Warn Zeon vs Warn Evo

[John Benoit]

Only the Zeon Platinum is made in the USA. I've got a 12K Platinum winch and it's a fantastic winch with one fatal, well known flaw: No wired remote and an unreliable remote.

If you check your remote, it was made in china. Maybe that is why your remote is unreliable. That is why I won’t buy the remote conversion.

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[J0E]

I am all for the knock offs. My very reputable Offroad fabrication shop says they have more warn failures than Smittybilt or Apex. I also don't think Matt's Offroad recovery would use the Apex if it wasn't reliable. I have one on my TRX and my buddy has a Warn Zeon Platinum 12k on his TRX. My wireless range is far superior to his and his losses the signal randomly and I never have.

For my Wife's Jeep, I went with an Openroad 13k. It has a good reputation, fits nicely and is used by a lot of the Ozark Adventures owners and followers. I think, for it's intended use, it is perfect.

I was told that almost all winch manufacturers except the Warn Platinum, use the same 2 Chinese factories and just rebrand them.I don't know if this is true but if you take off the fancy covers, they all look like a Smittybilt.

Most winch failures are from overloading the winch, which is why I only buy 12K winches and use a snatch ring. I've seen a few winch failures in our group but it was mostly abuse or last month, not pre-tensioning the line.

I also don't think Matt's Offroad recovery would use the Apex if it wasn't reliable.

He rarely uses it, even when it's the right tool for the job. There's no drama in a slow winching but high drama in a kinetic pull. He uses it because he's sponsored. It's not as reliable as a Zeon Platinum sans the remote. With the millions he rakes in, if he wasn't sponsored I'm sure he'd have a Platinum.

He uses a 7/8" yankum rope (a matt's yankum), because of heavy sponsorship. Ppl don't want to pay for a 1.25" rope, so he uses what he can sell. Anyone doing as many kinetic recoveries as Matt should be using a 1.25" rope. BTW, I have a 1.25" Bubba and a 1.25" VEVOR 30' rope that's only $129. It's half the price of the 7/8" yankum and twice as strong.

Winches were invented 50 years ago and haven't changed much. I have the 12K platinum in my Juggy and 12K superwinches in my JLR and TJR.

If you do a lot of recoveries like me, you'll end up pulling someone up a steep hill where they'll gain traction, leap forward, then quickly fall back -> introducing a high shock load. Another reason to use a snatch ring and have the stronger 12K winch. BTW, the 8, 10, and 12K winches all have the same guts and motor, they only differ in gearing.

If you check your remote, it was made in china. Maybe that is why your remote is unreliable. That is why I won’t buy the remote conversion.

What's the remove conversion? The Platinum is by far the best winch outside the exotics. But the remote is a PITA. I got a backup remote for my Platinum. The Platinum is the only winch made in America.

 

[dragoneggs]

I'd rather support more Joe Blows than Zhang Bo's.

 

[DonH63]

I owned Warn winches for years (39, to be exact, so far and that is ones I have bought; used them for a number of years before that around the farm and friends'/parents' rigs, though PTO winches were also common back then). I have had friends with various others, names like Ramsey and others I don't see much any more. I rarely saw any winch fail except due to operator error or poor (or no) maintenance (guilty). For my latest Jeep, I looked at what friends had, including Badlands, Smittybuilt, Warn, and a couple of others I've forgotten. Most friends went with cheaper winches and were happy, but everyone suggested Warn if money was no object. I think any would have done the job given my use has been fairly rare over the years, but I decided to stick with Warn for their history (with me anyway) and warranty. It helped that my local shop is a Warn dealer and service center, and though they sell several brands, Warn is what they pushed, and what they have on their own rigs.

