OVS Scar 10s Winch review

There's not a lot of info out on this winch and I couldn't find anyone who talked about it here.I have had this winch for a couple months now so thought I would share.
I bought this because it had all the features I was looking for in a 10k winch and was very affordable. I do quite a bit of wheeling by myself and sometimes I push it a little too far and have had to dig myself out and stack rocks when I know a winch would have pulled me right out.
I installed this by myself in my BAMF bumper. I have never installed a winch before but I have been doing all of my own mods except for my regear.

I was able to mount the control box to the left with a small bracket that was provided. This made the install easy and no extra modifications were needed to fit.
I have used the winch four times now. All times were not mandatory but I found some challenging terrain that I could not get up in 4low with the rear locked. I did three single line pools and I used a snatch block to get up a really steep hill covered in mud. The winch performed really well all times.

When I received the winch the steel hook has this little rubber pice that was falling off. Not a big deal as I could just put some glue on it but I emailed OVS and they were very responsive and sent me a brand new hook. So from a customer service standpoint I think it's nice that there are people there that respond to emails and take phone calls. They did not need to replace the whole hook but it's really nice they did. Now I have two. I did not purchase this directly from OVS but purchased it from CaliRaisedLed because they had it on sale at the time and I had some reward points. I have had good customer service from Cali raised as well.

Link below for all of the details on this winch. Of course time will tell if this thing lasts and does not fail me when I need it most but for now I am satisfied.
https://overlandvehiclesystems.com/scar-10s-winch/

 

Thanks for the mention, please reach out if you ever need anything!

 

@UMC How is the OVS Scar 10s treating you after another 10 months? It looks like you clocked the selector to face forward. Is that where you would position it again. I'm two months into the wait on a BAMF Hybrid bumper, so my setup would be similar to yours. Any advise you would give for your setup? My experience is shy of yours: suspension install, solar and house battery wiring, some light wiring, and about to install bumpers.

 

At first I had it clocked because I thought that would make it easier to reach the handle but then it actually interfered with the bumper so I had to undo it. I would recommend just leaving it as it is. You do need to move the control box off to the side in order for it to fit. There or two small bolts used to mount the control box and I found that they came up a little short to where I could barely get threads to turn so I used a couple of longer bolts. Also since installing the first time I have removed and reinstalled and I found that a couple metal baracket on the truck was rubbing on the control box so I did some slight modifications with an angle grinder.

When it comes to actual use of the winch I have had mostly positive experience. I have used it several times and the winch is strong and works well. I have used it with the cord and wireless.
However just after I first got it I wanted to really test it out and there is this really steep hill that that I could not climb up and so I used the winch with a snatch block and even then it was struggling to move my truck. I kept pulling and I could hear that the winch was struggling but I just kept on until eventually I got up. So it did its job and surprised me . At the time I did not check the winch out but a couple weeks later I was looking over the truck as I normally do and I saw a crack in the housing of the winch. So I assume this happened during the last use of the winch but really don't know.. The winch actually still worked with this huge crack. Is it a cheap product? I don't think so but maybe it was just user error.
I emailed this picture to Overland Vehicle Systems and they sent me a completely new unit right away. Since then I've used it several times no issues. I used it just last week to get myself out of the mud where I slid into a fence.
I bought it from Cali Raised but when it comes to customer service I go through OVS. They've been pretty responsive when it comes to getting back to me on the phone and email. When I first received it the hook had some scratches in the powder coat and I emailed them and they sent a brand new hook so now I have two.





Here's a time I was stuck on some rocks.

 

Is the entire housing on that winch plastic?

 

No it's not plastic. It's aluminum.

 

Cast aluminum is not super high strength... but that damage looks like a failure due to the motor and gearbox twisting under load. Your bamf bumpers winch plate is 1/4" plate right? Any signs of a loose bolt when you removed it? Is there any cross-tying or bracing underneath the winch base plate that ties into the drame mount?

 

No.

 

Any signs the winch plate was twisting or flexing? Chip in the paint or powdercoating?

 

No.

 

Then I'd have to suspect that had a particularly poor casting. Glad you discovered this before you really needed it for a recovery.

 

Any updates on how is been holding up?

 

It's been working great. I got stuck on a steep rocky hill last month and it worked as expected. I have been using the wireless remote and it works great too. If I don't have a legitimate reason to use it like I am stuck I will pull line and hook to a tree on a hill just to make sure it's in functioning order each month.

I got stuck in the mud and slid into this barb wire fence. I used the winch to pull myself off. Sucked because I was only 10 ft from a gravel rd.

 

How long have you had the replacment winch?

 

Since August 2024

 

Thank you for the detailed review. I've had two warn winches that have both failed. This sounds like a good deal for all the features it comes with.