Winch recommendations

Was looking into getting a winch for my truck. What do you guys prefer ? I was leaning to the Smittybilt brand.

 

smittybilt x20 was what im thinking about getting

 

if you can afford a warn go with that ms8000 had it on my jeep will not let you down

 

Warn, Superwinch, or Ramsey.

 

for sure was going to go with the rope way safer when I am out there alone

 

I have a Smittybilt with synthetic rope hasn't let me down yet. Sure Warn is the top of the line but $500 to $600 for a Smittybilt with synthetic rope or $1000 to $1100 for Warn. I guess if a guy used his winch every single day and all day then maybe go with the Warn. Everytime I use my Smittybilt it never let's me down.

 

Oh and the wireless remote on the Smittybilt works awesome!!! Love that feature!!!

 

Booth great winches I have a warn 15k superwinch and a Ramsey 12k hydraulic winch. For the 93 pickup I have a smittybuild on a receiver mount. All have there ups n downs warn in my opinion is higher maintenance. But easier to fix.milemarker also makes a good winch is not used for long pulls.

 

x2 I have mine and it works great

 

Warn.

 

I'm happy with the Warn M8000s on the front of my truck.

 

What front bumper/winch attachment point is that?

 

Kind of depends what your needs are. Can't go wrong with a Warn but it might also be Overkill too.

I'm in the minority here but I got a Badlands 12,000lb on a Harbor Freight deal after reading lots of online reviews. I replaced the line with a good synthetic line + better hook & fairlead, added the wireless remote. It's suited my needs just fine to this point but I've only used it a handful of times. If you're going to use it a handful of times per day dozens of days a year a Warn may be a worthy investment.

 

This is the eternal struggle, cost vs. how much you use it. My fear with getting a cheap winch this is a recipe for it letting you down when you most need it. I wonder how many people unspool their winch, re-spool it once in the driveway and pronounce it "good". Put some hard pulls on that Badlands or try to do two or three without a lot of rest between and I bet you'll kill it in no time. And then once you do, call Harbor Freight and get parts for it in 2 years. Good luck.

With Warn, Superwinch, Ramsey and I'll admit now Smittybilt you don't necessarily have to prove it since there's a lot of people who have and do all the time so you know it's good and what issues and failures to watch for. My money would be on an M8000 since probably 10 times as many of those have been sold *and used* as the next brand and model after it. Warn can get you parts for it even if it's 20 years old, too. Heck, you can get a 8274 from the 1980s fixed still.

 

To be fair, if it craps out I can simply replace it & still be money ahead. Hell, I can carry the spare with me if uptime is that critical.

As I said, this option isn't for everyone but it's probably a safe bet for more than consider it. Based on the reviews, if they fail they tend to fail out of the box. Sure there's some limitations with how long you can use it but, again, I'm not running this thing 24/7 for days on end anyway. If you are then spend the money on a Warn or similar.

IMO it's better than nothing & costs next to it. If you go into it with the right mindset (read: don't intentionally put yourself in situations that require it just because you have it) you'll probably be fine. It's just a little added insurance which is all 98% of people need.

Let's not forget that even high dollar items fail. Sure it's at a lower rate but it still happens. This was a tough lesson for me when I had a $4k Schmidt & Bender optic fail during an out-of-state shooting comp. If my Badlands winch goes Tango Uniform years from now... Oh well. I got my money's worth. If that Warn fails in the same window I'm going to be much more upset. Warranty or no.

BTW there's plenty of videos online of disassembly, inspection & re-greasing internals of the Badlands unit for anyone interested.

 

Its from @RelentlessFab. I believe he makes them in special order batches. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2012-15-sting-ray-lo-pro-bumper.459324/

 

That may be the M.O. but doesn't do you much good if it's failed trying to get yourself extracted from deep snow on a soft shoulder or on the trail someplace. I get the cheaper-to-replace-than-fix point, that's pretty much Harbor Freight's business model and I certainly buy things there because of that.

However there's a reason someone might want to feel their recovery gear isn't going to let them down. You said "better than nothing" but when you're afield that may be exactly what it becomes, dead weight. There's no guarantee any winch no matter what it cost is not going to break, so it comes down to the trust you have in your gear and the odds your number comes up.

 

I knew what both of your points were going to be which is why I added additional context.

 

I see that now. I suppose if you're going out doing something that you know will need a winch that's one thing but I've had my XD9500 for about 15 years now and each use has been unplanned. Dunno, maybe used it a dozen times over the years, so it's probably not critical but my previous (and backup) plan is a Hi-Lift come-along. Had to use that twice way back previous to buying my winch, so I don't take a winch for granted. A come-along at 4 feet at a time is a real buzz kill.

One thing I forgot to mention is safety. I'm not familiar enough to know how safe the Badlands winches are (they may be perfectly safe, I dunno), but I've seen a Warn and a Ramsey both fail and their brakes caught just like designed and prevented the truck from rolling backwards. That's the sort of thing that I would want to be sure about. A winch that fails to start a pull is an inconvenience but one that fails under load and then fails to brake the drum is a potential major issue.

 

Thanks!