Off Roading Best place to buy a winch

[JBlackwell]

Looking to buy a Warn 9. 5ti portable winch for my truck. I want to get the portable to use in the front or back and also bolt a reciever tube on my trailer in behind the front box to use for winching up cars, etc. They have a front-mount hitch for the 3rd gens so that is all taken care of. Just run my power leads in front & back. Has anyone got a good deal on a winch recently?



Thanks,

Justin

 

[wcjp]

Typically, 4Wheelparts has the some of the best prices. Years past they've held a March Madness Sale. Not sure if you're in a hurry.

 

[cyborg]

Same question here.

I have a new buckstop being painted.

I need a winch for the front, and a wench for the back.

 

[Got Smoke?]

Just my $. 02 but avoid all business with 4 Wheel Parts. In the highly likely event that your order gets screwed up their customer service is non-existant.



Voice of experience.

 

[frankram]

In my opinion a 9. 5 is not big enough for our trucks. You need at least a 12.

I have a 16. 5 on mine. I got my from Clemson 4 wheel drive. Great service and a good price.

 

[dmhollister]

Just my $. 02 but avoid all business with 4 Wheel Parts. In the highly likely event that your order gets screwed up their customer service is non-existant.



Voice of experience.

I don't know, when 4wheel parts misquoted me on my exhaust by $200, they honored the misquote because I had it in writing. But it take longer to receive the parts than they quoted. Still on the fence.



I would shop around locally and try to work the retailers against each other, many have price guarantees.

 

[Olmsted]

Buy a Warn from Clemson 4x4

Call Fred at Clemson if you want a Warn. He's the best for old time customer service and He's been in the game for a long time. His shop sells more Warn than just about anyone and he ships for FREE. Factor that in if you are shopping around for price. His ad should be in the back of most major 4x4 mags and you can probably find hin with a google or two.

 

[TRCM]

I know they (4 wheel parts) screwed me when I got my gears & lockers for my 79.



The install kit for the 9 1/4 corp rear had chevy carrier bearings in it, and after I got them locally and finished the install (with the understanding from them that they would reimburse me for the wrong parts), I sent the wrong bearings back to them. I never got a penny from them for their error, and they tried to say I never paid for the orginal ones in the first place,even tho the reciept showed I paid for a complete install kit.



I'll never do business with them again, even if the price is 50% off.

 

[TKingsbury]

In my opinion a 9. 5 is not big enough for our trucks. You need at least a 12.

I have a 16. 5 on mine. I got my from Clemson 4 wheel drive. Great service and a good price.

I think Warn only says 8K or 9. 5K winch limit on their portable mount. Even if you could go higher, who in their right mind would want to lug a bigger winch around to hook it up? If you need more than the 9K rating, just use a snatch block.

Travis. .

 

[Got Smoke?]

I think Warn only says 8K or 9. 5K winch limit on their portable mount. Even if you could go higher, who in their right mind would want to lug a bigger winch around to hook it up? If you need more than the 9K rating, just use a snatch block.

Travis. .

Generally rule of thumb for a winch is 1. 5 times the weight of the vehicle according to every 4-wheeling mag you will pick up.



Say my truck weighed in @ 7200lbs on pulling scales this year..... that would add up too 10,800lbs. That right there exceeds your 9 & 9. 5K winches.

 

[dmhollister]

Generally rule of thumb for a winch is 1. 5 times the weight of the vehicle according to every 4-wheeling mag you will pick up.



Say my truck weighed in @ 7200lbs on pulling scales this year..... that would add up too 10,800lbs. That right there exceeds your 9 & 9. 5K winches.

But that is for a single line pull, if one uses a snatch block that is increased exponentially. If there are suitable areas to winch to with a double line pull, will need to reattached more often if winching longer runs. Oo.

 

[JOblenes]

Generally rule of thumb for a winch is 1. 5 times the weight of the vehicle according to every 4-wheeling mag you will pick up.



Say my truck weighed in @ 7200lbs on pulling scales this year..... that would add up too 10,800lbs. That right there exceeds your 9 & 9. 5K winches.

