Warn PowerPlant Dual Force HD on Tahoe - enough power?

[brasskey]

Hello and thank you for the great forum. I've been on for hours looking at all these great trucks. Lots of great advice here. Please move this post if I'm in the wrong area.

I have a 2003 Z71 Tahoe that I am starting to fix up. I'm in the market for a front bumper and winch. One thing I was curious about is the winch. I've decided on Warn, but just not the model. I can get a great price locally on a used PowerPlant HD (rated 12,000lbs). Is that enough power for my Tahoe or do I need a M15000? I'm not going to be off-roading a lot, just live in the mountains (lots of snow/mud etc). The winch will most likely not see heavy use. Thanks for the help and I look forward to getting started.

 

[obert272]

That will be enough power. Even a 9000lb Warn winch would be enough power to pull your tahoe. A 15k would pull just about anything lol. I have a Z71 Suburban and I think you're the only person I have seen on her with a Z71 Tahoe.

 

[ujoint]

The normal formula is that you need 1.5x your vehicles weight. So depending on what your rig weighs when loaded for a trip, you may be closing in on the 15K winch.

 

[ExploringNH]

I think you would be fine. Get a snatch block and you should be all set. If its a great deal, chances are probably good that you can resell it if you dont like it and not take a loss.

Edit: Tahoe GVWR is about 6900lbs. '96 Toyota Land Cruiser is about 6400lbs GVWR. Ive been in the field with plenty of LCs with 12.5k winches and they all do fine.

 

[ujoint]

I agree to keep a snatch block & other winch accessories with the truck. But sometimes there isn't enough line to use a snatch. Check the line length for that winch also. One good upgrade to save some weight is a synthetic winch line. I got mine from Viking Off Road.

The bottom line is: weigh your truck before deciding. I think you'll be surprised !!

 

[brasskey]

Thanks for all the replies. I went ahead and pulled the trigger and got the PowerPlant HD. Now, for any Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon owners - any front bumper recommendations? I've read through the bumper thread and looked at a lot of pictures, but there's so many options. I used to have an '88 suburban (that I sadly sold) that had a Ranch Hand style bumper. I liked it, but just wanted to get some current advice for my model Tahoe. Thanks.

 

[nineeleven]

Try contact Jonh AKA 02TahoeMD
His built here.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13823

 

[02TahoeMD]

:sombrero: Thanks for the reference there Nineeleven! Beat me to the punch, thanks for linking my build thread.

Brasskey, I have the same body style rig as your Tahoe, it is just a highly modified LT, not a Z71. Anyway, I was hard pressed to find a decent winch bumper for the Tahoe, at least, one that I liked both visually and functionality wise.

I did end up modifying an ARB bumper for the Toyota Land Cruiser with my reasons for doing so explained in that link.

As for a bumper that will mount up the Warn PowerPlant, which is a pretty tall winch, I dunno where you will find one that will hold it. The Warn stands pretty tall and you will need a winch bumper like the one on your old Suburban (awesome rig, btw) and I am not familiar with a similar bumper for the OBS Chevy trucks. You could possibly get an ARB Chevy truck bumper and modify it to hold the PowerPlant, as you can see in this thread over on another forum, it is a pretty big bumper: Z71Tahoe-Suburban Post #13 has the best comparison photos showing size.

Brasskey, if there is anything I can help ya with on your rig, don't hesitate to contact me.

 

[brasskey]

Thanks for all the help guys. I will definitely PM you 02TahoeMD.