Engo EPF10000S Review

[4ever4running]

Engo EPF10000S Winch Review

I wasn't able to find a lot of information/reviews on Engo winches so I though I would provide a review and document my experience with Engo.

December 9th
While doing some research on winches I came across Engo. They are a relatively new company but the reviews that I have seen have been really positive and the price was awesome so I thought I would give them a try. When picking a winch, there were two 10000lb models to choose from, the EPF10000S and the E10000S. They are the exact same winch with the same components, the only difference is that the EPF model has a simulated carbon fiber finish. The price difference between the two on Engo's website is $20, but on Mudflaps.com (authorized retailer) the price difference is only $5. Needless to say I was willing to pay the extra $5.

Right before I placed my order, I noticed that on Engo's website the EPF model was listed as "Item is not available at this time. Can be preordered." This could have been an issue because I really wanted to make sure that I would have my winch when my Shrockworks come in, so I sent Engo and email asking when they were expecting to have them in stock.

December 10th
I got a response from their general manager, Joel. He informed me that the EPF line is a new offering and they had a shipment on the way from China that should arrive in late December. I was just fine with that timeframe since my Shrockworks isn't supposed to arrive until late January - early February so I went ahead and placed my order. I ordered my Engo from Mudflaps.com and paid a total of $465 with free shipping.

January 1st
Joel sent me an email letting me know that he processed my order and my winch would be shipped out the following day, and included my UPS tracking number.

I must add that I have been very happy and impressed with Engo's customer service! Before I placed my order, I sent a couple email back and forth with Joel and he answered all of my questions and was always quick to get back to me.

January 9th
I got home from work and had my winch waiting for me :thumb3:.

My initial reaction is that this thing is beefy! and it looks great! I am really impressed at how well the winch was packaged. Everything was in great shape and completely undamaged.

Control Box

 

[4ever4running]

I had a little free time after work yesterday so I went ahead and clocked the winch so the clutch lever can be easily accessed through the cutouts in the Shrockworks. To clock the winch I started by removing the allen screws that secure the crossbars.

Once the crossbars are removed, the gearbox comes right off.

Then the 10 allen screws on the inside of the gearbox need to be removed.

At this point, the "feet support piece" can be removed from the gearbox.

Now there are two options for properly clocking the winch:
Option 1: You can remove the "feet support piece" from the gearbox, rotate it to the desired position, then simply place it back onto the gearbox. OR
Option 2: Rather than removing the "feet support piece" you can simply rotate it while keeping the actual gearbox stationary. This is the easiest way IMO.

Either way, once the "feet support piece" aligned with the gearbox (making sure that the gasket is also properly aligned) the 10 allen screws can be put back in place

And the crossbars can be reattached with the two large allen screws. Done! Here is the final product:

 

[KidVermicious]

$465 with shipping and synthetic line isn't a bad deal at all, I'll be interested to hear back from you in a year and see how it holds up.

 

[4ever4running]

$465 with shipping and synthetic line isn't a bad deal at all, I'll be interested to hear back from you in a year and see how it holds up.

The price was definitely one of the main reasons I went with the Engo. I will definitely keep everyone updated on how everything works out.

January 13th Update
I started looking for a place to mount the control box for the Engo. There are a couple different possibilities for mounting locations but I wanted to mount it in the engine bay where it will be safe from water, debris, and damage. I think I found the perfect spot.

As an added bonus, I was able to reuse the factory mounting brackets and yes I am still able to close the hood without hitting the control box.

There are a few downsides about mounting the control box in this location but I think I can work around them.
1) Since the control box is designed to be mounted on top of the winch, the connection wires are waaay too short to reach the winch. This is a pretty easy fix since I can either extend the existing wires or just rewire the control box.
2) With the control box mounted in this location, I won't really have access to the winch remote plug and even if I do, I will have to open the hood and/or run the cord across the hood when winching. To fix this I am considering 2 options. The first option is to order a universal wireless winch remote and just control the winch wirelessly. The second option involves extending the winch remote plug to mount on the Shrockworks. I contacted Joel at Engo and asked him if they make a winch remote extension cord and currently they don't but he did say they are in the process of producing them and they should be available soon. I think for now I am going to go with the first option and just control the winch wirelessly. I figure that I can always add the extension cable later if I want to.

