I've got a M8000 on my 2008 doublecab Tacoma with the ARB bumper and am quite pleased. Shop around and you can find it for under $550, shipping included. I bought mine on ebay, new in the box for a total price of $535. I installed it at the same time as my bumper. I'm not sure that you could install it with the bumper already on the truck, and if you could it would be a pain and you'd have a miserable time stuffing it up in there. I put together the ARB on my workbench (wiring, various brackets, and so forth), installed the winch inside the bumper, and then man-handled the entire setup onto the floor of my garage. I then lifted the whole enchilada with a come-along and chain suspended from the rafters in my garage. It balanced perfectly and all I had to do was drive the truck up under it and it dropped right into place. I was amazed at my ingenuity! A one man job and no bashed thumbs.
One thing to bear in mind is how often you will actually use your winch. One of the earlier commentors suggested that having an oversized winch might help it last longer. I suppose that may be true, but oversize usually means extra weight as well, and believe me, the front suspension on your Tacoma will wear out long before any of these winches will. These are light-duty trucks (sorry guys) and must be treated as such. Weight is a killer. My suspension has "settled" a bit since I installed my bumper/winch, and that's with the OME heavy duty 866 springs. Some kind of suspension upgrade is definitely needed with this bumper/winch combo, and I've been really pleased with my OME setup. Anyway, I can also admit to you that in the two years I've had my winch I have used it exactly twice: once to respool it upon installation as recommended by Warn, and the second time to pull a guy in a high-centered Toyota Camry of a rock on a dirt road in Anza-Borrego. Yes, it is true, most of us picture ourselves as Camel Trophy guys winching through miles of mud for weeks at a time, but in fact we spend most of our time driving our safari rigs back and forth to work. Sad but true, and I'll bet most of the guys on this forum would agree (if they were being honest, that is:sombrero
. Not that I haven't been on a number of decent offroad adventures since then, but I just haven't gotten stuck. Regardless, if I did get stuck I'm pretty sure I'd be in good shape with my M8000, my Hilift, and a good old fashioned shovel.
As for American made, don't count on it. Just about all of the winches out there today are made in China. That's why they're so cheap! If I recall, I was disappointed to see that several major components on my M8000 had "Made in China" stamped on them. Not sure what percentage is U.S. made anymore (the box it came in maybe?), but it can't be that high.
Over the years I've had a Ramsey 8000 on my '85 Chevy half-ton pickup, a Warn 8274 (awesome!) on my '77 Landcruiser FJ40, an ancient Ramsey worm drive on my '64 Land Rover, and a Fairey (now known as Superwinch) 8,000 pound PTO on my '74 Land Rover. Of all of those, the Fairey PTO was the coolest (lots of levers and driveshafts and such), but the Warn 8274 was by far the best of the lot. Few could argue that the 8274 isn't the best winch ever made. Unfortunately it won't fit on your Taco without A LOT of fabrication, and it definitely won't fit in an ARB bumper without butchering the bumper. It also weighs 150 pounds and would probably kill your front end. So I went with the M8000 on my Taco, and have been very happy.
The only gripe I have is that the operating lever is hard to reach, tucked up as it is under the top plate of the ARB bumper, and only accessible via a rather small oval-shaped hole which seemed to be designed for very delicate, small-handed Australian ladies vs. a regular-sized dude like myself. I rotated the motor housing on the winch (not difficult), which helped a little, but it's still kind of bogus. However, this seems to be a function of the ARB bumper's design, not the winch's. Maybe another winch would work better, but I'm not sure.
One other bit of advice, for what it's worth, and I really hope I don't come across as lecturing: Winches are serious machines that can maim or kill. The ancient Ramsey I had on my '64 Land Rover still had enough power to tear off the top of my thumb and nearly severe my forefinger when the tip of my glove was caught between the cable and the rollers on the fairlead. It took about 0.1 seconds for the damage to be done. Fortunately I was in my front yard messing around and wasn't out in the boonies far from help. A very clever surgeon put it all back together for me, but I was lucky not to lose both fingers. That was nearly 25 years ago when I was young (19, I think) and not nearly cautious enough. Ever since then I have taken great pains to give winches the respect they deserve. Follow all of the safety rules and never rush a pull. Winching competitions, in my mind, are for morons who are itching for a chance to spend a fun-filled week in the hospital followed by a very painful multi-month recovery (if you're lucky). That's what I did and I can tell you I'd rather not repeat the experience. Don't go looking for reasons to use your winch. Use it only when you have to and don't try and make yourself a candidate for the Darwin Award like I almost did. End of lecture!
That's my two cents. Hope you enjoy your ride as much as I have mine.
