[glockfire]

Is it still holding up great?

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

snapped the winch cable last weekend.... i was told their was a kink in it where it snapped.... likely considering i had just used it the previous weekend and had not yet wrapped it all back up nice and neat

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

Originally Posted by rpageIII

After discovering they used fiber core wire rope, I have cancelled this one. The MM PE8000 has real rope on it, but I decided to order the M8000 Warn for $476 from 4Wheel Parts instead.

I guess I'm out of this thread now!!

are you saying that the brown paperish looking crap that was in the end of my snapped smittybilt winch cable wasnt from a tow strap or from something it hit when it snapped, but rather it was part of the cable itself? yikes.... ebay here i come! time for a new winch "cable" that doesn't have paper in it....

[Duck Dodgers]

Originally Posted by rpageIII

After discovering they used fiber core wire rope, I have cancelled this one. The MM PE8000 has real rope on it, but I decided to order the M8000 Warn for $476 from 4Wheel Parts instead.

I guess I'm out of this thread now!!

So, because the cable is "substandard" your going to classify the winch as being the same. Seems like this winch has held up pretty good for most folks. I suppose +$176.00 more for a warn is not a bad deal. If you have the $.

[1 ton yj]

Originally Posted by rpageIII

After discovering they used fiber core wire rope, I have cancelled this one. The MM PE8000 has real rope on it, but I decided to order the M8000 Warn for $476 from 4Wheel Parts instead.

I guess I'm out of this thread now!!

You're comparing apples to oranges. The Smittybuilt winch is 9000 lbs and the warn is 8000lbs.

Originally Posted by Big-n-Broke-YJ

are you saying that the brown paperish looking crap that was in the end of my snapped smittybilt winch cable wasnt from a tow strap or from something it hit when it snapped, but rather it was part of the cable itself? yikes.... ebay here i come! time for a new winch "cable" that doesn't have paper in it....

Ebay cable isn't much better, just the same chincmo junk. Quit screwing around and just get rope.

[claytonandson]

made in china!! i can hardly believe you guys buy these junk winches just because they are cheap. when you pay someone .50 cents an hour you can keep production costs down. but a good deal i guess. AFL/CIO might disagree though.watch out for the paint on them winches.......

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

i wonder if coated cable will work on a winch? no rust problems, no kinking... but it would be easy to bunch up i suppose....

time to buy 100' of warn cable i suppose.... though that blue stuff sure does look nice

-Erik

[SecondTJ]

Originally Posted by 1 ton yj

You're comparing apples to oranges. The Smittybuilt winch is 9000 lbs and the warn is 8000lbs.

The Smittybuilt is 8000 lbs.

http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?partID=12286

[DILYSI Dave]

Fibercore rope is not necessarily a bad thing. It generally allows the strands to slide against each other more, making for a more flexible rope.

[1 ton yj]

Originally Posted by SecondTJ

The Smittybuilt is 8000 lbs.

http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?partID=12286

well i'll be damned!

[tjwrangler911]

I'm interested in this winch, but can you give an overall review. You say it's slow, but how slow? How is it holding up so far? Overall, what do you think about it? Are you happy? Or should I just save up $200 more and get a warn?

[breckboarder55]

I would be all over this but this beeing Houston, I get into alot of water... and for that reason people advise me that I should save up for the warn...

How does it hold up in water, splashes, quick dips, exc.?

I know no electric winch is water proof but at least parts for the warn are easily found and it has a warranty.

[kjun]

Just to add my 2 cents. I picked one of these up. And if I am to be honest it is probably more a poser winch for me than anything else. I am pretty conservative when I wheel and rarely will put myself in a situation that I can't get out of just using my 4 low. And if for some reason the winch didn't work when I went to use it, I would more than likely be in a situation that a tow strap from a buddy would do the trick any way (ref my conservative wheeling comment). So for me it fit the bill and is worth the risk for the price.

With that, I have not used it for a tough stuck yet. Just tinkering with it around the yard, seating the cable, and pulling tree stumps, its been fine.

A couple of things I would like to point out is when I originally got it, the control box solenoid was wired backwords. When I pressed "In", the winch went out...press "Out" and the winch comes in. I could have just switched the wiring but thought I would check out Smittybilt's customer service. Called them up and they sent me a new control box no questions asked. Plus I get to keep the old one....a quick rewire and I now have a spare. Also when the new control box came in, the bracket that mounts the control box to the winch was backwards. So if I mounted it like it came in, the winch hand control cable plug receptable was to the rear of the winch (no room to plug it in). This was a simple fix of just reversing the bracket.

The point of all this was there were a few minor easily fixed issues. Add this to the previoulsy mentioned crimps and the slight concern for me is these little issues should be simple attention to detail. If they can't get the simple stuff right, I wonder what else they may have overlooked. Just a consideration.

I am by no means bashing this winch. I could care less what people buy or what they think of me for what I buy. For my purposes and the price, I am very happy with it. I just thought I would put out my limited experience to help someone make an educated decision......

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

Originally Posted by tjwrangler911

I'm interested in this winch, but can you give an overall review. You say it's slow, but how slow? How is it holding up so far? Overall, what do you think about it? Are you happy? Or should I just save up $200 more and get a warn?

i'm happy with it and for $300 shipped to my door, i'd buy another one.

When i say it's slow, i do mean, it's SLOW... but it pulls steady and hasn't given me any problems.

if i had a $500 +/- budget for a winch i'd go with the superwinch ep9.0 or whatever it is just b/c the folks i wheel with who have those are all extremely satisfied customers and have shown me many times just how handy it is to have that extra line speed (too much line speed is a bad thing but the 9.0 seems to be about right)

Originally Posted by breckboarder55

I would be all over this but this beeing Houston, I get into alot of water... and for that reason people advise me that I should save up for the warn...

How does it hold up in water, splashes, quick dips, exc.?

I know no electric winch is water proof but at least parts for the warn are easily found and it has a warranty.

i live at the beach. sea spray is my winch's daily shower. i've dunked it into fresh water a dozen or so times but for no more than 5 seconds or so at a time. if i could find a deep water crossing to play in i'd park it under water and run it for you just to see how it held up but that's not a legal option here.

if i was in your shoes i'd be hard pressed about what to do.... i think the warn, for the mere reason that parts are easy to get, would be my choice.... but i'm not sure what warn b/c i doubt the lesser expensive models are sealed quite as nice as the integrated ti's and such.....

[Muddeprived]

Originally Posted by Big-n-Broke-YJ

i'm happy with it and for $300 shipped to my door, i'd buy another one.

When i say it's slow, i do mean, it's SLOW... but it pulls steady and hasn't given me any problems.

if i had a $500 +/- budget for a winch i'd go with the superwinch ep9.0 or whatever it is just b/c the folks i wheel with who have those are all extremely satisfied customers and have shown me many times just how handy it is to have that extra line speed (too much line speed is a bad thing but the 9.0 seems to be about right)





i live at the beach. sea spray is my winch's daily shower. i've dunked it into fresh water a dozen or so times but for no more than 5 seconds or so at a time. if i could find a deep water crossing to play in i'd park it under water and run it for you just to see how it held up but that's not a legal option here.

if i was in your shoes i'd be hard pressed about what to do.... i think the warn, for the mere reason that parts are easy to get, would be my choice.... but i'm not sure what warn b/c i doubt the lesser expensive models are sealed quite as nice as the integrated ti's and such.....

When i got my 2nd milemarker, i took it apart immediately and used rtv to seal up every opening. My first MM motor was corroded cuz of water/mud that got in the motor. If you are a "wet" wheeler, i suggest you take the winch apart and seal it up. Better safe than sorry.