Frame strength issues for winch truck w/o the winch

If you had a winch truck, with the winch frame extensions, but no winch was installed, how much weaker would the front frame area be if an extraction was needed? That is to say, if the truck was stuck in mud, and you hooked a chain/cable to the front shackles, and no winch was installed but the longer frame was there, is there a significant chance that the whole front frame area could bend in the direction of pull? I know that winch bolted in there has to count for something structural....

Just without the winch, but with the upper and lower brackets (extensions) installed?....I would say it would still be pretty tough (there's tons of bolts holding it all together). I think it would do just fine, just pull it straight out...angles would be tough on the extensions.

It wouldn’t surprise me to find that the extensions are actually stronger than an equivalent length of frame(assuming all the hardware is there and properly torqued).

Same as with the winch mounting brackets there are two styles of extensions: welded and stamped construction.
I had one winch truck with stamped extensions bent slightly downward, they seem to be weaker. But who knows how they did that. A little while with an arbor press and they where straight again.
Conclusion: not so strong as the frame itself but strong enough for "normal" lifting and winching operations.

G.

Re: RE: Frame strength issues for winch truck w/o the winch

DanMartin said:

Just without the winch, but with the upper and lower brackets (extensions) installed?....I would say it would still be pretty tough (there's tons of bolts holding it all together). I think it would do just fine, just pull it straight out...angles would be tough on the extensions.

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I agree.