Warn winch recommendations

You guys have been a big help regarding lift kit selection. I am looking to gt a winch for my 2020 Taco. I have always had Warn winches. I am thinking of going with nylon rather than wire line as nylon has worked well on my ATV.

Questions:
Model recommendations?
8,000lbs or 10,0000lbs
wire or nylon?
roller or hawse fairlead?

ARB bumper is awaiting delivery.delivery date unknown. don't know whether it has even been built yet.

I thought I should go ahead and get the winch to avoid price increase/ availability issues.

Main winch use: Self rescue. I do a lot of solo back roading. Here in British Columbia back roads can turn into no road real quick (wash outs, land slides logging road deactivation, etc.)
Thanks!

 

I'm a HUGE Warn fan. Very reliable and easy to maintain and rebuild.

Anything within the 8000 to 10000 range should be sufficient. There is a huge price jump after 8000 though. I've always been told that 1.5 x "weight of the truck" is a good rule of thumb when sizing a winch.

I always advocate for synthetic rope. It's safer in nearly every regard. It's easier to handle (gloves not required). If it breaks, it won't launch shit at your truck. The biggest negative is the abrasion resistance.

With a synthetic rope, you'll need a hawse style fairlead. A roller fairlead is not compatible. I really like the Factor55 products for fairleads and hooks.

 

I liked my m9000. Apples and oranges, but the previous 8000 lacked on my fzj80 (5600#). Always ran syn line, way easy to manage and safer IMHO.

 

I've run a 9.5XP on my jeep for the last 15 years and it hasn't let me down yet. There will be one on the truck soon as I decide on a bumper.

 

My warn m8000S has been ok. Hasn’t failed and it’s been submerged in muddy water/silted creeks a lot. Few issues tho: after pulling on a heavy tree, letting it rest, and pulling more, it will no longer release cable with the clutch open. I can only release line by running the motor in reverse.

I also cracked the housing after I took off the motor to clock it, was using an allen wrench by hand and wasn’t turning that hard. Appears to still be waterproof.

My truck is 1800lbs overweight and it has adequate pulling power. Would recommend synthetic rope, just be sure to wash it if you get muddy

 

The brake for a Warn winch is located in the drum. It operates with a cam, that spreads the brake pads away from the central shaft when it tries to run in the opposite direction. When you pulled against the tree and the weight of the truck pulled back on the winch, it locked the brakes up. The only way to unlock them is to take tension off of the line. If you held the truck in place (with the truck's brakes), and then ran the motor in reverse, letting out the line, the winch brake should have released. Otherwise, it's possible the brake got jammed up with grit.

 

I am using an EVO8 on a plate. It is wired to go in front receiver or back. Stock battery and alt. I am happy with the setup. The hardest pull so far was pulling the truck and trailer with pontoon up a steep mucky bank; tires were dug into the muck. Did the job by giving it short pulls.

The EVO has cycled through many uses. Pulling trees and limbs out of a swamp etc. For reasonably light pulls the stock battery and alt handle long pulls fine.

I have a synthetic rope stored in the truck and ready to be installed but still using the stock cable it came with. The synthetic rope needed some slight modification to screw into the Warn drum.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

I was very happy with my Warn XDI 9000 winch which was rated at 9k lbs and had it mounted on my 68 M38A1Jeep. Not sure if it'll fit on a Tacoma though !!

 

Narrowed my search to Warn Zeon 10 vs. Warn VR ev0 10. The Zeon costs 2x the other one. I am looking for reliability and longevity. Is the Zeon 10 worth twice the $ for my purposes?

 

Not to derail the topic but I was ready to add a Warn 9000 Winch to my off-road car, but now that I’ve seen the extreme use Matt from Matt’s Off-Road puts his HF ‘Badlands’ winches through, that’s what I’m going with. Would have never considered them until I started watching his channel.

 

Badlands seem to get the job done as well. There is a another company starting with R....... drawing a blank on name that are also underrated and work well.

EDIT found: Recon

 

5 years from now will I wish I got the more expensive winch? Gonna order one of the in the next few days.

 

Twice i've seen the badlands fail in crucial moments. I would pass.

 

Good timing on this topic OP. I'm facing the same decision. From what I've read the zeon series line speed is faster, and the housing is little more robust. If it's worth double though .

Feature comparison video by Warn
https://youtu.be/gPzCSygATak

 

I got the Warn Zeon Platinum 10s, but am still waiting on my SSO bumper to install it.

 

8,000, with snatch block, synth line. A new roller fairlead is fine with syth, one used for cable will be gouged and abraid your synth line. If using a hawes fairlead on an ARB bumper, you may need to find one with offset mounting holes.

 

Thanks, could you please elaborate on "you may need to find one with offset mounting holes" "one"??? refers to ???

pardon my dumb.

 

I have the VR EVO 10-S. I've used it for several recoveries and other shenanigans. No problem so far. If money weren't an object, though, I would upgrade to a Zeon 10,000 Lb.

You can get by with 8,000 lbs, but I would go 10K if possible. Even with a snatch block, my 10K bogged a little bit pulling a 4runner that was stuck in deep mud.

 

See how the main hole is offset from the bolt holes? This is because ARB uses an offset opening in their bumpers. It's an ideal setup that doesn't create a side load on the rope.

 

^ bingo