Let's talk winches folks

[OllieChristopher]

I like the Warn name too. Went with a Zeon 12-S. Marketing?

Just wanted something that could pull my Jeep and small off road trailer out of sticky situation together in case I had no other choice. Made in America was key too whatever that means these days.

What the heck Josiah!! Do you have any cooling issues with those huge Baja Design lights in front of the grill? Holy moly!! And I thought my 2 Squadrons were serious......

Sadly there doesn't seem to be ANY evidence to support the notion that spending more, double or triple even buys you any more than a name plate. That said, the only winches I have ever owned were a couple of Warn's.

I failed to mention in my previous post:

Ramsey also made in US. And it would be my first choice. Ramsey winches are the only ones that held up from 2 - 6 pulls daily dragging skids and towable generators up on the trailer. The only thing that went out were the solenoids. Extremely durable and reliable.

Warn winches have failed me many times for industrial use. We went through at two or three of them before switching to Ramsey. The reality is pretty much any brand is going to be fine unless you are a serious wheeler that uses your winch every weekend.

Sponsored

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

If that's the dumbest thing you've ever heard, you don't get out much.

https://www.warn.com/synthetic-rope-vs-steel-rope-which-one-is-best

There are advantages (and disadvantages) to both. If you're unwilling to see that, then you're being short-sighted, myopic. People should weigh those advantages/disadvantages and not just jump on a band-wagon because they saw a kick ass Jeep in the mall parking lot with a really cool colored "rope" on their winch. There's more to it, a lot more.

Steel cable seldom snaps, but when it does, it stores more energy. That's part of the business and you mitigate that and handle all recovery situations with care. People act like recovery isn't dangerous if you're using synthetic, which also stores energy by the way. That's very much false, and giving people a false sense of safety or security is far more dangerous than learning the advantages/disadvantages and proper use of recovery gear, which may include steel cable.

YOU are giving people a false sense of safety and security by not knowing what you're talking about. Firstly, of course WARN is going to say there are advantages to both; They sell both. Steel cable is durable, and that has it's place. But I would never recommend it to someone with very little winching experience or who will rarely use it. Especially just to save a few bucks.

Yes, both cables store energy. But there are huge differences in how those cables release that energy. Steel cable is spiral wound, in one direction. When it snaps it un-winds. That causes the steel to twist and spin as it flies through the air. Synthetic line is woven, half of the wraps clockwise, and half of the wraps counterclockwise. All of the tension in the rope is in line with the direction of pull. When synthetic snaps, it moves in a predictable straight line. The weaving in the line helps keep the frays together as well.

But none of that even matters when it comes to the last difference: Mass. The force of the heavy steel flying through the air is much greater than the force of the synthetic line. Getting hit with synthetic can give you some nasty bruises and abrasions. But steel cable can rip you apart.

I'll say it again, "winch line dampening mats" are useless. Steel or synthetic. I'm skeptical of anyone who says they've seen countless winch line failures saved by a weighted blanket. I'd bet that very few people on this forum have even seen a winch line snap in person. I haven't. And if they have, I'd be wary of their advice. They may not be taking care of their equipment or overloading their winch.

Safe practices are always your best option. Synthetic is safer than steel, but not foolproof.

Watch some cables snap and judge for yourself.

 

[AcesandEights]

So you link to a video showing winch line damping working and synthetic line snapping and recoiling?

BTW, copy and paste my incorrect statements. I double-dog dare ya.

 

[Big_Lebowski]

What I have not read once in 4 pages of comments is where a cheaper brand has actually failed somebody. The assumption seems to be that by spending more on say a Warn, you are buying an extra layer of reliability. Sadly there doesn't seem to be ANY evidence to support the notion that spending more, double or triple even buys you any more than a name plate. That said, the only winches I have ever owned were a couple of Warn's.

That is exactly right.
I wheel a lot and I wheel pretty extreme, and I have seen plenty of line pulled for assistance or recovery over the years. Not once have I seen a single winch fail to get the job done and I have wheeling friends with all types and brands of winches. I have run a couple different brands on past rigs, but my JKU currently runs a Come Up 9.5rsi, which no one has ever heard of, but they are one of the biggest winch makers in the world. It works great and saved me some $$ over a similarly spec'd Warn. I love Warn and would love to have one, but most any decent name brand winch will get the job done, and done with reliable consistency.

 

[oldcjguy]

What winch plate did you use? I got a Wrangler back in January and replaced the stock bumper with a stubby Rubicon bumper, but don't have a plate.

Thanks!

RockHard4x4 has a winch plate for the factory bumpers. It tilts the winch forward a few degrees. A lot of JL owners complain about winches being too close to the grill. The RockHard4x4 plate seems to address that issue

 

[Jazzman65]

RockHard4x4 has a winch plate for the factory bumpers. It tilts the winch forward a few degrees. A lot of JL owners complain about winches being too close to the grill. The RockHard4x4 plate seems to address that issue

Thanks!

 

[alksion]

What the heck Josiah!! Do you have any cooling issues with those huge Baja Design lights in front of the grill? Holy moly!! And I thought my 2 Squadrons were serious......


I failed to mention in my previous post:


Warn winches have failed me many times for industrial use. We went through at two or three of them before switching to Ramsey. The reality is pretty much any brand is going to be fine unless you are a serious wheeler that uses your winch every weekend.

