HI Andy,
Thanks for the reply. However, your answer is no more informative than Antichrist's comments. How good are the budget winches, I want to know? What am I getting for the many more dollars I must spend to get a TOTL winch. I am much less interested in an average winch with a good warranty than a great winch with with a good warranty. After all, being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a winch that has failed is not a good deal even if the warranty covers it. I want a winch that does not fail period. Can I get that in your budget line? In other words, what am I giving up, if anything?
Sparky
Sparky,
What are you getting for more dollars vs. the WARN VR series:
• Faster line speed
• Extreme-duty sealing
• Premium components including a faster motor, a contactor vs. solenoids, a more durable remote. These items, specifically the contactor and remote, do up the durability/reliability factor.
Let's put it this way. If I were embarking on a global expedition, and I was going to be out for days/weeks/months on end in harsh conditions, I'd recommend one of our Ultimate Performance Series winches. The sealing alone is going to help increase the winch's reliability.
The VR is our Entry Level Series winch. It fits a lot of off road enthusiasts' needs very well. But, our Ultimate Performance winches are definitely a couple of steps above the VR.
All winches can fail under the right (wrong?) circumstances—period. All I can tell you is we do a ton of engineering, design, and testing to ensure our products are as reliable as possible. Plus, if you need us, we've got a full staff of customer service folks that know our products inside and out, frontside and back and are available eight hours a day, five days a week.
We've been making winches since 1959. If we couldn't build a reliable winch, I don't think I'd be typing this.
- Andy