Ramsey Winch

[Plongson]

I have an 8000 lb Ramsey winch series DC-200 that came off my 1978 Toyota FJ-40 Landcruiser. It is essentially brand new as I bought it new, used it a few times, pulled it off when I sold the FJ-40 in 1988 and it's been in storage all this time waiting for it's next assignment. It is an absolute BEAST.

They still use these winches on tow trucks, mine is 12v but they also came in PTO version. This thing is so massive it weighs at least 100 lbs and is underrated for pull capacity. It's really an industrial winch...

The problem is, it's so frigg'n large it won't begin to fit on the front of the Jeep...and it's heavy...so I put it back in storage...it's a real shame.

So, after a pretty challenging trail running solo last week, it got me thinking again about Installing the Ramsey. It looks like the bumper would have to extended out several inches to get the room to install.

Has anyone installed something like this and what have you done to move the bumper out?? I'm thinking it would be all custom fabrication work which is no problem (we have a shop).

I'm also considering just "bite the bullet" and get a newer "modern" winch that will fit. Are the Harbor Freight Badlands winches worth a shit? What is another and better option??

Ramsey DC200 Winch

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[blnewt]

Had a Ramsey on my CJ decades ago, they are beasts, probably tough to get a clean mount on the newer bumper without making it look a bit off. I bought the basic Smittybilt 9500 steel cable winch last year, haven't used it for any rescue missions yet. Have used it for some shrub pulls, a dead car up a trailer, etc about 20+ pulls. It's worked flawlessly and has a nice magnetic remote w/ long lead, weighs about 80 lbs. The price on Amazon fluctuates quite a bit, goes as high as $350, I got mine when it dropped to $260
https://www.amazon.com/Smittybilt-97495-XRC-Winch-Capacity/dp/B00JXS3BXI

 

[Sheepjeep]

if yours mounts the same way as in that link then you are going to have to go the customize or heavy modifying route with an aftermarket bumper, everything has settled on the 10" x 4.5" bolt pattern bolting to the bottom of the winch

in the last 10 years the rise of the cheap Chinese winch has meant that cheap winches have gotten better for the price but i still feel like you get what you pay for because may are built for a price point or worse quality or customer support. In the last few years there has been a lot of doodads added to winches like lights and wireless controllers, these do not make the winch better so still look at motor and gearing specs

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