No issues this far but I’ll be on the lookout.

 

[mgroeger]

So you link to a video showing winch line damping working and synthetic line snapping and recoiling?

Yeah because most people carry a spare tire with them to hang on their steel cable. The point of that video was to show just how much weight you really need to hang on a steel line and just what that line has the power to destroy. And, as noted by the poster, the synthetic line snapped and recoiled exactly as it should. In other words when the synthetic breaks it's predictable and less dangerous then the steel cable.
At the end of the day steel is more dangerous when it breaks. I'll take the very few minimal trade offs of synthetic over steel any day.

 

[AcesandEights]

...
At the end of the day steel is more dangerous when it breaks. I'll take the very few minimal trade offs of synthetic over steel any day.

But did I ever say it wasn't?

And yes, most people do carry a spare. Don't you? Oh wait, haha....

 

[Zandcwhite]

I broke the synthetic line on my smittybilt 8k winching my old XJ. No weight on the line what so ever. It recoiled and hit the front bumper. Didn’t even scratch the paint. Unless you are winching at an angle, the synthetic line isn’t even a danger so long as you aren’t standing in the line of pull (you get your Darwin Award if you are). The other great thing about synthetic is we were able to simply weave an eye back onto the end and finish the recovery. That isn’t so easy with cable.

 

[Levin_tom]

That is exactly right.
I wheel a lot and I wheel pretty extreme, and I have seen plenty of line pulled for assistance or recovery over the years. Not once have I seen a single winch fail to get the job done and I have wheeling friends with all types and brands of winches. I have run a couple different brands on past rigs, but my JKU currently runs a Come Up 9.5rsi, which no one has ever heard of, but they are one of the biggest winch makers in the world. It works great and saved me some $$ over a similarly spec'd Warn. I love Warn and would love to have one, but most any decent name brand winch will get the job done, and done with reliable consistency.

I am running a Comeup Gen2 9.5rsi as well! Works great and very high quality manufacturing. They make automotive winches, powersport winches, defense and security winches, industrial winches, etc. They are used a lot in Australia and in Toyotas. Made in Taiwan which I prefer versus China. The Warn VR line is fully made in China. These are same quality or better IMO. Like @OllieChristopher said, any brand is going to be fine unless you are using your winch every weekend.

 

[benny_rt2]

That is exactly right.
I wheel a lot and I wheel pretty extreme, and I have seen plenty of line pulled for assistance or recovery over the years. Not once have I seen a single winch fail to get the job done and I have wheeling friends with all types and brands of winches. I have run a couple different brands on past rigs, but my JKU currently runs a Come Up 9.5rsi, which no one has ever heard of, but they are one of the biggest winch makers in the world. It works great and saved me some $$ over a similarly spec'd Warn. I love Warn and would love to have one, but most any decent name brand winch will get the job done, and done with reliable consistency.

I've had a cheap quality, inexpensive winch fail. The wheeling crew you go with probably never had a winch with a perm magnet motor. Perm mag winch motors are total garbage.

A permanent magnet motor is very different from the series wound motor winches. The series wound motors are WAY better than a permanent magnet motor, regardless of price category. An inexpensive series wound motor winch will outlast and destroy a perm magnet motor winch. They shouldn't even make perm magnet motor winches.

It was my first winch ever, around early 2000s. A Ramsey 9k lb winch with "Permanent Magnet Motor". The perm motor burnt out after applying a light to moderate load. I was stuck in a dry dirt rut in a desert field in AZ, across from my apartments after getting off from work that evenning. lol. I was alone. I called a tow truck because I didn't know anyone around who could help. The wrecker guy was nice and interested in the jeep and trying to help me get the winch working again, we were messing with the solenoid box. Ended up just attaching a strap and pulling my TJ out, no prob.

I was recounting my negative experience in a review on the site I ordered it from. By this time I had a warn m8000. This was at least a couple years after my ramsey burnt up, but I didn't want anyone else to have my same problem. The site owner saw my review, contacted his Ramsey rep and, to their credit, Ramsey sent me a brand new higher quality series wound winch which I gave to a friend. I kept the warn on my jeep.

just stay away from perm magnet winch motors and most likely you'll be fine. The trick is to never wheel alone. I won't call a low price winch cheap unless it is inferior quality. I'd call them inexpensive. But the perm mag winches are indeed cheap.

 

[dchemphill1]

What winch plate did you use? I got a Wrangler back in January and replaced the stock bumper with a stubby Rubicon bumper, but don't have a plate.

Thanks!

I got a plate that mounts on top of the plastic bumper from Rock Hard 4x4

 

[dchemphill1]

Y


Great numbers. You have the turbo?

Yes 2.0. Awesome little engine. Handled the mountains and off-roading trails with ease.

 

[blnewt]

Got the Smittybilt Gen2 9500 w/ cable, has worked well in the dozen times I've used it from shrub pulls, to dead car situations. The price on Amazon fluctuates like gas prices, I caught it when it was
$275, it seems to move from $300 to $400 now though. It mountsw nice & low in my bumper so no air flow issues and the wiring box has a few different mounting options.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JXS3BXI

Sponsored