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why Superwinch sucks! (Warn saves the day!)

Well we have to look at the facts here. Wasted Wages (or Mr. Pope as I like to think of you :D), you're talking ATV winches, so I'm sure that at some point you had the Warn submerged. Also, who cares about ATV winches in this case?

Seriously though, with the new info I've learned from this thread, I'm starting to think that the Superwinch model I had was a victim of a faulty part(s). Maybe not all Superwinch products are like that. Also, that was like the cheapest one in their line of vehicle recovery winches. I got it at Northern Tool for cryin' out loud. I would have shopped around, but I had gotten stuck really bad 2 days before I bought it and had to hire a guy to winch me out (with a 15,000 lb. Warn coincidentally) after the truck had sat out there all night. I just went down to NT to see what they had and it was on sale for like $350 or $400. I didn't want to get stuck like that again. It could have been worse. The area I was stuck in was a cliff hanger little road over a 15' bluff down to the river and it floods a lot. In fact it flooded the following spring and you couldn't get to within a mile of where I was stuck at. That spot was under like 10' of water. My truck would have been totally underwater for weeks. :eek1:
 
We do have our moments...

Hey all, was happy to see this thread resurface. I appreciate your comments Andy, and it does sound like some bad parts. It happens and we regret it but we do work really hard to make it right when it does happen.

We learned a lot on the first generation LPs. The 2nd generation is much improved and our Tiger Shark (like a 3rd gen) is better still.

We're committed to supplying Superwinch owners something they can trust. As I think we all know, a winch you can't trust is junk.

Anyhow, I wanted to chime and let you know that we do listen and we're ready to help should the need arise again. 800-323-2031 - [email protected] - facebook.com/superwinch - or you can reach out to me.
 
I'm glad you popped in. I have a Superwinch installed on the front of my K5. I wasn't using it in a recovery situation last weekend but I was using it to pull a downed tree. Anyway, no issue with pulling but when I went to respool the cable (no load, just my weight providing resistance and guiding the cable) it seemed to get bogged down. I went to switch it to neutral to check if anything was binding and it wouldn't free up. Even after power reversing it for a bit it still would not freewheel.

I got the cable respooled without it bogging down again but I noticed some metal shavings coming out of the drum. Any idea what I should look for? This is a brand new winch that I have used twice now and isn't exposed to the elements as the truck stays garaged and only comes out in good weather.

Feel free to PM me to discuss further or I can give you my direct contact info. Thanx!
 
SuperwinchJon said:
Hey all, was happy to see this thread resurface. I appreciate your comments Andy, and it does sound like some bad parts. It happens and we regret it but we do work really hard to make it right when it does happen.

We learned a lot on the first generation LPs. The 2nd generation is much improved and our Tiger Shark (like a 3rd gen) is better still.

We're committed to supplying Superwinch owners something they can trust. As I think we all know, a winch you can't trust is junk.

Anyhow, I wanted to chime and let you know that we do listen and we're ready to help should the need arise again. 800-323-2031 - [email protected] - facebook.com/superwinch - or you can reach out to me.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I guess I should have called the factory, but I didn't know if I would get any results. I still have the thing sitting in my yard. I was going to take it apart and look inside it one day just to see if it was salvagable.

The other day I was looking through a catalog and saw the updated version, and in the product desciption it was saying that there were many improvements on the old ones. The new one looked like a higher quality unit in the picture anyway.
 
Hey Brian, great timing! Tough to say what is up with it without knowing more, but please give our tech ace Jason a call at 800-323-2031 or [email protected]. He should be able to diagnose over phone/email and get you sorted out straight away.
 
Andy, no worries. I find it's hit or miss when you reach out to some companies. We really try to take care of our owners.

If you're interested in rehab-ing the winch, we're more than game. It's your call but if we can help, we sure want to. I've talked to our man Jason about your winch and he's waiting to help if he can. You can reach him at 800-323-2031 or [email protected].

Hope to see you on the trails,
 
I wonder how it would work to drill a drain hole in the bottom of the winch and attach some vacuum line to the engine intake. This should keep the moisture cleaned out of the winch motor. However, you would want that disabled if the winch was going into water. You could use a solenoid and float switch. This could also be used to disable electric radiator fans when the water starts to get deep.
 
That's way too complicated. Good idea though. I think the best thing is to have the winch sealed up good enough that no moisture can enter into anything that could get corroded. The winch I bought to replace the Superwinch in question hasn't missed a beat and it's now a couple of years old. Although I must confess that I'm always nervous when I hook that remote up and I'm about to hit the switch. It hasn't let me down yet though. I keep a cover on it since I'm never able to park under any sort of shelter. This has kept the cable from rusting.

I gave the Superwinch in question to another member here, HeavyChevy79. I don't know if he ever got it working and mounted up or not.

Oh, just a friendly reminder to everyone here - never touch a steel winch cable with your bare hands (I've never used a synthetic rope, so I don't know about them). Even if the cable looks perfect, it will stil cut your hand if you grab it or slide your hand down it. As I type this, I'm looking down at where the cable on my new winch sliced my palm earlier this month when I decided to bare hand it. It wasn't a bad cut, but it burned like crazy until I was able to get some alcohol to clean it out with. I'm just glad it didn't have any MERSA or Ebola or anything like that on it. Wouldn't that be a great post to make? Then I would have reps from winch companies and the CDC replying to my thread.
 
Good winches are not cheap and cheap winches are not good...period.
If you're depending on your winch to repeatedly get you out of sticky situations
it had better be a Warn.
When I was hard core wheeling......I saw MANY off-brand, knockoff winches fail........none of them were Warn.
 
Man I hear you. I don't have the money to wheel hardcore, but if I did, I would still have a Warn for sure. My thing is, when I get stuck, I'm usually way out in the middle of nowhere with no one else around. I've had to walk a good ways before because of stuff like that. I learned my lesson.
 
My 10k smittybuilt winch is still working great after about 5-6 years. It started making some noises a couple years ago but the last couple times i used it the noise seems to have gone away. I completely stalled it out several times too. I think it pulls better than a friend of mines 8000 lb warn. If it ever breaks i will buy their 12k h2o winch

Edit mine has sat out in the rain uncovered its whole life
 
I ended up trading a sporadic working Warn HS9500i that afriend had for a Mile Marker I did not need. The MM worked every time he needed it. The Warn needed cleaned out and the corrosion removed. Grounding in the housing was bad.

I tear down the winch each season just to keep it clean and working. I wheel a lot by myself. The winch is important.
 
Looks like corrosion is the worst enemy of electric winches of all brands.

I never thought to look for bad grounds. I know that even if a ground is just a little loose, or the types of metals involved don't get along together, major corrosion can occur - not to mention weird electrical problems.
 
ktmoutfront said:
I ended up trading a sporadic working Warn HS9500i that afriend had for a Mile Marker I did not need. The MM worked every time he needed it. The Warn needed cleaned out and the corrosion removed. Grounding in the housing was bad.

I tear down the winch each season just to keep it clean and working. I wheel a lot by myself. The winch is important.
Click to expand...

My ramsey was sitting under the bef between the frame rails.. never had to use it. One day i wanted to mess with it and all i heard was a relay clunk... removed winch and it sat in the garage. When i got around to it i found out it built this green corrossion buildup not allowing the motor to work. Tore it apart.. wire wheeled it and all good so i know what you mean...
 
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