WARN fairlead worn after just one winter

[Whaler27]

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

The Chinese-made winches will be the death of Warn, just as the “Sears-branded” tools accelerated the demise of the Craftsman tool reputation.

It’s a shame. Warn built a reputation for high quality over several generations, and then new whiz-kids running the company decided they could capitalize on that reputation by painting the company name on low quality, low cost, Chinese crap which sells like hot cakes. That works great until the company reputation is completely trashed. Then nothing sells.

If I was going to purchase a Chinese winch I’d go with a cheaper option from Harbor Freight or Quadratech. Most of them perform fine for a while.

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[GATORB8]

I went with SuperWinch. Yes, it too is made in China but from what I can tell it is very solid. It will be here tomorrow actually. At almost $800 it wasn't cheap and I just simply can't justify spending double that for the Warn Zeon.

Which model Superwinch did you get? Are you satisfied?

I've had the Superwinch SX10SR for about a year and a half now, picked it up pretty early after it was released.

Haven't pulled it apart, but I've been impressed by the quality of the case/exterior. Probably a half dozen pulls without issue.

Originally was going to go VR Evo (just so hard to justify Zeon), but after seeing it in person at a 4WP, I canceled my order, just didn't look as nice as even the Smitty's.

Superwinch went out of business a while back, but was bought by Westin. With Westin's ownership, I felt confident there was good backing for the warranty.

Still looks good, although I'm not in a bad (salty) winter climate.

 

[somedude922]

I wonder if that is even a real warn product? Maybe a knockoff? I have never seen that before in a fairlead.

 

[GATORB8]

Are you running rope or cable on your Warn. I you are still running cable I strongly urge you to go with Rope.

I use Masterpull rope. My rope is 20 years old and I think it about 80 ft maybe, was 120ft starting out. Masterpull will inspect and make repairs on your rope at no charge

I bought my rope from the owner of the company who drove to Moab to try and sell some out of the back of his station wagon. I think he may be from Germany or the Netherlands. He is the KING of Rope he also sells rigging to the oil companies in Europe and the US. He sells tie-downs for Offshore oil rigs.

My rope has a FULL Sheath to protect the rope. I have done a LOT of winching over the years. Saved lives and Jeeps from going down a river and my Warn was underwater doing full pulls.

https://www.masterpull.com/off-road/

OP is running synthetic, but just a reminder if you swap. Aluminum Hawse fairleads work for synthetic, but aren't recommended for steel because the aluminum is softer than the cable. Warn does sell a cast iron Hawse that would work with cable. Also remember you'll want to swap your fairlead when you change cable to rope because any galling the cable has caused on the fairlead (including a roller) could cut the rope.

 

[Il Commandante]

Are you running rope or cable on your Warn. I you are still running cable I strongly urge you to go with Rope.

I use Masterpull rope. My rope is 20 years old and I think it about 80 ft maybe, was 120ft starting out. Masterpull will inspect and make repairs on your rope at no charge

I bought my rope from the owner of the company who drove to Moab to try and sell some out of the back of his station wagon. I think he may be from Germany or the Netherlands. He is the KING of Rope he also sells rigging to the oil companies in Europe and the US. He sells tie-downs for Offshore oil rigs.

My rope has a FULL Sheath to protect the rope. I have done a LOT of winching over the years. Saved lives and Jeeps from going down a river and my Warn was underwater doing full pulls.

https://www.masterpull.com/off-road/

I’m running synthetic rope. The Masterpull site looks good, but they are based in Washington, not in Germany.

 

[Il Commandante]

I wonder if that is even a real warn product? Maybe a knockoff? I have never seen that before in a fairlead.

It came with the winch, which was purchased via the official German Distributor!

 

[mgroeger]

Which model Superwinch did you get? Are you satisfied?

It will be here today and won't go on the Jeep until the Motobilt bumpers get here and powder coated. I get the one below but have no real life experience with it yet. A friend has it and has not complained about it.

https://www.superwinch.com/en/produ...0sr-12v-10000-lb-synthetic-rope-winch-1710201

 

[Old Jeeper]

I’m running synthetic rope. The Masterpull site looks good, but they are based in Washington, not in Germany.

I know they service Offshore rigs in the N Sea and in Europe. In fact that is where he got his start.

 

[Old Jeeper]

OP is running synthetic, but just a reminder if you swap. Aluminum Hawse fairleads work for synthetic, but aren't recommended for steel because the aluminum is softer than the cable. Warn does sell a cast iron Hawse that would work with cable. Also remember you'll want to swap your fairlead when you change cable to rope because any galling the cable has caused on the fairlead (including a roller) could cut the rope.

Rope works on the Roller fairleads which are steel.

 

[J0E]

Which model Superwinch did you get? Are you satisfied?

I got two of the Superwinch 1712201 SX12SR 12V DC Winch 12,000 lb

Get a 12K as they have the same motor as the weak units and will draw less amps at the same pull and therefore have a longer duty cycle. I got two of them shipped to Hawaii free for $740 each. I've done multiple pulls with each of them (JLR and TJR), but I always use a snatch ring to double power (and almost half the current draw) and occasionally a SB rigging to 4x the pulling power. Winches commonly fail because of exceeding duty cycle or pull rating.

Use a snatch ring and you can get an anchor for free on difficult pulls.

 

[GATORB8]

Rope works on the Roller fairleads which are steel.

Agree, just to clarify, I didn't mean you have to switch roller to hawse with the cable change, it's just recommended to not reuse a roller that has been used with steel because galling/scratches on the rollers can damage the synthetic fibers.

 

[Old Jeeper]

Agree, just to clarify, I didn't mean you have to switch roller to hawse with the cable change, it's just recommended to not reuse a roller that has been used with steel because galling/scratches on the rollers can damage the synthetic fibers.

I use the Alum fairleads as shown. This is my rope that is 20+ years old. What you see is the Sheath, silver color. Inside of that is the actual rope, 26,000 lbs rated. Yes, you pay to get the outer sheath on there, but if you do as much winching as I do it's

a bargain and every year I send my rope to Masterpull for a refresh and a clean-up, cut off the working end and reaffix the thimble. NO CHARGE. That is standing behind you product.

 

[SuMeRiaN]

Old thread! A few non believers here, my genuine Warn fairlead, looks WAY worse after one year. I've been thinking about getting it powder coated but I think I’ll change brands. I live around 12k and see mad snow and intense rays.

 

[dragoneggs]

I realize this is an aging thread. @Il Commandante my corrosion isn’t as bad as yours but here is mine after two years in the moist NW USA. I think I will contact Warn. I’m running a Zeon 8S (Synthetic line). Extremely happy with the winch itself. I have used it multiple times (practice and for real) and no issues. This is the only blemish.

 

[Il Commandante]

Old thread! A few non believers here, my genuine Warn fairlead, looks WAY worse after one year. I've been thinking about getting it powder coated but I think I’ll change brands. I live around 12k and see mad snow and intense rays.

The Factor 55 fairlead is good quality.
Working with much bigger lines - and occasionally breaking them - in my job I decided to ban all metal parts from my winch line setup. So I spliced a loop in the end of the line and switched to the Yankum Ropes fairlead. A good solution for me.

This is the reason why:

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