Winch help and decision

Stepsride

New member
I have been researching winches for a little while. I am trying to get a reliable winch on a 800 isn budget. I drive a 13 Wranger Rubicon 4dr with a RK lift Rock Hard Rear bumper/ Rock Rails and Front bumper. I have been looking at the WARN VR10, Ramsey 9.5 REP, and the Superwinch Talon 9.5.

Are there any others I should look at and does anyone have any feedback on my choices. I have thick skin so let your wisdom FLY
 

Stepsride

New member
smittybilt makes good affordable winches. The solenoids are crap though. Buy yourself a smittybilt and get something like this to go along with it, this is how I have my rig set up.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Albright-DC...ontactor-/271573791638?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

I know a few folks down here in Florida that have had problems due to the wet climate with them. Motors have been rusting and freezing. Trying to spend a little more money to get a little more winch. However It may turn out that it is not worth it.
 

AFBronco235

Crew Chief
You just opened up a can of worms here. lol

Another thing you should be aware of, with regards to water damage, is the control box. Most are not sealed very well and a little water in there can completely shut down your winch. The good news is that its usually easy to fix with a little RTV on any opening or seal that might let water in.

As for the winch itself, how heavy is your rig gonna be at its max capacity?

I run a Smittybilt XRC8 (8000 lbs) with steel cable with plenty of extension straps and winch gear. Total cost with all the gear and mounting was around $800. I know a lot of local jeep guys use Smittybilt winches and don't have any complaints. For a 10K lb. winch, the price would be around $400 just for the winch, leaving you plenty of leeway for mounting and gear.

And now, on to the steel VS. synthetic debate.....
 

Stepsride

New member
I know it! Some people swear by the SmittyBuilt and the new ones are much improved! I am not saying it is a bad winch, I have some more money to spend so I am trying to upgrade a little bit if I can. It may turn out I can get a Smittybuilt for less price and get the same reliability. But when I am in the 600 to 800ish budget range my thinking is I can maybe get a unit that will be a bit better. Also with the Smittybuilt I am not a man of rumors. I am saying what I saw not what I heard. The Smittys were about two years old when they stopped working. The Steel and Synthetic debate LOL! At this point I am going with what comes with the winch and then going to Synthetic if it does not come with it already.

Cheers
 

crawler#976

Expedition Leader
What are your usage requirements?

We have a Smittybilt on the JKUR for light duty use - it's never been used for our own extraction, and only once for another vehicle.
On the other hand, my Power Wagon winch gets used much more frequently, and when it does, it gets used hard. For that type or use, I'm very happy it's a Warn.

Sent via Carrier Pigeon
 

CDMartin

Suffering Fools
Superwinch X9

Take a look at Amazon and Costco for the Superwinch X9, they have them for a good price. I believe $599 at Costco, and $634 on Amazon.

Great winch, American made, and can be completely disassembled and reassembled with a single tool. Its a pure work horse
 

Thirty-Nine

Explorer
The only winch I have experience with here is the Warn. I personally have a Warn VR8000-S (I've added contactor control). But even with the solenoids, it is perfectly good, reliable winch. It's not the fastest, but it's severed me well. The used M8000 is a good deal at $400, too. Warn has great customer service and parts are easily available, too.
 

verdesardog

Explorer
I will never have another electric winch....mile marker hydraulic 10.5k# is what I have on my truck, it's over 15 yrs old and still works like new.

SAR_TRUCK1.jpg
 

Umtaneum

Adventurer
My Warn Xd 9000 disappeared from our shop (I had it and it's basket off of the truck for a while) sometime in the last 6 months and I didn't notice. Otherwise it has outlasted 4 trucks. I hope whoever snagged it gets as much use, that thing is too tough to die. After much research I think I'm going with the Warn Zeon (spelling?) to replace it. It's even more expensive but it's more water resistant, has a higher straight line pull rating, and looks cooler (ha ha).

Prior to that I always had 8000lb Warns on everything I've owned, except one full sized Cherokee that was an ex-forest service rig and came from the auction with a 12k PTO powered monster. I loved that thing, I once pulled a fully loaded 5-yard dump truck out of a sinkhole with it by chaining the Cherokee to a huge cedar tree. I think I stretched the wheelbase on the Jeep a foot.

From what I have seen in 30+ years on the trail, winches are worth exactly what you pay for them. An 800 dollar winch is just about twice as useful in hard use conditions as a 400 dollar one. You won't ever be sitting there in mud up to the door handles wishing you had bought the off-brand.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,534
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top