Originally posted by JonSL:
Second you drive into trouble? So why does everyone place his or her winch on the front of the rig?
That's what snatch blocks are for. Except for strapping a 2WD through an obstacle, every rescue I've seen or assisted in here in AZ required off-angle winching. So, front or back mounting of the winch really didn't make a difference - either way, the angles had to be adjusted through tree savers and snatch blocks.
Why are they usually on the front? Simple. Because mounting and wiring is a dozen times easier in the front. For mounting, you don't have to worry about getting in the way of tail gates or back hatches. Fewer companies make a rear bumper that can accomodate a winch like the many, many front ones. And the wiring is easier, unless you've already added a yellow or red top for accessories and decided to mount it inside the truck somewhere as several people have done. Then, you possibly have less distance to go through the body with wiring.
I'm not trying to be contrary - just my .02.