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Winch size?

W

Wilma

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Hi!

Thanks to the help I´ve gotten on this site me and my Jimmy will soon be Queen and King of the road again. :laugh:

However this raises an old question of mine. I always wanted a winch, but how big a winch do I need? They are pretty heavy vehicles... Is there a general rule (ie - x times the weight of the vehicle)? :rolleyes:

Thank you in advance for your kind assistance.
 
The rule is 1.5 x vehicle weight. I believe most people opt for a 9,000 or bigger. The larger you get, the less hard it has to work.
 
The general rule is 1.5 times the GVWR. (gross vehicle weight rating)

I myself have a 9000# warn on my rig.
 
WhiteBurb said:
The rule is 1.5 x vehicle weight. I believe most people opt for a 9,000 or bigger. The larger you get, the less hard it has to work.
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most opt for a warn ... forget the model off my head... but smaller trucks like yours go for the warn 87something or whatever... you can get them off of ebay cheap... even broke the parts to fix it are cheap....

I personally have a Ramsey Patriot 15K..... the only thing you have to understand too is the bigger the winch the more draw... I have a stock 63amp alt.. yeah I know that is funny.... however even with dual batteries my alt cant keep up charging as fast as my winch goes.... my winch draws 90amps with 0 load... so I got 40' spooled up with truck running and had to let the batteries charge..... 140amp alt upgrade soon :haha:
 
Some basic guidelines:
Get the heaviest weighted winch that you can afford AND build the bumper/frame mount for.

I just had my bumper modifed for the Warn 10k - that thing is huge with a huge capacity so I wanted the frame and bumper real strong with the winch nestled into the frame as tight as I could get it.

Pics in my sig.
 
2Dogs said:
Some basic guidelines:
Get the heaviest weighted winch that you can afford AND build the bumper/frame mount for.
Click to expand...

that is what I did...

35" long x 12" wide C channel... 3/8 thick.... bolted to my frame!!!!
$40....

I was going to buy a Ramsey mount... 1/8" tick so not as thick.... for $80


winch4.jpg
 
Most guidelines say 1.5x vehicle weight. I tend to lean towards the "biggest one you can afford" camp. A winch is the only offroad upgrade that will get you unstuck rather than stuck worse.
 
Mine works for me. Besides, if you don't like it you can rob a 6 horse motor from a 9.5somethingorother and adapt it to the 8274 case.
 
For most trail situations an 8,000-9,000 winch will work without too much of an issue. Most of the time I see a winch needed is when the vehicle simply does not have enough traction to move forward, like on a hill. Even on a very steep hill around 45 degrees (yes, that is steep!) you theoretically only need the equivalent force of half of the vehicle weight to move the vehicle up the hill with only the winch power.

The times you need more winch power is when you are really hung up, like down to the axles in mud. That's when a 12k+ winch might come in handy, however the absolute worst mud stuck I've ever been in was resolved with a snatched-block 8k winch.
 
get the biggest winch you can afford... unless its a 8274. You could prolly pull a M1 tank with one of them. :grin: :D

j
 
jekbrown said:
get the biggest winch you can afford... unless its a 8274. You could prolly pull a M1 tank with one of them. :grin: :D

j
Click to expand...

Yup!

I havn't had to use my 8274 yet, but when I do I know it will not let me down :D
 
jekbrown said:
get the biggest winch you can afford... unless its a 8274. You could prolly pull a M1 tank with one of them. :grin: :D

j
Click to expand...
Stalled one of these trying to pull my K5 off of a log pile..... The 8274 was on my Cousin's Heep. I had to use mine to get the job done
 
2Dogs said:
Stalled one of these trying to pull my K5 off of a log pile..... The 8274 was on my Cousin's Heep. I had to use mine to get the job done
Click to expand...

must have been operate error... :grin:

I have no problems doing a double line pull. If 16k isn't enough to pull you out, you need to do some digging or something to get the rig unstuck prior to winching.

j
 
jekbrown said:
must have been operate error... :grin:

I have no problems doing a double line pull. If 16k isn't enough to pull you out, you need to do some digging or something to get the rig unstuck prior to winching.

j
Click to expand...
We did not bother to use a snatch block as it was easier to use my winch. Just saying that the 8274 straight pull stalled the winch. It was not a simple tires not getting traction stuck - the 14ff was imbedded deeply into a large log, rear tires WAY off the ground, etc..... (my smilies are not working)
 
Just installed a Warn DX9000i and happened to need it the very next time out.

Worked great and was very happy to have it. :laugh:
 
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