sell me a winch

[wormgod]

I am still a total noob. after searching and reading a few dozen threads on here, I could still use some help. I need an electric winch for my 84 blazer. it's going to mainly be used for mountain trails, and some mud. I just sold a rifle and got 2800 bucks to buy a lift kit and tires for the blazer...if I have anything left, it'll go towards the winch

I take it that WARN is still king of the hill. what's out there that's good and doesn't cost an arm and a leg and a nut?


and, with the winch, what other recovery accessories are a MUST HAVE? I have nothing right now.

 

[4x4orbust]

look into engo winches. a recent test done by a popular magazine shows it to be just as good as a warn, but 1/3 the price. I do not have any experience with this winch, but it will be my next purchase.

must haves for winches vary per terrain, but a tree saver, a couple snatch blocks, and a good blanket or something to throw over the cable is a good idea.

 

[shaun89]

ive heard warns new VR series r pretty good also. they are cheaper than the "normal" warns because they outsource some parts.but still have every bit of warrenty. and i also havent heard many complaints about them

 

[imiceman44]

I am still a total noob. after searching and reading a few dozen threads on here, I could still use some help. I need an electric winch for my 84 blazer. it's going to mainly be used for mountain trails, and some mud. I just sold a rifle and got 2800 bucks to buy a lift kit and tires for the blazer...if I have anything left, it'll go towards the winch

I take it that WARN is still king of the hill. what's out there that's good and doesn't cost an arm and a leg and a nut?


and, with the winch, what other recovery accessories are a MUST HAVE? I have nothing right now.

WARN is great and for those that live on the trail and winch on every trip they take, I think a WARN is a must have, but for someone like me that has been wheeling for 15 years and never needed a winch, a cheap winch for a possible pull out of a little stuck is better than nothing so I went to Harbor freight and got me a 10k winch for under $300, it's a new line they carry that is better than the cheesy ones they used to have.
I hope I never will need it but if I do, $300 is not much to spend and having a better than nothing winch.
I do also have a Mile Marker 9k winch that is destined for my Full size Jeep wagoneer, Mile Marker is a good name too, and I got this one cheap because someone wanted to upgrade to bigger.

 

[bot0611]

amazon has superwinch on sale..

 

[gonefishin]

i have a smitty built xrc 10 so far so good but its got kinda noisy lately

 

[K10 KRAWLER]

Get a Superlift. I have 2 warn M12000 winches. one I bought used (I didn't expect much from it, I got it cheap) and a brand new one from a dodge powerwagon. I have 5 years of wheeling experience and most trail stucks I have are in skeg. I have already replaced the solenoid pack and motor in the used winch but it was old so im not suprised about that. The reason I would go with Superwinch is I have a friend with a 12000lb Superwinch that I wheel with and his winch always out-pulls me, If my warn stalls out we usually get him to winch me instead. I have dual batteries and one is isolated out for only winch use... he has one battery for everything. they are all the same battery as well, we bought them all at the same time. His winch has saved the day where a warn has failed me on more than one occasion.

I think a winch is the most important piece of recovery equipment, and any wheeler that does the type of trails I do should have one. You should get everything to support the winch as well such as: thick gloves, snatch block, tree saver, couple of shackles, winch weight and I carry a few spare solenoids, just in case. For other stuff I would suggest shovel, axe, tow strap (I have a couple straps as well as a 66 foot strap from ARB, it has saved my ass on many occasions), Hi-lift jack and a full size spare(so buy 5 tires). One more thing that a lot of people forget which frustrates me is put STRONG tow points on the front and rear of your truck.

That's all that comes to mind right now I can chat all day on this subject. I probably forgot a few but those are the key things that come to mind.

 

[miniwally]

I just got back a few weeks ago from The Ultimate Adventure. While on the trip I had several conversations with Chad that was on the trip representing Warn. These conversations really weren't about Warn winches, their products or the company. They were more along the lines of what problems I had encountered with various systems on a vehicle in the last few years.

Misc. electrical issues mainly. His input, through years of knowledge with warn was very interesting. Basically what I heard from him has once again reinforced the reason that Warn is the top of the line. They research, work with OEMs, research some more then test a lot before a product hits the public. They also do a lot of work that we never really see, it sounded like military stuff that can't really be talked about, work with OEMs on electrical systems that are forth coming etc.

Bottom line is that Warn is the only winch to go with, especially if your thinking you will go a few years here and there without using the winch but want it to work when you do need it. They have the track record and the backing to show that this is the winch of choice.

Warn makes an accessory bag that has a tree strap, tow strap, gloves, chain, snatch block and a few other things that I can't think of right now. It is a nice complete setup that has a good bag to keep it together. At minimum look at that as the correct accessory package and put something like it together.

I think the new value line of winches from Warn will be a good way to go.

 

[wormgod]

thanks for all the info so far.

 

[oakknight]

i have a warn Powerplant HD 12.5K winch with compressor. I love it. came in handy last time out to Kansas rocks.We did have to use stan88(shane's) blazer to anchor me about mid pull the winch started dragging me towards the hill. I was standing on the brakes, but was too slick.