ARb's or winch?

[fifty]

The missus asked me for my christmas wish list...and since I will be paying for it anyways (I am putting her through school, so its a one income family...me...so the present she buys me...I buy me...:smilies27 )

Anyways, the next two major purchases I am going to make for the truck are ARB's front and rear (in reverse order) and a winch...

The truck is an F-350...etc etc etc...

Which do you think takes priority? The thought in my mind is with the arb you wont need the winch....but then there is the if you need the winch, arb's wont do you any good...

 

[Schattenjager]

Winch

I've seen a lot of fully locked rigs use a winch.

Think of the lockers as a traction assist.

The winch is recovery.

Lockers won't always get you out of a jam - sometimes they get you in one.

A winch will be able to help you and the other fellow, if needed.

 

[Patman]

Winch will get you out of trouble, lockers will get you in to it.

Not to say that they are not a great thing to have, just that WHEN you get stuck it will be in a worse place.

 

[1911]

Both of my current 4WD trucks are locked front and rear (three out of four are ARB's), but I've always put a winch on my trucks before installing lockers.

As has been said, lockers will allow you to get farther before being stuck.

 

[BigSwede]

Do you go wheeling alone? Then winch...if not, then lockers.

 

[Buliwyf]

OP I need to know more about your F350's usage and terrain. There is a HUGE difference between going offroad or down a wet dirt road to get to a campsite while trying to avoid the worst spots, and purposely playing offroad trying to find difficult terrain and get stuck. (and we allways need more F350 pics)

Not to mention unless you live in Moab you're probally not rockcrawling with the fullsize right?

Being that winches aren't the savior of fullsize trucks, the way they are for jeeps, I'd split the difference: Get a Detroit locker in the rear and a High Lift jack, shovel, chain, recovery points, and a winch mount etc.etc. Get the winch later. But that's just me. I may not ever put any kind of locker in the front of my truck ever again anyways.

I don't get too harcore wheeling fullsize trucks, but everytime I've had one stuck, it took alot more than just a winch to safely get out in a forward direction. Winching backwards through goo is easy though. Plenty of digging and lifting the wheels to get wood under the tires to get us going forward again usually.

Allready got all the support gear like the jack, recovery points etc? Then go for the lockers first.

But if you haven't fitted larger tires and gears to your truck yet and plan to, then get the winch. You'll want to swap gears the same time as a locker install. (If you plan on running larger tires, lift suspension etc)

 

[beast1210]

Id say winch first, I use my winch more than lockers , for tree removal, getting others unstuck ( more control and safer than strap), etc.

 

[locrwln]

Lockers if you rockcrawl. If just normal wheeling, winch all the way.

Jack

 

[X-plorenow]

Ditto. No question. That is one thing that Bill Burke said that I will never forget. If I have a winch I can go anywhere with confidence. Everything else is gravy.

 

[stevo]

ARB's or winch?

I must agree with Patman. I learned many years ago that having 4wd (even with lockers) does not mean that you won't get stuck-you just get worse stuck. I've seen many people in VERY rough places (some even in 2wd vehicles) who had no type of a locking diff. Some of them had a winch, some had a come-a-long, some had a shovel; and some of them never got stuck at all. (The latter group had what alot of people leave at home-common sense.) As a matter of fact, I'm saving my pennies right now for a winch. Think of it as another form of insurance.
Cheers, Stevo

 

[fifty]

Thanks all...As for the type of terrain...Definitely not wheeling persay. Mostly just those old dirt trails that sometimes have large rocks in them...usually get really muddy. I do love snow though...

I am about to throw some 37's on the truck (they are sitting in the garage waiting for a few parts for my 2008 axle swap) so a gear change is in my future. So winch first....

 

[Buliwyf]

Warn M15000 would be my pick for that truck.

But that's the easy choice! Now you have to fiqure out how to mount it.
Warn Transformer II?
Heavy Front Bumper?
Heavy Rear Bumper?
Behind the stock front bumper?

In the rear bumper may make the most sense for a mild Superduty build.

I like the$e the be$t:
http://www.roadarmor.com/products/bumpers/2005-2007/ford/superduty

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

I have the M15000 up front in an ARB bumper. I've never had to use it, but...I'm really glad it's there. :sombrero:

 

[burt]

Does your truck have stock posi? I like posi rear and arb front the best. If you already have 4:10s you would already be ok w/ 37s. How bout arb front, an air tank and on board air accessories to go w/ your compressor, a high quality set of winch rigging and a burly come along. If you have an open rear diff id personally would have to posi or arb that immediately and then decide whats next. With all the best rigging, a top notch come along will get you through and youll need that stuff with your winch anyway. You can also pull in any direction with a come along. That being rambled, if and when you go with a winch, I wouldent get anything besides the 16.5 ti. The ti is WAY better than the m series.

 

[nk14zp]

Winch first.