funky, (David)
Thanks for the link to Warn. Notice the guy in the pic is a young beefy athletic type and still seems to be struggling with that winch? ...OH, and I love that paragraph below the pic that shows a Warn front receiver adapter that fits "most" vehicles, when has that ever happened?
I know a guy that makes custom bumpers for pinzies and I am sure that they are probably less that ARB arrangements. There have to be people that will make a custom bumper for any vehicle. I had a custom winch plate made for my Mog by a welding company. I made a plywood mock up for the 12,000 lb winch and took it to them and $300 later I had a winch plate to bolt on to the OEM bumper. That design is now being sold by a company in CA that I gave the template to.
I have a friend in LA that has a rear winch on his pinz and done very cleverly, I might add. It is interesting that most recovery winches do not vary much in size, dependent on their weight pull, almost the same base plate hole pattern.
I don't think I would use anything less than 5/16 plate for winch plate design, probably use 1/4 inch. Much heavier than bumper steel. Most bumpers are more decorative than effective, and certainly not for mounting winches. Usually bolted to the frame rather than the bumper.