Hidden Winch or Skids First

[JMG73072]

Opinions and experience welcome here. Would you prefer to have full skids first or a winch? I do very mild off-roading, hunting, and what not dirt roads and such. Been looking at RCI and Bud on the Skids or BB Hidden Plate and a Warn 9.5xp-s or m8000s. Eventually I will have both but what is the better one to get first? Thanks ahead of time.

 

[mfregeau20]

I have neither yet on my rig but if it were me I would go for the winch. Recovery first. Skids do you know good if you get stuck

 

[Ol'Baditude]

Opinions and experience welcome here. Would you prefer to have full skids first or a winch? I do very mild off-roading, hunting, and what not dirt roads and such. Been looking at RCI and Bud on the Skids or BB Hidden Plate and a Warn 9.5xp-s or m8000s. Eventually I will have both but what is the better one to get first? Thanks ahead of time.

I'm in the exact same boat right now. I decided (since both options are going to cost ~the same amount) to go with a full set of BB skid plates. Might help to think of this this way: Both are forms of insurance for situations that may arise. One situation is getting stuck, the other is bashing your undercarriage and expensive driveline components. Although the frequency of either event happening are both relatively low given our off-roading styles, one definitely has a much higher severity factor than the other.

EDIT: [MENTION=96750]mfregeau20[/MENTION] also has a good point above. I guess it all depends if you are going to be driving over more rocks and logs, or mud and snow. I'd still rather have the skids first personally. Another factor would be whether or not you regularly off-road alone or in groups(particularly when someone else in the group has a winch and or recovery gear)

 

[Jeremy556]

Depends on your environment and needs.

Rock crawling, desert, no trees around? Skids.
Forest, dirt, mud? Winch.

Keep in mind you will want to address the front suspension, if you haven't already, with the weight of a winch. Definately go with synthetic line.

 

[WODWorldWide]

Depends on your environment and needs.

Rock crawling, desert, no trees around? Skids.
Forest, dirt, mud? Winch.

Keep in mind you will want to address the front suspension, if you haven't already, with the weight of a winch. Definately go with synthetic line.

exactly. I went with skids mainly because Colorado is so rocky. I would rather have the underbody protection and so far, there is no hidden winch option for the 14

 

[JMG73072]

Depends on your environment and needs.

Rock crawling, desert, no trees around? Skids.
Forest, dirt, mud? Winch.

Keep in mind you will want to address the front suspension, if you haven't already, with the weight of a winch. Definately go with synthetic line.

Radflo 2.5 resi's w/compression adjusters on the way already to tackle the weight.

 

[eddiebx]

I have neither yet on my rig but if it were me I would go for the winch. Recovery first. Skids do you know good if you get stuck

On the other hand, a winch does you no good if you've tore through your gas tank, or busted the t-case on an obstacle, lol.

Probably best to get what suits your style of off-roading adventures best. If you can't decide, get both right MEOW. After all it is better to have an not need ,then to need and not have right? :becky:

 

[Canazes9]

Assuming you are wheeling in an area where a winch will do you some good, what's your response to a tough obstacle?

Will you try to finesse your way through? Or is more skinny pedal your answer?

The answers to the above questions should point you in an obvious direction....

David

 

[eddiebx]

Assuming you are wheeling in an area where a winch will do you some good, what's your response to a tough obstacle?

Will you try to finesse your way through? Or is more skinny pedal your answer?

The answers to the above questions should point you in an obvious direction....

David

Dammit David, why did you not ask me to ask myself this before I picked up a full set of skids. :jk:

Personally speaking, I decided against a winch simply because I don't feel ready enough to perform any kind of vehicle recoveries on my own yet. I've read a ton about it and quite frankly it's just too daunting for me to attempt with my experience level, which is ZERO. I rather be stuck, than hurt myself or others due to my incompetence/negligence.