 

[Outdoorlogic]

We were turned onto Engo a year ago by a t4r member. We have had nothing but positive reviews from customers. And you can beat the price! We even designed our bumpers around them.

 

[4ever4running]

We were turned onto Engo a year ago by a t4r member. We have had nothing but positive reviews from customers. And you can beat the price! We even designed our bumpers around them.

I couldn't agree more, the price was one of the reasons I decided to go with the Engo.

I would have rather ordered through you and given you the business, but you didn't have the EPF model available so I ended up having to go through Mudflaps.com.

 

[Outdoorlogic]

I couldn't agree more, the price was one of the reasons I decided to go with the Engo.

I would have rather ordered through you and given you the business, but you didn't have the EPF model available so I ended up having to go through Mudflaps.com.

Yeah we don't keep too many winches on shelves for walk ins but we do drop ship them for internet sales which is just as quick or quicker than having them on my shelf. But with their popularity we've started to see more backorders lately.

 

[4ever4running]

Another small update: In order to solve the lack of access to the winch remote plug problem, I ordered and installed a Tuff Stuff universal wireless winch controller (WINCH WIRELESS REMOTE KIT : Amazon.com : Automotive). The wireless control box fits perfectly in the winch control box and wiring it up was super easy.

Everything included in the package:

Installed:

I also ordered a winch quick connector (WINCH QUICK CONNECTOR : Amazon.com : Automotive). so I can disconnect the winch from the battery when its not in use

 

[Johnny4runner]

I have an Engo 10000S in my Shrockworks bumper on my 4th Gen and agree with your review. For the price you can't beat them. The only place I felt it fell a little short was the controller. I have a Warn winch also and the electronics in the controller is much better put together--redundant solenoids (4 instead of 2) and structurally much more solid.

That said, for what I use the winch on my 4th Gen for, the Engo is perfect, and the price is right.

BTW I did not know the Engo's could be clocked. You think there is room to pull the winch out w/o removing my Shrockworks bumper to clock it? It would be great to access the clutch via a cut out from the front, rather than reaching under the grill.

 

[4ever4running]

I have an Engo 10000S in my Shrockworks bumper on my 4th Gen and agree with your review. For the price you can't beat them. The only place I felt it fell a little short was the controller. I have a Warn winch also and the electronics in the controller is much better put together--redundant solenoids (4 instead of 2) and structurally much more solid.

That said, for what I use the winch on my 4th Gen for, the Engo is perfect, and the price is right.

BTW I did not know the Engo's could be clocked. You think there is room to pull the winch out w/o removing my Shrockworks bumper to clock it? It would be great to access the clutch via a cut out from the front, rather than reaching under the grill.

To be honest, I'm not sure how much room there is behind the 4th gen Shrockworks so I'm not sure if you will have enough room to pull the winch out and clock it...

I talked with Mark at SW and he said there isn't enough room behind the 3rd gen bumper to install a winch without removing the bumper so I ordered the Engo ahead of time so I can install everything together.

 

[smkd13]

this review actually sold me on getting an Engo... will be getting the E9000S though. thank you for the solid review.

 

[4ever4running]

this review actually sold me on getting an Engo... will be getting the E9000S though. thank you for the solid review.

I'm glad I could help! I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

[4ever4running]

I got the winch control box mounted, ran the wires, and installed the winch quick disconnect plug, so now I'm just waiting on the Shrockworks...

 

[Toyotacolin]

Thanks for the write up, it was this or a XRC8.. I'm glad I saw this write up and the winch show down test. I just ordered mine up. $425

Mark from Metal tech is a friend and I called him up. Check this out Free shipping.

