Hi all,

So I was wondering, what is the cost would be for installing a quality winch (but not necessarily one with lots of bells and whistles) on a 2nd gen Blazer?

I can anticipate these costs:

• The Winch
• Upgraded alternator
• Upgraded charging system wiring
• Wiring for powering the winch
• Bumper or mounting bracket fabrication
• Essential winch accessories

Am I missing any possible costs?

Any ball-park thoughts on overall costs or costs for any one or all of the items I've listed?

Note, this would be for a truck that a couple times per year might find itself in a situation out of cell phone range where a winch would be handy or necessary. So we are not talking about way off-road mudding or expedition camping. I'd like to be able to get myself out of a jam during hunting season when the roads can get muddy or the snow is bad.

I do carry two sets of tire chains and have a tow strap with a recovery shackle adapter for my rear receiver.

All labor will be done by me except for any winch-mounting bracket/bumper fabrication.

Thanks!

 

You are over thinking this a bit.
There are a number of places you can get the plate for the "hidden" winch. Bolt right up to the frame horns and shouldn't cost too much.
Next is the winch itself. Rule of thumb is to get a winch that is rated 1 1/2 to 2 times the weight of the vehicle. There are inexpensive winches out there (Badlands from HF) to very expensive winches (Warn). Depends on how much you want to spend. I have a Smittybuilt on my Blazer, kind of a middle of the road winch.
All wiring need to install the winch comes with the winch. You will have to get a bit creative as to wear you mount the solenoid box as it won't fit being mounted to the "hidden" mount. If you can find an old Trans4mer mount, it's not a problems.
As long as the vehicle's electrical system has no problems, you can leave it stock. From the description of your intended use, you should be fine leaving the electrical system stock. I've had my winch (on my 2nd winch so far) installed for 12+ years now with the stock electrical system with no problems. I did have my first winch go out on me while pull logs up a slope here at the house, but no problems with the vehicles electrical system.
That being said, make sure you have a good battery and always have the vehicle running when you are using the winch.
Use grade 8 hardware when you install the mounting plate.

Short version, anywhere from $500 to $1500+ to get a winch installed, depending on the mounting method and how much you really want to spend on a winch.
Just an aside, my first winch was a 8K lbs, my current one is 9.5k lbs.

 

Agreed with the above. You can always check for a used winch locally for a better deal. In my case I got an 8k Smittybilt for dirt cheap, completely blew it apart and rebuilt and repainted it, even put new stickers on it, it looked and operated like a brand new unit when I was done. Because I got my winch used, my mounting plate actually cost me more than the winch did! I made new 2 gauge power cables with some extra car audio cables I had laying around, even wired in a 500 amp isolator so I can disarm the winch when not in use (totally not necessary...). I had to replace the solenoid box in my case but I just bought and wired in a cheap one from eBay for like $20, works like a champ. As far as accessories go, the first thing you want to get is a good pair of thick leather gloves to wear when handing the cable. Not so much of an issue if you have synthetic rope, but if your handling steal wire rope the last thing you want to do is catch a frayed strand in you bare hands... But other accessories can be added as your go. Two others I would recommend are a ****** block and a pair of small slings or tree savers. For safety it's always good to have one of those weighed cable covered things (I forget what they're called exactly...) that you toss over the cable when making a pull, keeps the cable under control in the case of it snapping. You can make do with a thick jacket or a wet towel though. Personally I've never used one, but I have yet to really put a really heavy strain on my winch cable that made me worry about it. My electrical system is beafed up, but it was before my winch install because of audio stuff... But in your use case, and probably as much as I actually use mine too, the stock charging system should be just fine.

Long story short, I think I paid $50 for my winch, $200 for the mounting plate, $20 for new solenoid pack, then maybe another $100 on accessories that I didn't already have. So in my case, less than $400.

 

I would also recommend a Smittybilt as a decent "value" winch. If it's in your budget, synthetic rope will save a little bit of weight right where you don't want too much. The hidden mount already mentioned is probably the way to go, and I would probably upgrade the alternator and wiring, just because it's a good upgrade to do, even without a winch. Make sure you have a good battery, too. You don't have to have an Odyssey or something, but I wouldn't trust a Walmart special for winch duty.

Others have already made good suggestions for accessories (****** block, gloves, tree straps) but I would also add a couple of soft shackles and a tow strap or rope (the stretchy kinetic kind). I would say you shouldn't need to spend more than $100-1200 dollars total.