This is my first 4x4 vehicle of any kind and I am just starting to get my feet wet in this whole off-roading business. Maybe after I get out there more with some wheelin' veterans, I would consider a winch down the road.

 

[danoT4R]

I think I'm going to do skid plates, a come along, and some traction boards. I know the later part isn't as good as a winch, but it'll get me by until I save up the extra money for the hidden winch mount and the winch.

 

[Jeremy556]

Dammit David, why did you not ask me to ask myself this before I picked up a full set of skids. :jk:

Personally speaking, I decided against a winch simply because I don't feel ready enough to perform any kind of vehicle recoveries on my own yet. I've read a ton about it and quite frankly it's just too daunting for me to attempt with my experience level, which is ZERO. I rather be stuck, than hurt myself or others due to my incompetence/negligence.

This is my first 4x4 vehicle of any kind and I am just starting to get my feet wet in this whole off-roading business. Maybe after I get out there more with some wheelin' veterans, I would consider a winch down the road.

Better to have and not need.

If you manage to get yourself stuck somewhere remote, a single tow could cost far more than a high end winch, mount, and accessories. You might also try a little too hard to get over/through something, causing damage, that could have been avoided with a winch.

Do some reading on the subject, have the correct equipment, use common sense, take your time, and think through scenarios and you'll be fine. A really nice thing about a winch is the very low speed lets you make observations during the recovery.

 

[Ol'Baditude]

I think I'm going to do skid plates, a come along, and some traction boards. I know the later part isn't as good as a winch, but it'll get me by until I save up the extra money for the hidden winch mount and the winch.

Traction boards are always a great idea if you have room for them, however, a better and safer idea than a come-along would be to grab a Hi-Lift with a winch kit. Should be ~$200 for both depending on whether or not you need them shipped. I got a chance to try mine out this summer and it's actually pretty easy after you've done it once or twice. Just a suggestion based on what I've seen happen with come-alongs.

Do some reading on the subject, have the correct equipment, use common sense, take your time, and think through scenarios and you'll be fine. A really nice thing about a winch is the very low speed lets you make observations during the recovery.

Good advice! There's a time for getting yanked out with a recovery strap and a time for static recoveries with a winch. [MENTION=66300]Intruder[/MENTION] and I witnessed a prime example of that this last weekend.

 

[Intruder]

I went armour first, winch later but I also never wheel alone. Never confuse having a winch with being able to recover yourself out of any situation when you're alone. What do you do if you're stuck and your winch is submerged in mud or water or just not working? Or if you can only go backwards but not forward? Or there's nothing to winch off of? Or your winch line breaks? Or your battery dies while winching (happens way more than you'd think)? Last year a guy in a Jeep spent the night on the trail because he went alone and lost the bead on one of his tires while on an obstacle. He went to winch himself out, but had to unspool too much line and ended up shearing the bolt that holds the line to the drum.

If it were me I'd get the armour and a SPOT, sat phone, or HAM radio to call for help. But like [MENTION=78273]Jeremy556[/MENTION] said, if you're wheeling in places where there's nothing that's really going to smack into you then the skids might not be as useful.

 

[JMG73072]

In a perfect world I'd do both at the same time but that just financially isn't in the cards as I have around 2,500 to spend. I mean if I did some cheap skids and a knock off winch it could be done but I'd regret it knowing there was something better out there(just who I am - already wish I had bought a trail ed). And let's be honest we all have expensive rigs and I for one will not put cheaper stuff on just to have something. I want to do it right and do it once. I'm leaning towards the skids then the winch in a few more months.

 

[AZrunner11]

Armor first

I'm doing skids and sliders first. I have read where the added weight of the winch requires upgraded shocks, so I'm doing armor then lift and hidden winch.

 

[Jeremy556]

I'm doing skids and sliders first. I have read where the added weight of the winch requires upgraded shocks, so I'm doing armor then lift and hidden winch.

Really, it requires a higher spring rate to support the static load, but you might as well do shocks at the same time.