A couple things I found were that adding an extended warranty to the others (without lifetime warranties) brought them close to the Evo's price, and the warranties were usually a few years and not lifetime. Another thing I heard was that parts were sometimes impossible to get to repair some winches, though I do not know if that was due to recent parts shortages or a long-time problem. Then I debated Evo vs. Xeon. I'd always had the "top" model but decided the Evo was a better fit for the money and use it was likely to see. I liked the Xeon, but in addition to the hefty price difference, it weighs a lot more. It is clearly a better winch, but I just could not justify the price and weight given my expected (limited) use. My hard-core days are probably behind me, and I plan to travel in a group, where before a lot of our wheeling was solo so a winch (and Pull Pal) were a requirement.

I also debated synthetic vs. steel cable and ended up with synthetic. Opinions are strong on either side, but ease of handling, lighter weight, potentially safer when (not if) it breaks, and reasonable lifetime led me to synthetic. I bought a couple of the Warn cable protectors to carry, and the Warn damper bag as it was a little heavier than the knock-offs (which probably would've suited me fine).

For my JLUR 392 I ended up with an Evo 12s. It weighs about the same as the 10s, and maybe half or 2/3 the weight of the Xeon. That Jeep is heavy, especially with gear and people, so I figured for the same weight the extra pulling power was worthwhile even if I had to wait a little longer.

FWIWFM - Don

 

[outlaw.taco]

https://www.roundforge.com/winch-database/manufacturer/warn-winches/

Best comparison I have seen so far using actual specs.

Zeon is definitely better but laws of diminishing returns applies when you consider the price difference.

If it’s twice the price, is it twice as good?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Most winch failures are from overloading the winch, which is why I only buy 12K winches and use a snatch ring. I've seen a few winch failures in our group but it was mostly abuse or last month, not pre-tensioning the line.

I also don't think Matt's Offroad recovery would use the Apex if it wasn't reliable.

He rarely uses it, even when it's the right tool for the job. There's no drama in a slow winching but high drama in a kinetic pull. He uses it because he's sponsored. It's not as reliable as a Zeon Platinum sans the remote. With the millions he rakes in, if he wasn't sponsored I'm sure he'd have a Platinum.

He uses a 7/8" yankum rope (a matt's yankum), because of heavy sponsorship. Ppl don't want to pay for a 1.25" rope, so he uses what he can sell. Anyone doing as many kinetic recoveries as Matt should be using a 1.25" rope. BTW, I have a 1.25" Bubba and a 1.25" VEVOR 30' rope that's only $129. It's half the price of the 7/8" yankum and twice as strong.

Winches were invented 50 years ago and haven't changed much. I have the 12K platinum in my Juggy and 12K superwinches in my JLR and TJR.

If you do a lot of recoveries like me, you'll end up pulling someone up a steep hill where they'll gain traction, leap forward, then quickly fall back -> introducing a high shock load. Another reason to use a snatch ring and have the stronger 12K winch. BTW, the 8, 10, and 12K winches all have the same guts and motor, they only differ in gearing.



What's the remove conversion? The Platinum is by far the best winch outside the exotics. But the remote is a PITA. I got a backup remote for my Platinum. The Platinum is the only winch made in America.

Everything you said is on-spot.

So far, after only 50 something off-roading days in our first year, the only time we have used the winches, on either of our vehicles, is to test them, clean them and re-spool them. Living in Texas and having a cabin in the Ouachitas leaves us on fairly mild trails 80% of the time.

 

[Terrymo]

Only the Zeon Platinum is made in the USA. I've got a 12K Platinum winch and it's a fantastic winch with one fatal, well known flaw: No wired remote and an unreliable remote.

Good Morning,

Both the Zeon & Zeon Platinum are made/assembled in the USA.

Thank you,

Ruben Lopez | Technical Service Representative
Warn Industries, Inc. | 12900 SE Capps Road | Clackamas, OR 97015
(503)722-3076

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Good Morning,

Both the Zeon & Zeon Platinum are made/assembled in the USA.

Thank you,

Ruben Lopez | Technical Service Representative
Warn Industries, Inc. | 12900 SE Capps Road | Clackamas, OR 97015
(503)722-3076

Shouldn't your post have a steep discount code listed in it?????

 

[Terrymo]

Shouldn't your post have a steep discount code listed in it?????

I wish

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