winches

[punisher1130]

My truck has a gross weight of 5220 and I was thinking of getting a 10,000lb winch but I'm beginning to think that is over kill. I plan on going through rocky, muddy and sandy terrain, will a 8000lb winch have enough pull to serve my purposes?

 

[pappawheely]

It never hurts to have more than you think you need. I have a 10k Warn on my truck. I have only used it for saving others so far; all lighter trucks than mine. It's nice not to have to strain it at the max. rating.

 

[Airmapper]

General rule of thumb is 1.5X vehicle weight, yes 8,000 will be adequate. The key thing to keep in mind is you can use rigging techniques to double or triple the pull capabilities. It will be slower, but you don't really want to be that quick in a recovery situation.

 

[RedF]

I'd spend the same (or more) to get a quality 8000 pound winch over a cheap 10000 + pound winch. An 8000 pound winch will have adequate pulling power for you in most situations, and a snatch block will make sure.

 

[punisher1130]

Cool that works, I know to get pulleys, snatch blocks, tree savers ect. and brand wise I'm a stickler for warn winches personally so I'm looking at them for a winch. I did know I needed a winch capable of pulling twice my weight but seeing as I have a relatively small truck I started wondering if I really needed a 10000lb winch along with all the gear or if I could get away with a 8000lb with the gear.

 

[Buliwyf]

Meh, experience trumps ratings. Not all similarly rated winches are equal. We use Warn XD9000's where we should be using a 15,000 pound winch. Do it all of the time even on 13,000 pound F450's. I try to avoid situations where I need 15,000 pounds of force. Shovel, lumber, farm jack. If the F450 is only stuck tire deep, it deosn't require much force. And if we get one of those really stuck, any winch strong enough, would damage the truck, or explode and kill someone with shrapnel. You can use other options combined with a winch to reduce the load and risk. Seeing a 15,000 pound winch grunt hard, scares the#$%^ out of me.

There's a big difference between 4 wheelin' at an off road park, and getting barely stuck on a logging road for work. Keep that in mind.

 

[greengreer]

Ive had good luck with my engo winch. An 8k will be just fine. I'd recommend synthetic rope over steel any day. So much easier to work with.

 

[punisher1130]

The winch is incase I bury the truck to the axle, down here in the south mud can be very miss leading to say the least lol, but I do know some tactics to dig out before using the winch, I've had to use some of that a few times with my work truck and do pretty good at getting out with a cab over flat bed that simply love's to get stuck at the drop of a hat, very annoying but good practice. As for tools, I do have a farm jack for the truck, use it all the time when I have to do work on the truck and it works beautifully so its going with me, shovel is covered and for lumber I figure id just improvise with what's around me.

I agree with you greengreer, synthetic is must safer and lighter. As for brand, I'm just more farmilure with warn, its nothing against other brands but warn has been around for so long for a reason.

 

[I Leak Oil]

It's more important to know what 8K winch are you looking at vs. what 10K winch you are looking at. Either capacity should be fine for the weight of your truck.

 

[punisher1130]

I thought of that which is why I'm not looking for the cheapest thing out there but still looking for a good deal, but while I was shopping around I cam on a good deal on amazon for a Smittybilt 97495 XRC Winch (9500lb), also have the option to get a winch cradle and snatch block to make a bundle, think I may go down that road. The reviews for the winch are great too even on other sites.

 

[Airmapper]

I thought of that which is why I'm not looking for the cheapest thing out there but still looking for a good deal, but while I was shopping around I cam on a good deal on amazon for a Smittybilt 97495 XRC Winch (9500lb), also have the option to get a winch cradle and snatch block to make a bundle, think I may go down that road. The reviews for the winch are great too even on other sites.

People here will run them down because they are cheap, but Smitty's ain't so bad if you give them a little TLC and do some preventative maintenance.

