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Chinese winches. Smitty, Warn, etc. are they holding up worth a damn?

WAOLIFE

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Thats cool, I wasn't trying to down them, I think Warn makes good winches. They are a pretty high price point for some people though and I think there are some other good options out there.
LOL no skin off my back, I don't own a winch as of yet.
 

WAOLIFE

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JeepinJason33

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I have owned both the EVO and the Zeon in the 10k versions. Over a year with each of them and at least 12-15 pulls including a pull on each on the same obstacle in Moab that pulls the Jeep almost straight up and out of a waterfall. Zeon pulled quicker and that was about the only difference of value in recovery that I noticed. EVO never let me down and looks like it will fit inside my JLUR bumper easier as it is a bit less deep. For me, the cost difference between the two was not worth it.
 

JimLee

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I have owned both the EVO and the Zeon in the 10k versions. Over a year with each of them and at least 12-15 pulls including a pull on each on the same obstacle in Moab that pulls the Jeep almost straight up and out of a waterfall. Zeon pulled quicker and that was about the only difference of value in recovery that I noticed. EVO never let me down and looks like it will fit inside my JLUR bumper easier as it is a bit less deep. For me, the cost difference between the two was not worth it.
You just pointed out the exact reason I went with shittybuilt, line speed. I'm not trying to make a day out of recoveries, get out and get moving.
 

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I went with Warn VR12s on JKU for the name as I was just getting into off roading and wanted the peace of mind. I had the ability to use it the day after install when a fell jeeper broke an axle on a difficult trail. We hooked him up to my rear and for the next 6 hours I used the winch to pull my jeep and his off the trail to where we could get a trailer for him. There was no way for him to drive it out and nobodies jeep could tow him out without help of winch. It pretty much ran constantly. The only downtime the winch got was the time it took to set it to the next anchor point.
 

DanW

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Not the exact same one I saw, however the wording is interesting on this one.

Point of Assembly has nothing to do with where the parts are manufactured. The entire unit can be assembled in the US with Chinese parts.

The datasheet I saw called out the specific items that were Chinese manufacture.
But nobody makes parts in the US and then assembles in China, except maybe Boeing. The VRs are made in China. Period. From Chinese parts. That's the only way they can compete on price with the other Chinese winches. The good news is that they now all seem to be of good quality and durable.

Warn's contribution is a reputation for excellent customer service. Plus, in their case, an American company gets the profit, too. So there's a little more of an American upside to that.

But the Smittys and others have closed the gap and appear to be very good with customer service, too.
 
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Kurt0

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But nobody makes parts in the US and then assembles in China, except maybe Boeing. The VRs are made in China. Period. From Chinese parts. That's the only way they can compete on price with the other Chinese winches. The good news is that they now all seem to be of good quality and durable.

Warn's contribution is a reputation for excellent customer service. Plus, in their case, an American company gets the profit, too. So there's a little more of an American upside to that.

But the Smittys and others have closed the gap and appear to be very good with customer service, too.
id be curious to know what QC steps various companies are taking to make sure they are getting things to spec from their chinese plants.
 

DanW

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id be curious to know what QC steps various companies are taking to make sure they are getting things to spec from their chinese plants.
I bought one the first sets of Warn JL tube doors. They came out of China just a wreck. The were missing a sticker and had powder coat chips in several places and the metal under teh chips was rusting. They were also missing a bunch of parts. With Northridge's help, Warn paid return shipping and after a long wait, sent me new ones that were flawless. I chalked it up to early adoption, BUT, their QC process clearly failed miserably initially to allow those out the door. But hey, live and learn. I'm sure they got it corrected quickly. Right now, though, I am not sure I'd buy anything that is a new design.

Nobody can get people over to China for the regular QC inspections and set-up. Would you want to go to China right now? Not me. They are blowing up with Covid and the media, heavily bankrolled and influenced by the CCP, is not reporting it. But those in the business community know all too well what's going on over there. So like I said, I'd only buy mature designs right now and nothing new.
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