Here’s what I learned, but first parts list.
PARTS:
CVFabrication high mount intercooler.
Rough county hidden winch mount.
Front bumper is an IronBison Barde.
RCI Skids.
Start:
First, demo/removal of the factory parts went pretty smooth. Be sure to disconnect your battery beforehand.
Keep both, the intercooler and the radiator shutter motors. You’ll zip tie them somewhere they can be plugged back in, or you’ll have a CEL.
I cut the radiator shutters out with an oscillating tool.
The rest went pretty smooth. You’ll have to trim plastics as needed to fit things together.
INSTALL:
When you look at the high mount intercooler on CVF’s website, you’ll notice it “fits” a wide range of engines, and years of trucks. It is a one size fits most kit. The cold air pipe they supplied didn’t fit on mine.
I emailed their customer service during install on a Friday and they got back to me pretty quickly. Long story short, they apologized, and offered to send me a throttle body spacer that would make it all fit. Great customer service.
Unfortunately, I am too hasty and resourceful. By this time I had already locally sourced some piping to make the OEM cold air pipe fit onto the new pipe from the interiorcooler.
YMMV.
In the two videos I watched, I think they both made the mistake of putting the top intercooler mount on before setting the intercooler on the lower mount. Best to set it on the lower mount, press the top onto the intercooler, then attach it to the hood latch.
I also cut a notch into the top mount for the hood latch spring to fit better. (I’ll include a photo).
Sticking with the cold side, my blow off valve is HUGE. It’s in the way. I ordered an aftermarket BOV, hopefully it’ll fit better with the winch. (Its rubbing on the winch now). I also zip tied a rag over the recirculation connection on the BOV box.
I removed the recirculation pipe and put the supplied cover over the connection with a hose clamp.
Yes, my OEM BOV is venting to atmosphere.
On the hot side. My advice is to connect the two smaller pipes onto the Y pipe, then attach it to the intercooler. Good luck.
WINCH PLATE:
The Rough country winch plate went in just fine. No issues. The winch also mated right up to the cradle. No issues.
Superwinch SX12SR:
This is a real TIGHT fit. You’ll want to take the handle side off and rotate it back 90Ā°. I did this for 2 reasons. 1). Now the handle to engage or free spool is away from the blow off valve. 2). Its pointed down at the ground and can be accessed easier. (In theory)
BUMPER:
This bumper is NOT designed for use with a winch. It is also not made with any of these other parts in mind. That being said, I think it looks okay so far. I have some options as far as how it will look and the honeycomb grill. It isn’t 100% centered on the winch mount when it’s lined up with the body panels. Its going to function just fine though. I might even add 2 pod lights in the sides to fill the space more.
Hopefully that helps anyone else looking to add a winch.
Simple Instinct 