Hitch mounted winch for a full size truck - recommendations?

Rovertrader

Supporting Sponsor
I think it is a bit too light- even the carrier is only rated at 9500#. The rule of thumb is winch =1.5x vehicle weight, so 12k# is close...
Look at it this way- the winch is for emergencies, so why start out under designed??
 

HenryJ

Expedition Leader
It can work for you. I am using a similar set-up. BLT offroad Avalanche

Poser.JPG


You can always use a "snatch block" pulley to cut the load in half. I have never found the need, however I have used it for directional change.

Last spring I pulled my truck and trailer through a snow drift. That was a pretty good stress test.

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BTW, I also have a receiver on the nose of my trailer. One more...cut the end off a set of booster cables and use those quick connects for those too. Really handy and now the winch can be used on a friends receiver.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Same setup my rural contractors use. Plenty for light duty stucks.
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You can't use a reciver mount for hardcore use anyways. And pulls allways have to be straight.
 

jkcobra

Observer
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BTW, I also have a receiver on the nose of my trailer.

I'd be interested to see what you have on your trailer, I have a 2013 Somerset E1 and had considered chopping the ball hitch off and going with a receiver and max-coupler or similar. However, I have previous experience with flipping a trailer on the highway due to vehicle swerve (our driver fell asleep) and the trailer disconnecting from the ball is probably what saved our lives, so I'm not sure which way to go.
 

HenryJ

Expedition Leader
I'd be interested to see what you have on your trailer, I have a 2013 Somerset E1 and had considered chopping the ball hitch off and going with a receiver and max-coupler or similar. However, I have previous experience with flipping a trailer on the highway due to vehicle swerve (our driver fell asleep) and the trailer disconnecting from the ball is probably what saved our lives, so I'm not sure which way to go.
I thought the same thing myself. I fully intended to add one to my E1 too. I had a multi-axis coupler on my last trailer. It is nice, however in the end I decided not to add one to this trailer. BLT Offroad Evolution
I have a camera mounted to the rear of my truck and get to watch the coupler.

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After watching the coupler offroad over the years I just never saw the coupler exceeding the angles the E1 would be encountering. The longer distance between the hitch and axle plays a part I am sure. As does the size and weight. I just don't take this where I took the shorter and more agile offroad trailer.
I will save my "coupler" money for "higher priorities" :) ( code word for cervesa ;) )

BTW, I do have receivers on the rear of my E1. My post was sort of misleading. The receiver mount I was referring to is on my car hauler trailer.
 
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HenryJ

Expedition Leader
Same setup my rural contractors use. Plenty for light duty stucks.
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You can't use a receiver mount for hardcore use anyways. And pulls always have to be straight.
I have pulled to the side off mine a couple times. A straight pull is always a better choice. It will drag the truck back on the road and out of the mud just fine on a side pull. I will grant you that a solid plate mount spreading the load across the frame is the ultimate for strength. Better than square tube. I have not damaged my cradle or hitch over the many years, but I do winch smart, not carelessly. I am not a rock crawler, or what I might consider hardcore either. I err to the side of caution, but I do go where I want to go and push those limits sometimes. You have to decide what you intend and the terrain you will encounter. I am not sure I would want to hang my truck and trailer in a tree like DB Cooper, from the receiver. It just might do it though :)
Do not discount the advantages of the cradle mounted winch. It has served me and others very well over many years.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Exactly. As long as you're carefull, it'll be fine.
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Us field techs generally only get stuck 4" deep, in hard frozen slick mud. Any winch can pull that, especially since we shovel a path.
 

HenryJ

Expedition Leader
I work with a few guys that given 15 minutes and an anvil could make more than two pieces of it. Anything can be damaged or broken. Care must be taken in all cases.
I have only one other local here that "uses" his receiver mounted winch. His is a warn in the cradle picture posted above. Mine is a 9000# Milemarker mounted in the older Hidden Hitch cradle.

My winch has made it possible to go more places that I never would have been able to go without it. It has eased the restrictions imposed my my navigator (wife). With it onboard her comfort zone is relaxed and I am allowed to push farther than was normally allowed without it :) I would not say it gets used very often. It is sort of a lucky charm. With it along we never need it.
 

98dango

Expedition Leader
I will actually be building a cradle for my xd9000i when I'm in Montana next. This will be for rear use on my ford and will be used on my wifes Chevy and my first gen toyota. When I figure out a smaller trailer I will adapt that to use it alos.
 

Mankypro

New member
I'm torn now :)

I will not be crawling with this truck, it's mostly just part of the "holy shyte, what's that idiot doing in that ditch in a 2wd kit" or the "hmmm, shouldn't have stopped for more than 2 minutes on this lake bed kit". The latter occurred to me this summer and while there were plenty of people within striking distance none of them had tow straps or recovery gear. With a winch I could have nudged myself back onto my tracks (there was a volkswagen sized boulder within 50 ft). I dug myself a track to my incoming tracks (about 5ft) just as the guy with the 4x4 7.3 E-350 showed up, literally a nudge. The mud was like wet potter's clay.

California has made me soft, but that weekend in the Sierra has made me carry my recovery gear again, and think of ways to pay forward given how much time I spend in the mountains. In Colorado I never left home without enough gear to bivvy for 3 days..
 
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redthies

Renaissance Redneck
Figured you were a climber from the username. I'm just outside Squamish BC where we have 10-12 pitch granite routes.

I think you could easily make (or have made if you can't channel your inner Yvon) a hitch mount that could work with a 12,000 lb winch, assuming you can't fit one in the Warn cradle. Wasn't the Warn rated for only 9,000 though? Weld up something beefier, and gusset and brace your front receiver to handle the load. (Do you already have a front receiver? Do you know it's rating?)
 

Mankypro

New member
The front receiver would be class 3, just like the rear. I'm seriously leaning on just doing an ARB with a bolt on winch box - and forget about using the rear for recovery stuff.
 

Mankypro

New member
Changed my mind, doing a front winch bumper 15k and calling it a day. Just got my lift done yesterday, the new shoes this afternoon!
 

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