what winch should iu buy?

[73redblaze]

i have a full size K5 with 3/4 ton axles. whats the smallest winch i can go with. i know you should never go with the smallest! but i have a change to get a 5,000lb for a great price. will it pull my blazer out of anything or not?

 

[mnstrburbon]

i would say 10 or higher that said.
i just got an xrc8 frome 4 wheel parts 288.00 out the door it was on sale normally 350. i figure a snatch block doubles it so i will be at 16.
i pulled the part numbers on everything and the only differance was the gear ratio between an 8 and 10.
i have a 3/4 tom burb that its going on mostly for a severe emergency or for others.We always use straps to get each other out more fun in my book.I am getting a bumper centrer from diy and wanted it to go in with a winch thats why i picked one up the price was right and the rating was ok i will evetually change the gear ratio making it a 10 and put it on the rear or sell it and put a 16.5 warren on the front.At 300 bucks if it gets me out once it pays for it self.I think winches are nice to have but be ready to use it because seems few have them and always get stuck and want you to pull them out.

 

[dremu]

General rule of thumb is 1.5x your truck's weight AT MINIMUM. Given 6000# for a Blazer, 9K is minimum. More if it's going uphill, if one or more tires are stuck past the axle, etc etc.

If you're patient, you can find a deal on an 8274 or similar older winch. Rebuild it yourself and you spend the same money you would on one of those Chinese cheapos... and you have a winch that'll run all day and pull your butt out of a jam. (Or, as mentioned, the other guy =))

My 20-year old Ramsey is rated for 8000# single-pull and like the 8274's is prolly grossly UNDER-rated. It cost me just over three bills, including a rebuild to keep it going another 20 years. I've got a helluva lot more peace of mind than I'd have with a cheapo.

Anyway, search on winches and you'll find a bazillion threads where this has been beaten to death. Some people insist on buying cheap, some people insist on buying quality.

Also read up on recovery

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/

And make your own mind up after that.

-- A

 

[mnstrburbon]

good reply i would never recomend a 8 to some one in afull size like i got i just wanted some thing new i did not have to rebuild right now to make work and was at a cost stand point well cheep.
Like posted read up save up and buy the most winch you can you wont regret it. mine will probably never get used but its there and was cheep, cheep does not mean good.Also throw in how often you think you will use it and it what conditions, where i wheel we hav a 20,000 lbs pto winch to get us out when we really get stuck.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

General rule of thumb is 1.5x your truck's weight AT MINIMUM. Given 6000# for a Blazer, 9K is minimum. More if it's going uphill, if one or more tires are stuck past the axle, etc etc.

If you're patient, you can find a deal on an 8274 or similar older winch. Rebuild it yourself and you spend the same money you would on one of those Chinese cheapos... and you have a winch that'll run all day and pull your butt out of a jam. (Or, as mentioned, the other guy =))

My 20-year old Ramsey is rated for 8000# single-pull and like the 8274's is prolly grossly UNDER-rated. It cost me just over three bills, including a rebuild to keep it going another 20 years. I've got a helluva lot more peace of mind than I'd have with a cheapo.

Anyway, search on winches and you'll find a bazillion threads where this has been beaten to death. Some people insist on buying cheap, some people insist on buying quality.

Also read up on recovery

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/

And make your own mind up after that.

-- A

This post says it all

 

[dremu]

This post says it all

Thanks. I've taken a new tack to replying to such posts; rather than just saying "Use the Search, Luke" I give a brief summary and then suggest search for further detail. Apparently, however, my ability to summarize may be suspect =))

Another note, that Monster Bourbon ( ) brought up ... is that the winch is just part of the recovery gear you really ought to have. And while it would be nice to have straps and chains and shackles and ... the list goes on, at the very least, you should have:

• Good pair of gloves. Wire cable can and will shred your hands.
• Winch cable weight. In a pinch a long sock and a coupla tennis balls, or even a heavy jacket, and yes, you can pop up the hood, etc etc ... but read up on what happens when wire cable breaks, as it can maim and kill.
• Short strap. Can be used for short hookups, or a tree saver. (Even ignoring the ecological aspects of putting cable directly around a tree, the fact that the wire digs in means you get less pull, and it's a pain to get out afterwards.)
• Snatch block, which is not a defensive move taught young ladies to avoid sexual assault. If you're going to double up the cable, you'll also want a reliable recovery point mounted to the frame (i.e. not a shackle bolted to the bumper!)
• Assorted other hardware (shackles, etc) will invariably come in handy when connecting all of this.
• Hi-Lift. If you can get a stuck corner partially unstuck, it'll make the load in the winch that much lighter -- and if your battery goes dead, it can double as a manual winch if you have all night =))

After that you can talk about longer straps -- especially for you mud nuts and people prone to playing U-Boat Commander -- and switching the winch cable to synthetic, etc etc etc.

Again, check out Billavista's article; his stuff is exhaustive and encyclopedic, so bring your lunch while you read it ... but it's good stuff, and gives you some background into the physics and the bloody amazing forces at work. Thousands of pounds of force ... must be treated with respect.

(Jeebus, I just *can't* give a short answer, can I? )

-- A

 

[mnstrburbon]

i got a little curious on my purchase and found this 15 page thread on pirate only one fail of the winch and one remote and that was the old model the new model wich is the one you would recieve no complaints or broken winches.It is made by t max and out of china only complaint is line speed is a littel slow.
here is a link
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=590833

 

[blazin' j]

here is what i bought to put on my 1 ton k5...16,500lb superwinch
couldnt beat the price ($981.xx shipped on amazon.com-check em out they have good deals)...gotta bumper coming from jesse @ blazen offroad-should b here tomorrow...

and these (30,000lb snatch blocks)

plus about 100' of various straps and shackles able to support the weights put on em

 

[6.2Blazer]

I won't say you shouldn't get a bigger winch if you have the money, but most posts I see have people way over estimating what is needed most of the time, at least for a true "trail" truck. I will recommend a bigger winch if your ideal of fourwheeling is just seeing how deep of a mud pit you can get in, for other obstacles you usually don't need as much.

Keep in mind that if your K5 weighs 6k, then a 6k winch should be able to pull it straight off the ground. Of course in some situations it takes more force to overcome the suction of mud or if it's wedged in a rock.

I personally have a 9k Ramsey that's been on my K5 for years, and a brand new snatch block sitting in the tool box that has yet to be used. It's pulled my 1-ton K5 on 38's up a muddy hill where the diffs were sitting on the ground with a single line.

Of course most of the time we just hook a strap up to the vehicle and pull it out as it's much faster and easier. The winch is really only used in the circumstances where you can't easily get another truck close enough to pull it with a strap.

 

[abig84]

bigger is always better in this case. i got a 9000 on my k5 and theres been a few times stuck in black mud where it wouldnt pull me out but a guy was there with a 12000lb and it got me out

 

[eagle mark]

Buy American, buy Warn!

 

[blazin' j]

yep i couldn't beat the price for what it was originally...I'm thinking about starting a lil offroad recovery business locally...I've been stuck lots of times with no way out and it sux...so i figured maybe i'll try it out and c how it goes and if it doesn't work, well i still have a winch and a capable truck to help friends if/when they get stuck...