see how I notched the plate so it wouldn't interfere with the row of harness connectors attached to the frame. After removing metal between the mounting clamp holes on each side of the plate at the top I was able to slide the plate up higher on the frame tubes than was intended by the factory design. You can also see the two homemade brackets that I welded back onto each side of the plate near the middle of it, since those two mounting bolt locations had to be moved after the plate was slip up higher on the frame. And this is the factory stock pic. My mount looked just like this one before I hacked on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigcountry78 93 Posted February 21 (edited) I’m curious, why did you want to push it back towards the harness? Seems like a good bit of extra work for a small gain, but to each his own. Anyway, I thought about trying to bend it back but I hate to go bending on a new piece. When I got my 2000 model in late ‘99, we put a 1500 pound superwinch on it and due to it being so new, we had to modify a foreman 400 mount since there were no rancher mounts on the market. I think all we had to do was notch the plate to fit around the headlight supports. Anyway, that kit had a flat piece of steel that bolted to the bumper that held the fairlead. Looked cleaner in my opinion than the way KFI did it. I’d like to make it look as clean as possible. So, I’ll continue researching. Edit, something like this, but 25 years ago so I’m sure the design has changed some. Edited February 21 by bigcountry78 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
retro 4,048 Posted February 22 1 hour ago, bigcountry78 said: I’m curious, why did you want to push it back towards the harness? Seems like a good bit of extra work for a small gain Yeah it was a lot more work but if I remember right I felt that the mounting plate was too long for the bike. If I would have just bolted the plate onto the frame as the factory intended then the fairlead would have protruded out in front of the bumper a lot further, which looked china in my opinion. Another reason is that I tend to disassemble, modify and optimize everything that I build.... it's just work after all -- and optimizing things is something that I've always been good at. When I was a 6 year old kid I thought that I wanted to become a mechanical engineer.... I changed my mind as I grew older because re-tinkering everything else (as well as mechanical things) was more fun than just being a one-trick-pony. Honestly I just never grew up.... I think you'll have to mod a KFI to get it to fit good and look good on a 350 Rancher. The aftermarket has been dominated by china for decades so almost everything has been junk since the mid-1970s. Maybe another brand of mount will fit good, but maybe not. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigcountry78 93 Posted February 22 I understand wanting to tweak things, but the older I get the less time I have to tweak things lol. Yea I’m looking at my options, including just seeing if my current universal plate is wide enough to sit on the frame bars. If it is I’ll drill and bolt it down and then find a plate for the fairlead. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