There are pages out there if you Google where people have torn them down and made improvements. After reading them that is what I did to mine. Used the parts washer at work to clean all the grease out of the gear packs and inside case, got it all spotless and re-packed with AeroShell lithium grease. You really got to get that thick goop it comes with out of there, it's sticky and freezes up the spool. With the new lithium grease, free spooling the line is basically effortless. The one time I did need it so far, it was dead of winter, snow on the ground, below freezing, and I unlocked the clutch, grabbed the line and walked off with it. Maybe I had to tug just a bit, but I mean seriously, in freezing temps, how many people can unspool a winch with minimal effort.

Also go over the solenoid box, I found some easily fixed loose wiring in there. Sealed up the solenoid case with some silicone. I also remote mounted the box where it won't likely get wet.

Would a WARN be better, maybe. If you do a little extra work will a Smitty do the job, sure. I got my Smittybilt free, I stopped by 4WHeelparts in Nashville one day, they had some kind of store event going on, I put my name in a drawing, and won. Figured I had nothing to loose, so I installed it. I'm not going to get rid of it until it fails spectacularly.

 

[1stDeuce]

I've heard people say the same about the HF winches too... Decent product if you go through them and make sure everything is assembled and lubed as it should be.

I have two Warn winches, an 8274 that's been mounted on my big trucks for years and never let me down, and an XD9000i that started out on a multi mount, and then got bolted to my Jeep 10 years ago. They're both about 15 years old and I've never touched them. I know the XD could use some TLC, but it still works, and neither winch has let me down. If you need reliability, nothing gets it like the red "W" in my experience.

That said, I just picked up a HF 5000 to make a multi-mount for our little Comanche. I decided it doesn't need a permanent or huge winch, since we don't plan to "four wheel" it. I'll go through the winch to make sure it's all OK, but I think it'll be fine for the light use it'll see moving trees or rocks out of the trail, or helping the Comanche up a ledge or out of a jam. I'll have a snatch block for it at all times, and probably put synthetic rope on it for the convenience.

I too would be concerned about a BIG winch doing damage, particularly if you've not done much winching... Sometimes you can't just pull through a hole or obstacle without ripping the front axle off, and if you're not smart enough to know that, a big winch won't mind teaching you... A smaller winch will max out, not damage the truck hopefully, and encourage you to rethink what you're trying to do.

 

[punisher1130]

Good info airmapper I will keep that in mind but it wounds like you got a awesome deal with that, I know Smittybuilt makes some good tools and stuff just didn't know about the winches.

1stdeuce I have heard some people having decent luck with HF stuff but not enough for me to trust since I do know they get the reject tools that don't meet manufactures standard at the line but aren't bad enough to be thrown out. The same reason you support WARN is the same reason I trust them but I know Smittybuilt has a pretty good rep. and with what airmapper just mentioned I'm sure I could get it right up to the same level as WARN, or better if I get the tinker bug lol.

 

[1stDeuce]

I did have to winch several (4) trucks up a giant (30') snow drift on one trail run in Colorado. I took an alternate route to the top, and when I got there, there were two trucks ahead of my friends trying to get up on top. The lead truck had a brand new Smittybuilt winch, and every time it would start to pull him up the drift, it would pop out of gear and he'd slide back down. He banged on the engagement lever, ran it in and out, and even tried to hold it while winching... (EEeek!) all with no success. My friends showed up behind him, so I stung out the cable and pulled him and his buddy up. Since the cable was out and I was anchored, I "Warned my buddies" too.

If you think you want an 8-9k winch, my recommendation would be to save up $5-600, and buy a used Warn. Give it some TLC and you've got nothing to worry about. Everything else is taking a chance, in my experience. Not a big deal if you're always with others, but if you wheel alone, the red "W" is worth a little extra.

Oh, and stay away from winches with spring engagement, like the Smittybuilt and Milemarker. Warn, Tabor, and even the HF winches are either engaged, or dis-engaged. No spring in the system at all, just a half turn of the engagement handle, which won't engage at all if it's not lined up.

I used a Ramsey winch some, but if you're offroading a lot where it's muddy, they always end up difficult to free-spool, and you have to take them a part and clean them often. I don't care for the old plastic engagement slider either.
Good luck!!

 

[1stDeuce]

BTW, there's a warn VR8000 on epay right now for $410 with free shipping. Why are we even talking about other winches??