Winch Wishing...

piratessoul

New member
I will eventually be in the market for a winch. I mean sooner, or later, a guy with a Jeep needs a winch. So, which winch?

Warn seems to be the brand of choice and has a very good reputation but, how big? 6000lb, 8000lb, more?

Then there's the mounting apparatus, or not?

Ya'll jump in here and help me out.
 

I have used warn on other jeeps and they seem good.I personally use my high lift jack or some one else to winch me out..lol..
 
I carry a "redneck winch" otherwise known as a come-a-long. (cause I'm too poor and my sorry budget won't allow a Warn winch)
 
People swear by their Warns but I'm with these guys. I got a highlift and 2 come alongs. 8000lb would be the minimum.
 

That will be my plan until I come across some $$$$$

I did invest in a High Lift jack. That just makes good sense! I also have a 1.5 ton chainfall and lots of chain.

A winch will be a nice addition at some point. I was really impressed by one many years ago.

I did something really stupid. I let my '67 Dodge pick-up roll off into the river. Water was half way up the doors and sand covered the front tires. Out of nowhere, a guy pulled up in a Ford Bronco (a real one-'69 or '70) with an electric winch on front.

I did't have much hope of him being able to get me out. I was more familiar with PTO winches. Amazingly, he hooked up, took out the slack, held his brakes, and inched me right out! That killed all my scepticism!
 
I'm running a used warn xd900i that I picked up for $500 off cl. I would be tempted to try out one of the smittybuilt 9500 lbs that can be had for about $300-400 new
 
You might want to look into a Superwinch as well; VERY good quality and priced significantly lower than Warn. Make sure you read the Moab Jeeper article Winches in Hell for some more perspective.

I have ther EPi9000 and I am VERY happy with it. Do be advised, though, that the ratings on winches change once you are out on the second or third layer. For pulling power on these layers, given the same weight rating, nothing pulls harder than a warn; but my 9K winch was cheaper than the 8K warn (they have about the same pulling power on the third layer, but more pulling power on the first), and it has an integrated selenoid. I got mine for about $500 or so from one of 4wheelparts AKA names (winchdepot.com or something along those lines; picked it up at 4wheelparts with no shipping costs to me).
 

I'm with Wrangler76, been wanting to try out the Smittybuilt... Not running a winch on my TJ right now, but its an investment I'd like to add not to far in the future.
 
I got me an LP8500 Superwinch a few months back and I couldn't be more happy. I have a warn winch on my utility wheeler, but I couldn't chunk over the cash for the price of the warn for the Jeep. Heck, I havn't had to pull myself or any other vehicles out of any tough spots, yet, but I've not got any stumps or old trees left on my property! LOL!!! :D

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Saaawweeeet!!!! That looks great! I've got a while before I can devote any more money on the Jeep but, I will probably be looking at a Superwinch.

For now I've got to focus on a cruise for my son's graduation, a Jeep for my daughter, and kitchen renovation for the Wifey.
 

For now I've got to focus on a cruise for my son's graduation, a Jeep for my daughter, and kitchen renovation for the Wifey.


Ah yes....priorities! Nasty things when it comes to outfitting the Jeep. Try and win the Lotto, then you can do all that and get your winch at the same time! :p
 

$290 is a price i found locally for the 9500k smittybuild winch XRC8... not too shabby.
 
My advice is this: when you need a whinch it's because you are already in a bind, so it is best to invest in something that you KNOW will work and get you out. This is why I do not recommend one of those entry level priced winches. If you rarely wheel, yeah, those may work fine, but if it fails only once, it is one too many failures in my book, so I rather go with proven performance than price on this department. But hey, to each his own opinion, and I respect a different perspective even if I dont share it...
 
i got the winch ive always wanted for my 69 cj toy its a 8000lb pto winch that looks either nos or real real clean...now if only i could find the transfer case rear pto with in my poor person budget..lol
 

I've had a number of warn products, most recently a Warn 9.5ti
over priced
over rated
and warns customer service and warranty is a joke.

I gave my business to super winch, way better product, better price, customer service is 1000000X better.
 
Well, here is my 2 cents, I asked and got a WARN dual powerplant winch for Xmas. I have an 83 CJ-7 The bumpers are limited I really wanted an xhd modular but the winch wont fit. I went with the Warn rock crawler but the rolling fairlead didnt fit and its super stuby. Time for fabrication and xtras 2 make it look good! any way, today its at the DR's getting the steering done so I will send pics as soon as I get it back.
 
Two of the guys I ride with got the Smittybuilts and both are trashed after about 4-5 months. They overheat fast, pull a ton of amps so a bigger alternator and battery are needed and on one of them the brake no longer works. I've heard really good things about Superwinch and a 8000lb on can be had for 400 buck and they have crazy fast line speeds.
 
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