Smittybilt Winch

thebwlife

thebwlife

Senior Member
Anyone run a smittybilt winch?

http://amzn.to/1zeXEwp

Thinking of trying one out. I will not use it often as I live in oklahoma and not a ton of trail runs to be had. Anyone ever used one? This series has synthetic line also for a reasonable price.

Any 1st person reviews?

Or a Warn M8000s is an option also.

http://amzn.to/1zUK4BW
 
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I did. It was a bit slow. Weak point is the solenoid. But you can waterproof it. Customer Service was great when I got ready to sell it. Pretty much gave me everything to refurbish it to new without question without cost. Though I am now going back to a superwinch talon, in the end your call, not a bad little winch for the occasional user. But all in all just another foreign made winch very similar to the 8000 warn. Gears and all.
 
Can't go wrong with Warn or Superwinch. I'd say both companies have good dealer support too - if anything goes wrong you're not going to have trouble finding parts or somewhere to have it serviced.
 
Second the Warn.
This is my 3,000 lb Warn on the Grizz making easy work of what could have been a bad situation.
 

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Doc_Fry said:
I did. It was a bit slow. Weak point is the solenoid. But you can waterproof it. Customer Service was great when I got ready to sell it. Pretty much gave me everything to refurbish it to new without question without cost. Though I am now going back to a superwinch talon, in the end your call, not a bad little winch for the occasional user. But all in all just another foreign made winch very similar to the 8000 warn. Gears and all.
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Thanks, guess I'll go with the warn.

Smittybilt has started making a waterproof winch now too.
 
I had an XRC 8 on my 4th Gen and it worked really well the few times I needed it. It was slower, but got the job done. I bought a life time warranty with mine and was really pleased with their customer service.
 
My son had one in his Wrangler LJ, an XRC8. Generally reliable and used heavily. Of all his off-road buddies he was the only one with a winch so he was always pulling them out of trouble. Never any problems. As already stated, a little slow, but it never failed. For the money it works. There are better products out there, but again, for the money it's hard to beat.
 
thebwlife said:
Anyone run a smittybilt winch?

Amazon.com: Smittybilt 98495 XRC Synthetic Rope Winch - 9500 lb. Load Capacity: Automotive

Thinking of trying one out. I will not use it often as I live in oklahoma and not a ton of trail runs to be had. Anyone ever used one? This series has synthetic line also for a reasonable price.

Any 1st person reviews?

Or a Warn M8000s is an option also.

http://amzn.to/1zUK4BW
Click to expand...
they have really stepped up their game in the last few years. I expect it will work just fine for you.

also it says: Waterproofing: IP67 rating


although, I admit I have no idea what that rating means. perhaps it can withstand a light rainfall. :D
 
nevada said:
also it says: Waterproofing: IP67 rating


although, I admit I have no idea what that rating means. perhaps it can withstand a light rainfall. :D
Click to expand...

LOL I thought the same damn thing a few months ago!
Wikipedia man I love it :D IP Code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first number is dirt/dust protection (6 is the highest) and the second number is hydro protection (9 is the highest)

IP67 is waterproof up to 1 meter

IP68 is waterproof beyond 1 meter
 
[MENTION=84120]nevada[/MENTION] exactly
[MENTION=45399]thebwlife[/MENTION] in my humblest of opinions if you don't plan on using it much, I would consider getting a wire rope instead of synthetic. It is far more durable and if it is just sitting on the drum getting exposed to elements a year before you "need" it, I think you would be better off with wire.
 
jrandom said:
[MENTION=84120]nevada[/MENTION] exactly

[MENTION=45399]thebwlife[/MENTION] in my humblest of opinions if you don't plan on using it much, I would consider getting a wire rope instead of synthetic.
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Second this. Hung up the cable years ago, been using nothing but rope since - including in the above pic. Quality rope rules.
 
jrandom said:
[MENTION=84120]nevada[/MENTION] exactly

[MENTION=45399]thebwlife[/MENTION] in my humblest of opinions if you don't plan on using it much, I would consider getting a wire rope instead of synthetic. It is far more durable and if it is just sitting on the drum getting exposed to elements a year before you "need" it, I think you would be better off with wire.
Click to expand...

I'll only be using synthetic. Much safer and lighter on the front end.
 
The difference in weight is negligible, is 30lbs. It is safer sure, the thing is winching 6000lb around is an inherently dangerous proposition to begin with. ;) I am sure synthetic is fine, my experience with it is limited to rock climbing runners.

Hence my humblest of opinions. I ran one of these for quite a few years... 3000 feet of 9/16 wire rope. I have seen cable break, cable fray, hooks break, trees topple, branches fly, you name it, I would still trust wire over synthetic any day. :)
 

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thebwlife said:
Anyone run a smittybilt winch?

http://amzn.to/1zeXEwp

Thinking of trying one out. I will not use it often as I live in oklahoma and not a ton of trail runs to be had. Anyone ever used one? This series has synthetic line also for a reasonable price.

Any 1st person reviews?

Or a Warn M8000s is an option also.

Amazon.com: Warn 87800 M8000-s Winch with Synthetic Rope: Automotive
Click to expand...

I went with a SmittyBilt XRC9500 and have extracted over 20 rigs (mostly FJ Cruisers). Works great every time. Used it twice at Lone Star Jambo to pull people out.
 
IMO if you want a cheap winch - buy a HF winch for $250. I have one on a multimount. About 5 years old. Works awesome. Used it 100's of times.

For a mid price, I like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Superwinch-15...pell&keywords=superwinch+tigershark+synthetic It's what I put on my 5th gen in a hidden winch mount. Remote mounted the solenoid set up in the engine bay. Easy to install. Works great so far.

On my trail rig I have an 8274 - pulls like nothing else. 5 times as fast, and probably twice as strong as any of the compact winches. And it holds 150' of rope. But it's heavy, expensive and physically large to mount.

From someone who has both high end and cheap winches. They all work. My Warn 8274 has broken more times than any other winch I've owned. Works for what it's for, but IMO the superwinch is the best value of the cheap winches. Primarily becasue they increase the drum material thickness and moved the brake out of the drum area so you won't melt your synthetic rope if you power out too much. That's the key difference from the other cheap Chinese winches.

Good luck!
 
I work with Smittybilt...they make some good stuff nowadays. They have definitely changed their ways from their previous name "shittybilt" and have consciously made a huge effort to put out a much more reliable and quality product from years past. I used their winch with my Jeep and it worked very well. Plus it does the same stuff that a $1000 Warn winch will do for a third of the cost.
 
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