ENGO USA E10000lbs Winch with Synthetic Winch Line

Thx again!

 

[4ever4running]

Thanks for the write up, it was this or a XRC8.. I'm glad I saw this write up and the winch show down test. I just ordered mine up. $425

Mark from Metal tech is a friend and I called him up. Check this out Free shipping.

ENGO USA E10000lbs Winch with Synthetic Winch Line

Thx again!

No problem, I'm glad it helped. $425 shipped is a killer price, nice find!

 

[NateMob]

Isnt it about time to get this beast mounted up!?

 

[4ever4running]

Isnt it about time to get this beast mounted up!?

It absolutely is, if I only had something to mount it to...

 

[4ever4running]

Well I finally got my Shrockworks so I was able to get the winch installed.




I'm really happy with how everything came out! The Engo fits in the Shrockworks perfectly and since I already clocked it, I have easy access to the clutch (the sliver nob in the middle of the driver side cutout). I haven't gotten a chance to test it under a heavy load yet, but My friend and I unspooled it and respooled it just using body resistance from my body weight.

Here are some initial observations/notes:
1) The winch mounts to the Shrockworks perfectly and all the bolt holes line up without any issues. We made the mistake of waiting to mount the Hella lights on top of the bumper until after we installed the winch and the bumper. The winch fits nicely into the bumper, but the gearbox on the driver side doesn't leave a lot of clearance, so you can't just reach your hand in to hold the nuts for the lights on the top of the bumper. We ended up having to use some hot glue to hold the washer and nut together, then used a wrench to feed it through and tighten it down. The motor on the passenger side is much smaller in diameter so you can just reach your hand through. My advice would be to install the lights BEFORE installing the winch and the bumper.
2) I am still able to access and use the plug on the winch control box! After getting the winch installed and hooked up, I tried using the wireless controller to operate the winch...nothing (When I received the wireless remote the power switch was in the "on" position, so I'm pretty sure the battery is just dead). So, I pulled out the Engo winch controller and was able to plug it in and operate the winch. It is a bit of a tight fit, but it still works!
3) Unspooling the winch is very easy and smooth. It isn't so difficult that you have to yank on the line or exert a lot of force to get it to unspool, but it also doesn't unspool itself when you stop pulling on the line. It requires just enough tension unspool the amount of line you need, no more and no less.
4) I noticed that it's a little noisy. I'm not sure how it compares to other winches on the market, but it really isn't a big deal at all as long as it does it's job.

I'm looking for a place where I can respool the winch under the weight of the truck and hopefully I'll get a few videos so you guys can see it in action.

 

[4ever4running]

This past weekend I was able to get out and do some wheeling in the GWNF where I was able to put the winch to good use for the first time.

We came across a technical section that was an uphill climb over some pretty big boulders. Although there was an easier route that I could have easily made it up, I was determined to take the hard line and make it through. I made it a little ways up, but even with 4WD and the rear locker, the slick rocks and mud wouldn't let me get the traction I needed to make up over a boulder and to the top. So, rather than back out and try the easier line, I decided to test out the winch in a real-world situation.

I ran the winch line to a good solid tree at the top of the hill about 40-50 feet away and used a tree saver strap and 3/4" shackle to create a solid mounting point. Then, I used the wireless remote that I installed to winch myself up while my spotter made sure that I was in a good spot. After a few minutes, the winch pulled me up and over the boulder where I was able to get enough traction to drive the rest of the way to the top.

Overall, the winch worked flawlessly and I am very happy and impressed with how well it performed! I should also note that I got stuck later in the day so the winch had seen it's fair share of water and mud, but it still worked perfectly.

I was a little busy at the time so I don't have any pics, but I know some of the other guys in the group were taking pics so hopefully I can get some from them and post em up.

 

[Tresvn]

Here you go, a little video of the winch in action.

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