fair lead location

[dogger350]

i just bought and installed a new winch on my 86 toyota pick-up.had to make my own mounting plate for the winch but now im not sure where to place the fairlead.im sure the best location would be directly in front of the winch but if i do it will stick out pretty far.I was wondering if it is possible to mount the fairlead about 6 inches above the winch.the reason why is that i dont want to hit the fairlead as i get started going up steep hills and if i could move it up 6 inches i shouldnt have that problem.The thing im worried about is if it will put to much tension on the winch mounting bolts from pulling up instead of straight out the front.any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Topper]

If you run winch line instead of cable you could run a much lower profile hawse fairlead instead of a roller fairlead.

Adde advantages are safety and less weight.

[dogger350]

i will probably upgrade the whole winch system later on but for now im on a budget.i only payed 1500.00 for the truck and when i went winch shopping i just couldnt turn loose the big bucks for what i really wanted.but thanks for the info.what you recommended definitly seems to be what everyone is going to.