I know that I read the same magazines as you. I used to believe this as well but now I am not too sure. My first winch experience was back in '98 when I bought my first truck, a Ford ranger. I put a Milemarker 9000lb hydraulic on that. Three years later I got rid of that then bought a dodge 1500. I transferred the winch to that and it did fine, many pretty bad stucks but it worked like a champ every time. Now, about a year and a half ago I bought a Ram 2500 and decided I was going to need a bigger winch. I already had the 9000 lb one bought and paid for and in my neck of the woods re-sale value on winches is not that good, coupled with a few bad stucks where I clearly needed to be pulled out backwards and I decided to mount it on back and get a 12,000 lb for the front. Now I don't know if it is a little different because it is hydraulic, but I have not had any problems winching the truck with the 9000 lb one on the back. When I called the shop to buy the 12,000 lb they told me I was nuts. This was not a 4x4 shop, but an industrial supply shop that outfits rigging operations, cranes, logging equipment, etc. says he sells a lot of hydraulic winchs and would not put more than 10,000 lb on a truck my size. He also pointed out that the 10,000 lb hydraulic is what's standard on the military Hummers and that they were way heavier than the dodge ram. Of course I said I still wanted the 12,000 lb, but he has a good point.



Jonathan

 

[TKingsbury]

Generally rule of thumb for a winch is 1. 5 times the weight of the vehicle according to every 4-wheeling mag you will pick up.



Say my truck weighed in @ 7200lbs on pulling scales this year..... that would add up too 10,800lbs. That right there exceeds your 9 & 9. 5K winches.

My point is if you want a multi-mount, they aren't designed for a giant winch. If you need a giant winch, it needs to be permanently mounted. Not to mention it would suck lugging a giant winch around (probably by yourself) and hooking it up.

Travis. .

 

[wcjp]

Multi-mounts are designed for straight pulls only. They're not designed for any type of side pull. Hydraulic winches are great as long as the engine is running and the power steering pump doesn't burn up. A few years ago when David Freiburger ran Peterson's 4wheel & Offroad they compared a Warn electric vs. the Milemarker Hydraulic. One of the test rigs was a Dodge gasser. They managed to burn up 2 or 3 power steering pumps with the hydraulic winch. When on the trail with Jeep I do not carry spare pumps. The electric winch overheated due to heavy use. When the winch cooled it was usable.



Winches are only at full capacity on the first wrap of the drum. Beyond the first wrap they start losing capacity. A 9,500pd winch might be adequate for a Dodge that never gets off the fireroad. If I had to depend on the winch I'd make it at least a 12,000pd winch.



I have a 9,500pd winch on my Jeep. While slightly overkill I depend on it to get me out.

 

[JOblenes]

Hydraulic winches are great as long as the engine is running and the power steering pump doesn't burn up. A few years ago when David Freiburger ran Peterson's 4wheel & Offroad they compared a Warn electric vs. the Milemarker Hydraulic. One of the test rigs was a Dodge gasser. They managed to burn up 2 or 3 power steering pumps with the hydraulic winch. When on the trail with Jeep I do not carry spare pumps. The electric winch overheated due to heavy use. When the winch cooled it was usable.

Although I never did manage to burn up a power steering pump when the winch was on my previous two trucks, depsite doing quite a few 300 yard pulls (multiple reel outs) after breaking through on muskeg, I did go with a PTO mounted hydraulic pump for this setup to run the winches. These trucks have the PTO option so I thought I would use it. I think the problem with the power steering pump setup is the extremely small fluid volume. If anyone is interested there are pictures of my rig on this thread. http://www.tdr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150804&page=1 Unlike a gasser if the engine is not running in these trucks when you are "stuck" I think winching will be the least of your concerns, i. e. if the truck is not on its feet there is usually a bigger problem at hand. If you look at the link in that thread you will see that I rolled my 1500. The truck was not driveable due to major suspension damage, once it was righted only three wheels would touch the ground and two of the rims were wrecked. Or if you have filled the engine with water, unlike a gasser you cannot easily clear the engine by pulling spark plugs, yes you could pull injectors, but that is not something I would entertain along a dusty Alberta offroad trail, if the water didn't wreck the engine, the scoring from the dust and sand will.