Quote Originally Posted by TdmayfieldIV View Post
bought a piece of 5/16th angle that is 3.5" one side and 5" on the other. Plan on clearancing some for the winch and cable and bolting it to the bumper and fairlead.

All of the force is lateral and vertical for the most part. No pushing or pulling, so the gussets add strength in the wrong direction. It's 5/16ths. Don't see it breaking. Only one way to find out I guess.
Gussets are never counter productive, even if they are not getting pushed on they will add strength, it wouldnt take much and if it was me i would still put in some small gussets on it