Let's talk winches folks

[Wabujitsu]

On an aircraft carrier arresting cable...yes. On an off-road vehicle winch cable in the real world...no.

Did the aircraft skid off the deck??

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[Wabujitsu]

I read a couple posts on here about the Harbor Freight badlands winch malfunctioning.
@wibornz posted one, then I think I read he or someone else say they’ve also seen one fail.
I’m not trying to rag on HF, my point is that machines can fail. There definitely aren’t that many people posting stories, so I felt fine buying an inexpensive one for my use case.
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ou-do-to-your-jeep-jl-today.3033/post-1658250

I too have read similar stories, not only about Badland winches, but also about Warn and other brands. I saw a video a few days ago about a guy who installed a new Badland 12000 lb Apex, and it fell apart on his first pull. Apparently the casing flexed.

There are bound to be a few lemons coming off of the production lines periodically, of any brand. That’s just reality - much like those Jeeps we hear about that have dozens of serious problems from Day 1. Yet, the majority of Jeeps are quite reliable from the first day, and throughout the life of the vehicle.

It is virtually impossible to determine which brand/model of winch is the most reliable, due to way too many factors.

 

[Ridgway Jeeper]

I too have read similar stories, not only about Badland winches, but also about Warn and other brands. I saw a video a few days ago about a guy who installed a new Badland 12000 lb Apex, and it fell apart on his first pull. Apparently the casing flexed.

There are bound to be a few lemons coming off of the production lines periodically, of any brand. That’s just reality - much like those Jeeps we hear about that have dozens of serious problems from Day 1. Yet, the majority of Jeeps are quite reliable from the first day, and throughout the life of the vehicle.

It is virtually impossible to determine which brand/model of winch is the most reliable, due to way too many factors.

So my point was, is there any valid reason to spend a bunch of extra money on a seldom used winch? Looks like the consensus is that any of them can fail, operator/installer error is likely the main cause of most failures and big name brand purchases do not get around this.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Two more things concerning the Badland winches. First, it is “Badland,” not “Badlands.” Second, and more importantly, the Badland Apex comes with a power cutoff switch, a wireless and wired remote, and two friction sleeves to protect your synthetic rope from abrading on a rock, etc. The winch also has an on/off switch, on the winch, for the wireless Bluetooth function.

 

[thx1138]

It’s not only the winch you need to consider. Be sure you are factoring all of the recovery gear you will need to safely winch. Factor 55 (recently bought by Warn) makes some high quality kits and emphasizes closed systems. aside from the safety aspects, their flatlink is a more tidy solution and looks better too. They also have a winching guide that is very handy.

I considered the come up winch because their engineering seems the be excellent; however, their winch is taller, blocking airflow, and not as aesthetically pleasing to me. I went with the Warn Zeon 10S and have been very happy with it. Warn is somewhat local being an Oregon company so I like that too. Factor 55 is out of Boise, Idaho.

agree that most winches will do the job. If I had a cheaper rig, I would consider a different winch, but I already splurged on all the extras for my jeep. The Warn actually looks cool with the flatlink which is what it does 99% of the time. I know it will do what it is meant to do when needed for that 1%.

 

[Wabujitsu]

So my point was, is there any valid reason to spend a bunch of extra money on a seldom used winch? Looks like the consensus is that any of them can fail, operator/installer error is likely the main cause of most failures and big name brand purchases do not get around this.

Frank, I TOTALLY agree with your point. That’s why I use Badland. One important thing though (just my opinion): if you seldom have use for your winch, I would still run it once a month, even if you are just re-spooling the drum. Letting it sit for months without use is bad for longevity, in my opinion.

 

[Devil6Dog]

I wheel almost once a month with a group of 10 or more. Someone has used a winch almost every time and I have seen two lines snap, both synthetic, snapped in a straight line and was surprised how safe it seemed not that it is. One thing I have learned is if you have a 4dr get a 12K winch. Wieght is not your friend so I put a GR aluminum front bumper and plan on putting a Smittybuilt 12k winch in it. I choose Smittybuilt because I have seen in action and submerged in a river and still worked. But there are no shortages on opinions on any modification. Good luck

 

[Wabujitsu]

I wheel almost once a month with a group of 10 or more. Someone has used a winch almost every time and I have seen two lines snap, both synthetic, snapped in a straight line and was surprised how safe it seemed not that it is. One thing I have learned is if you have a 4dr get a 12K winch. Wieght is not your friend so I put a GR aluminum front bumper and plan on putting a Smittybuilt 12k winch in it. I choose Smittybuilt because I have seen in action and submerged in a river and still worked. But there are no shortages on opinions on any modification. Good luck

Todd, I would also add to your excellent advice to carry and use a snatch block for all pulls, if possible. It halves the load and stress on your winch, albeit it does slow the pull rate down a bit.

 

[Zandcwhite]

It’s not only the winch you need to consider. Be sure you are factoring all of the recovery gear you will need to safely winch. Factor 55 (recently bought by Warn) makes some high quality kits and emphasizes closed systems. aside from the safety aspects, their flatlink is a more tidy solution and looks better too. They also have a winching guide that is very handy.

