Documented failure in both pull tests of an American made warn, more comparable to the zeon than the Evo, why would that be relevant to a comment on warns reliability?
Because good companies improve. Believing that an issue that happened 12 years ago to one winch means that all winches made today are going to have the same issue is something a fanboy does.
I think most would say warns quality has gone the other direction. They were all manufactured in the US back then for 1.
That's really irrelevant for this example. Their quality could go WAY "backwards" and that 12 year old model still wouldn't matter.
I literally said they should have been ranked 4th or 5th, as in above all the other ones that broke. The badland in that test never worked and is hardly representative of their current quality in my opinion but I'd still rank warn above them. There's a project farm youtube test of winches including the current warn being discussed. Guess who doesn't win there either? It doesn't break but pulls well under its rating.. The illusion of being better based on price and reputation just doesn't play out in my experience.
On price, I agree...you don't always "get what you pay for". But on reputation, I disagree...Warn is highly regarded for very good reason. One or two winch tests don't change that. You keep harping on single areas where Warn's products lose...but that's not what it's about. It's a whole package that Warn just does better. There's no debate there - where the debate lies is whether Warn should be able to command the prices they do, and there I agree with you - they are overpriced. BUT, when you can get them on sale...to me it's a no-brainer. I WOULD pay more for a Warn winch...just not a lot more.
I will be the 1st to admit I'm hard on warn, as in my experience they kinda get by on reputation. Being the top dog puts extra scrutiny on you, it's human nature. My 13k lb rated xbull winch was $400 with synthetic line on Amazon and had been great. If the warn Evo 12s was $500 or even $600 I'd probably be running it instead. They are $1k. I could replace the entire winch once and the line 2 more times for the same money. Being that I just bought a JT, an even better example is running winches that in my experience are reliable and solid on both rigs is a far better use of the money to me. I'm not arguing warn is crap, but the idea that they are 100% reliable is false. The idea that is the only winch to buy if you plan on using it is false.
Warn's reputation is built on their old winches and the Zeon. On those there is no debate, Warn is the benchmark. But those are in a different price class and I largely agree on the manufactured-in-China winches. Warn was forced to produce a cheaper winch to compete with all the cheap winches out there that were annihilating marketshare. They could build a better cheap winch in China than in the US, so that's where they went.
X-BULL Winch-13500 lb. Load Capacity Electric Winch -12V DC Power for Towing Truck Off Road, 2 in 1 Wireless Remote,13500 XRS Series https://a.co/d/apALuHh
I've got their FlatLink E and it works well. $280 seems like quite a bit of money exposed so readily on a rig.
…not to me. I’d happily pay $250 to eliminate all spam.
You can get the 12 for $600. Personally, i'd still spring for that difference. But that's just me. You and others will/may certainly differ.
Having gone through the evo recall crap, i will give a shout out, customer support, top notch, and I was sent every part within days, and was called at home twice. But my next winch, will be the zeon level.
