No winch needed. The main reason I bought the truck is that I have a pretty large boat to tow. I live almost near Bulverde, and there are deer everywhere up here. I had one "glance" off of the side of the front fender of the Suburban I had before this truck. It happened at very low speeds, and it put a nice dent in the fender. I want protection. With the 20" wheels, mine actually looks a bit lower than most Ford 4X4s, though it's not; actually, I think it's about 1" higher. The wheels filling up the wheel wells give that illusion. At any rate, I want no squat... I also don't want to be perpetually fighting front tire wear. As I stated above, the Goodyear Wrangler ATS tire is very poor. I knew this when I bought the truck. I'll just have to wait until other manufaturers catch up, and start making tires for my 20" wheels... I do like them.