WARN fairlead worn after just one winter

[Il Commandante]

The fairlead that came with my Warn VR EVO 12S winch is not up to the rigors of the German winter.
The coating, whatever it was, has separated from the aluminum body and chipped off. After its first winter on the road. I'm not impressed!

Has anyone made the same experience? Do I have to assume that the winch itself will be of the same questionable quality as the fairlead? Or was it just made on a Monday morning?

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[DOOKEY]

If you don't out gas aluminum before coating it will never stick.

 

[Old Jeeper]

The fairlead that came with my Warn VR EVO 12S winch is not up to the rigors of the German winter.
The coating, whatever it was, has separated from the aluminum body and chipped off. After its first winter on the road. I'm not impressed!

Has anyone made the same experience? Do I have to assume that the winch itself will be of the same questionable quality as the fairlead? Or was it just made on a Monday morning?

WHere did you buy the Warn?

I have never seen a fairlead like that, they have all been either painted or solid metal.

Been a while since I lived in Germany and wondering if the streets are treaded with something to make winter driving safe or better??

 

[Il Commandante]

WHere did you buy the Warn?

I have never seen a fairlead like that, they have all been either painted or solid metal.

Been a while since I lived in Germany and wondering if the streets are treaded with something to make winter driving safe or better??

I bought it from the official importer here in Germany. The quality of the fairlead seemed to be good. That was before the winter

Yes, they use salt on the roads, but the rest of the Jeep and all the aftermarket parts survived that without problems.

 

[Old Jeeper]

I bought it from the official importer here in Germany. The quality of the fairlead seemed to be good. That was before the winter

Yes, they use salt on the roads, but the rest of the Jeep and all the aftermarket parts survived that without problems.

Not sure if that is a Warn Fairlead. Nothing but Warns for 30 years and have beat them hard.

The looks some bad corrosion on Alum?

You may want to think about a steel roller. Somewhere I have a solid Alum one that says Rubicon on it. I took it off my other Jeep and put a Warn Red one to match my Fire Cracker Red Jeep. We recently moved and if I can find it you are welcome to it.

 

[GATORB8]

May be worth calling Warn to see if there was a known bad batch.

 

[Il Commandante]

Not sure if that is a Warn Fairlead. Nothing but Warns for 30 years and have beat them hard.

The looks some bad corrosion on Alum?

You may want to think about a steel roller. Somewhere I have a solid Alum one that says Rubicon on it. I took it off my other Jeep and put a Warn Red one to match my Fire Cracker Red Jeep. We recently moved and if I can find it you are welcome to it.

Thank you for the offer, Don!

I'm preparing for our next off-road trip, starting early in March. So I got a Factor 55 fairlead, it was the only one available in Germany on short notice. Solid aluminum with some kind of anodization. Seems to be of good quality and has much larger radiuses.

Needed some cutting on the Rubi steel bumper, since the window is bigger.

 

[Il Commandante]

May be worth calling Warn to see if there was a known bad batch.

Good point, I might do that!

 

[arcticaaron]

Painting those just seems like a dumb idea unless they are never used. I guess there is a market for the painted ones so Warn makes them. A dirty rope will cut through the coating pretty quickly and then it looks like garbage especially if painted a dark color. The silver/grey coated ones at least blend in with aluminum once the paint wears off.

But at least in your case it looks like the coating just pealed off? Hope they warranty it for you.

 

[Il Commandante]

Painting those just seems like a dumb idea unless they are never used. I guess there is a market for the painted ones so Warn makes them. A dirty rope will cut through the coating pretty quickly and then it looks like garbage especially if painted a dark color. The silver/grey coated ones at least blend in with aluminum once the paint wears off.

But at least in your case it looks like the coating just pealed off? Hope they warranty it for you.

Yes, the coating peels off in hard chips, and the aluminum itself is heavily corroded. Hope the winch is made more solid!

 

[mgroeger]

This is what Warn gets for building all of their lower end winches in China. The EVO is Chinese made.

 

[Il Commandante]

This is what Warn gets for building all of their lower end winches in China. The EVO is Chinese made.

That explains it, thank you for the information!
Being German, I did not buy an American winch for patriotic reasons. But if they are made in China, I can also buy something cheaper.

 

[GATORB8]

That explains it, thank you for the information!
Being German, I did not buy an American winch for patriotic reasons. But if they are made in China, I can also buy something cheaper.

Warn does have some higher end Hawses available separately. And you can go with another brand as well, Warn actually recently bought Factor 55 if you wanna spend some real money.

 

[mgroeger]

Being German, I did not buy an American winch for patriotic reasons.

But you bought a Jeep made in Ohio...

 

[Il Commandante]

Warn does have some higher end Hawses available separately. And you can go with another brand as well, Warn actually recently bought Factor 55 if you wanna spend some real money.

I just did!

I'm preparing for our next off-road trip, starting early in March. So I got a Factor 55 fairlead, it was the only one available in Germany on short notice. Solid aluminum with some kind of anodization. Seems to be of good quality and has much larger radiuses.

Needed some cutting on the Rubi steel bumper, since the window is bigger.

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