HUMMERs come optionally equipped with a Warn Mil-12000
electric winch from the factory. This page describes the winch,
mounting kits, accessories, and alternative winches.
While the Warn Mil-12000 winch is similar to the Warn
M12000 winch, the HUMMERwinch is from the Industrial
(commercial/military) division while the M12000 is from the RV
division. There are some key differences. The Mil-12000 is one of
three winches used on HUMMERs and HMMWVs. AM General equips
HMMWVs with a Mil-6000 (6,000 lbs) or a Mil-9000 (9,000). The
civilian HUMMERcomes with the Mil-12000. All are waterproof
(spliced into the venting system to the air intake) and will
operate under water. They use EIPS cable and are equipped with
thermal protection switches and Electronic Current Limiters (ECL).
Most importantly, of course, is that they all fit between the frame
rails. The M12000 RV winch is a little longer than the Mil-12000
and does not fit. The M12000 also lacks the waterproof features,
thermal cutoff, and ECL. The M12000 comes with 125' of 3/8" zinc
plated wire rope while the Mil-12000 comes with 75' of 7/16" EIPS
wire rope due to the drum size and rope diameter. Supposedly you
can fit 100' of 3/8" EIPS (like the Mil-9000) onto the Mil-12000
but I have not seen it.
Mounting
Kits
There are two major kits to available to add a winch to the front
of a HUMMER: the AM General kit and the Warn kit. Here is a
picture of the factory setup. The mounting kit is all from AM
General, only the winch is from Warn. Note that the roller is an
aftermarket Warn product.
On newer models (93.5+), the same brushguard is used on winched and
unwinched vehicles. Earlier models w/o a winch had the brushguard
mounts closer together, between the frame rails, and mounted to
where the the tie downs would be. The "winch" brushguard had the
mounts like the newer Hummers and fit outside the frame rails. The
kit consists of the winch, frame extension mounts, bumper with
hawse fairlead, new lower support braces, vent system tubing, and
misc. hardware. You may also need a new brushguard (see above) and
winch skid plate (driveline protection equipped vehicles). The
second method is to buy the Warn mounting kit, shown below on a
HMMWV. The kit consists of the winch, frame extension mounts,
bumper, roller fairlead, brushguard, and misc. hardware. I don't
know about support braces or venting equipment for sure but are
most likely included. Note that the bumper is wider than the
factory kit b/c of two storage compartments at each end.
AMG sells the winch kit for around $2200-$2500 in 1995 through the
parts department. I chose a different route. I purchased the winch
from a local 4x4 shop for around $1400. I then ordered each piece
from the AMG kit separately for around $400. In other words, the
winch is the expensive part from the factory. So I spent the
$400-700 saving on a roller ($120) and industrial winch kit ($300).
Call me cheap. The Warn kit is split into 3 parts: the winch,
mounting kit, and brushguard. I cannot remember exactly but the
winch and mounting were each around $400 ($2200 total cost).
Anyway, point being is that you are forced to use the Warn
brushguard. The stock one will not fit because of the storage
compartments. Note that a Stinger brushguard won't fit either.
However, an early non-winch brushguard may fit. I happen to like
the looks of the factory brushguard so could not justify the extra
expense for the Warn kit. Both kits stick out around 6" and do not
affect ground clearance. However, they reduce the approach angle to
around 47 degrees from 72 degrees. I have had only a few instances
where it has bothered me.
Installation
I have not installed a Warn kit so I really cannot comment on it.
However, I imagine that it must be very similar to the AMG kit. I
am not going to go into all the gory details here; email me if you
need more help. The AMG kit was pretty easy to install. Everything
fit together well. I had no instructions so I just pulled tidbits
of knowledge from the service manuals and had at it. The most
difficult part was installing the lower braces. You have to remove
the front lower control arm bolts. Upon doing so, the arm
immediately shifts outwards, even with the vehicle and lower arm on
separate jacks. This happens b/c the spring forces the arm out. The
only other hard part was mounting the winch b/c the thing weighs
120 lbs.
Safe
Usage
If you are not familiar with using a winch, I suggest that you ask
somebody to show you the ropes. You are dealing with tremendous
forces and can rip vehicles and people apart. An item that I
consider to be mandatory is a good winch kit. Shown below is the
Warn Industrial kit. It costs around $300 but is worth every penny.
The nice Cordura bag contains(L to R) a 2"x6' tree saver, 10'
choker chain with grab hooks, 3/4" shackle (6.5 or 4.5 ton), heavy
duty snatch block ($160 alone!!), gloves, and a 3"x30' recovery
strap. I have 4 of the shackles because you never have enough!
Overall, the kit is very complete with everything you need for safe
winching. If you don't know what all these items are and how to
use them, I suggest you ask somebody to help you. Sorry to be
such a nit but better safe than sorry. Coming soon will be a faq on
safe winching. Stay tuned.
Other
Winches
Here are some other winches that I have seen used on the
HUMMER. MegaWinch has a 2 speed 12,000 lbs winch which will
fit between the frame rails. I do not know if they sell a mounting
kit. I have seen the MegaWinch mounted under the stock bumper. This
reduces the ground clearance but only affects approach angle a
little bit. Stinger sells a kit that mounts the unit higher,
requiring modification of the bumper. The MileMarker hydraulic
10,500 lbs winch will also fit. This requires a custom front mount.
MileMarker is reportedly making one and Stinger makes one also. The
unit uses the stock power steering pump for power.
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While the Warn Mil-12000 winch is similar to the Warn
M12000 winch, the HUMMERwinch is from the Industrial
(commercial/military) division while the M12000 is from the RV
division. There are some key differences. The Mil-12000 is one of
three winches used on HUMMERs and HMMWVs. AM General equips
HMMWVs with a Mil-6000 (6,000 lbs) or a Mil-9000 (9,000). The
civilian HUMMERcomes with the Mil-12000. All are waterproof
(spliced into the venting system to the air intake) and will
operate under water. They use EIPS cable and are equipped with
thermal protection switches and Electronic Current Limiters (ECL).
Most importantly, of course, is that they all fit between the frame
rails. The M12000 RV winch is a little longer than the Mil-12000
and does not fit. The M12000 also lacks the waterproof features,
thermal cutoff, and ECL. The M12000 comes with 125' of 3/8" zinc
plated wire rope while the Mil-12000 comes with 75' of 7/16" EIPS
wire rope due to the drum size and rope diameter. Supposedly you
can fit 100' of 3/8" EIPS (like the Mil-9000) onto the Mil-12000
but I have not seen it.