I considered the come up winch because their engineering seems the be excellent; however, their winch is taller, blocking airflow, and not as aesthetically pleasing to me. I went with the Warn Zeon 10S and have been very happy with it. Warn is somewhat local being an Oregon company so I like that too. Factor 55 is out of Boise, Idaho.

agree that most winches will do the job. If I had a cheaper rig, I would consider a different winch, but I already splurged on all the extras for my jeep. The Warn actually looks cool with the flatlink which is what it does 99% of the time. I know it will do what it is meant to do when needed for that 1%.

I agree whole heartedly with using a closed system when possible for winching. My winch thimble was $30 on Amazon. With the x-bull 10k, I'm still under $400 in to my winching setup. You don't have to spend $2k in order to have a safe and reliable winch.

 

[GATORB8]

I made a whole spreadsheet when I picked mine, wish I still had it. I went as far as to compare winch motor efficiency and weight. Note, Warn seems to be hesitant to publish the full specs, but I called them and was able to get corrected weights, etc. I went to retail stores and checked out the majority of the options so I could see the quality differences.

Our Jeep is my wife's DD, appearance and brand notoriety impacted our choice.

One of my requirements was IP 68 (submersion) rating, this removes the Badland ZXR, Rough Country Pro Series, Quadratec Q. (Note the QT Stealth and Smittybilt XRC Gen 3 and are IP 67 rated, which is submersible to a less extend than the IP 68 winches)

Another was at least a reputable company with a reasonable warranty to confirm they were built with the intent to last. This is what killed the Apex for me (90 Days) and the Amazon off brands. Was concerned with the Superwinch buyout by Westin, but Westin is huge, and figured it actually was a positive and made it unlikely they'd go out of business during the warranty period.

To me, the perceived value eliminated Warn Zeon, just too expensive.

I targeted 9500-10k winches, I felt the 8k would probably be okay, but the price jump for extra capacity was reasonable across the board.

Weight is what ultimately pushed me to synthetic, was looking around 20 lb weight savings, which is a good chunk of the winch weight. Preference for wireless controls and hawse fairleads.

This all narrowed it down to sythetic 10k winches with wireless remotes: Superwinch ($630), Warn VR Evo ($800), and Smittybilt X20 ($620).

Ended up with the Superwinch due to aesthetics and quality compared to the X20, and cost savings over the Warn (I found the SW on sale).

 

[Sean L]

I made a whole spreadsheet when I picked mine, wish I still had it. I went as far as to compare winch motor efficiency and weight. Note, Warn seems to be hesitant to publish the full specs, but I called them and was able to get corrected weights, etc. I went to retail stores and checked out the majority of the options so I could see the quality differences.

Our Jeep is my wife's DD, appearance and brand notoriety impacted our choice.

One of my requirements was IP 68 (submersion) rating, this removes the Badland ZXR, Rough Country Pro Series, Quadratec Q. (Note the QT Stealth and Smittybilt XRC Gen 3 and are IP 67 rated, which is submersible to a less extend than the IP 68 winches)

Another was at least a reputable company with a reasonable warranty to confirm they were built with the intent to last. This is what killed the Apex for me (90 Days) and the Amazon off brands. Was concerned with the Superwinch buyout by Westin, but Westin is huge, and figured it actually was a positive and made it unlikely they'd go out of business during the warranty period.

To me, the perceived value eliminated Warn Zeon, just too expensive.

I targeted 9500-10k winches, I felt the 8k would probably be okay, but the price jump for extra capacity was reasonable across the board.

Weight is what ultimately pushed me to synthetic, was looking around 20 lb weight savings, which is a good chunk of the winch weight. Preference for wireless controls and hawse fairleads.

This all narrowed it down to sythetic 10k winches with wireless remotes: Superwinch ($630), Warn VR Evo ($800), and Smittybilt X20 ($620).

Ended up with the Superwinch due to aesthetics and quality compared to the X20, and cost savings over the Warn (I found the SW on sale).

I don't think an 8k winch would have been a good fit for a Rubicon 4Xe. That would be a better fit for a 2 door sport.

The one you do have should do well

 

[GATORB8]

I don't think an 8k winch would have been a good fit for a Rubicon 4Xe. That would be a better fit for a 2 door sport.

The one you do have should do well

Yeah, considering the 8k was really an attempt to justify going with Warn. It did make the 1.5x rate if you used curb weight, and I've got formal crane rigging training, so I was pretty confident in my ability to increase the 8k capacity with snatch block use.

In the end though, the 10k jump was a reasonable cost across the board, so I threw the 8k out.

 

[Aesikidesi]

Works like a charm. Harbor freight..nuff said.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Works like a charm. Harbor freight..nuff said.

Backach; got this done yesterday!

 

[Aesikidesi]

Backach; got this done yesterday!

Some more for ya to NV......lol.

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