[drew76924]

what does clocking the winch do? is it necessary to do before you use it?


drew

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

Originally Posted by claytonandson

i'm going with the T-max myself. i trust the aussies with most of my offroad equiptment,as they have the experience. not sure about the fact that all the big names are having thier stuff made in China. all i know is they make cheap,crappy tools.listen to Jerry. he has shown me the light many times in the past.he is like the Dahli Lama of Jeepism.

TMAX makes great winches..... i wheel with a lot of guys who run them and i'd have one of those if i had my choices/money right..... their offroad recovery bag is a pretty good deal too.... check it out...

Originally Posted by drew76924

what does clocking the winch do? is it necessary to do before you use it?


drew

i clocked the right side of it... the tranny basically... this turns the whole side that the engagement knob is located on.... you won't need to do this unless you have a bumper or something blocking access to the knob... then, you will have to turn it as i did. before i could not get to the knob b/c of the bar /hoop i have on my front bumper with my lights mounted on... i clocked it to bring the engagement knob to the front so it would be more accessible.

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

just took the thing apart the other night to see how the insides looked....

everything looked the same as it did on day 1..... no rust... no sand... no moisture....

i was impressed..... still working great by the way....

[ufbcn98]

So, I ordered the Smittybilt winch from 4wd.com three weeks ago online. I followed up with a phone call about 3 days after my order to find out that it was on backorder. I then called 4wheelparts. They told me that they had 13 and could ship one out that day. I cancelled my order with 4wd and placed it with 4wheelparts. I then waited the 3 days then called to find out, guess what, it was on backorder with them too. After raising some hell, I found out that Smittybilt had some packaging issues which supposedly have been fixed now. During transit, the foam inside the box would disintegrate during impact. Apparently, 4wheelparts did have 13 in stock the day that I called, but those 13 were shipped back to Smittybilt because they were losing so many of them in shipping accidents.

I raised some more hell and was able to get the “expeditor” to find me a winch. I never actually spoke with the so called “expeditor”, but it just so happened that they were able to locate a winch and have it arrive on my doorstep in two days (today).

The delivery of my winch today did in fact confirm 4wheelparts claim regarding the packaging issue. It appeared as though the UPS drug my winch from the warehouse to my doorstep. The foam had disintegrated. The winch has a little body damage, but in my opinion gives it some character. I assume that the winch was supposed to come with installation instructions, warranty, and mounting hardware, but I think all of that must have fallen out of the box on its journey. One of the salespeople I spoke with at 4wheelparts indicated that they had received a winch in the new packaging and actually took it out in their parking lot and ran it over with a truck to test it. He said it passed their test and is confident that the issue has been resolved.

My advice is: 1) If you feel as though 4wheelparts is taking too long to ship you your item, ask for the “expeditor”, apparently they are the only one that can make things happen because my 4 different sales people I spoke with couldn’t. 2) If you want your winch in its box, without a scratch, make sure that when you place your order you confirm that it is in its new shipping packaging.

FYI – According to 4wheelparts, as of 10-05-07 they were expecting an order of 293 winches and only had 12 people on the backorder list. If you don’t want to run into problems with backorders, you should be able to place your order now/soon without much of a problem.

I have not installed it yet, but have mocked it up on my living room floor. It appears as though the Harbor Freight winch plate will work. Saturday will be the real test when it gets installed.

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

practically any winch plate will work. they are almost all the same bolt pattern.


as for the packaging issue... YEA... i should have mentioned that when i got mine.... the styrofoam was destroyed on mine....

[Duck Dodgers]

So, it would suffice to say that this is a real good deal?

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

it's no warn

but it's a winch... and in my books a cheap winch is better than no winch... and so far this cheap winch has been great.... slow... but great.

[Duck Dodgers]

I can see putting out the bucks for a Warn if I was mega wheeling in really nasty stuff all the time. But for the occasional " dang I shoulda gone arounds" this winch sounds like it will work just fine.

[Mr.Crowley]

glad to hear they fixed the packaging problems..Like said above any winch is better than no winch at time of need..I would like to see one in a year after some abuse..And some stories of how it lasted..

[rpageIII]

Ordered one today from 4wheel parts in Jacksonville, FL. Not expecting it for 2-3 weeks ............

[alwaysready]

Originally Posted by Big-n-Broke-YJ

as for the packaging issue... YEA... i should have mentioned that when i got mine.... the styrofoam was destroyed on mine....

Hmm ya Same here..
it was in a million pieces and the box was pretty trashed too.
those ups guys wer prolly pissed it was so heavy and pushed it around on the floor with a forklift instead of picking it up..
The winch was not damaged though..
mines still sitting on a shelf..
waiting for the winch bumper to go on..

[SecondTJ]

I've been reading of people getting this for $285 shipped from 4wheelparts, best I can do is $329 shipped (w/ 10% coupon).

How is everybody getting it cheaper?

[chutta]

Sounds like a dismantle to inspect for cracked field magnets are a given for these

[04TJ Dogg]

I have been researching winches alot the past few days and have some very interesting finds.

As far as the cheap ZRC8 http://www.winchdepot.com/partLists.aspx?plID=6426&ptID=100702

Anyways, i'm sure pretty much everybody knows Stu off road site http://www.stu-offroad.com/index.asp

Well check this out..http://www.stu-offroad.com/index.asp. Souns like a pretty good winch huh? I got on the net and found the winch http://www.tonnocover.com/brand/191/247/bulldog_winches.html. They are not real cheap but they have a series wound motor

Everyone says that the t-max is a good winch http://www.winchdepot.com/PDT282266.aspx Not real cheap either but has a series wound motor and a wireless remote.

Now, check this out http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-10000-LB-RECOVERY-WINCH-WATERPROOF-WIRELESS-REMOTE_W0QQitemZ120183481146QQihZ002QQcategoryZ310 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem This looks like the exact same winch as the bulldog and maybe the t-max as well. It is a series wound motor and has the wireless remote as well as the integrated solenoid and its only 375 shipped.

Here is the same one for 349 without the integrated solenoid http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-10000-LB-RECOVERY-WINCH-FREE-ROLLER-REMOTE-WARRANTY_W0QQitemZ120183247477QQihZ002QQcategoryZ3 10QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I think i'm gonna get the one with the inegrated solenoid for 25 bucks more.

What do you guys think? Are these all the same winch and I think it could be good one.

Thanks

[rpageIII]

Originally Posted by rpageIII

Ordered one today from 4wheel parts in Jacksonville, FL. Not expecting it for 2-3 weeks ............

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!!