Hey Guys,

Well, my winch bumper is on order!

I ended up ordering "The Little Guy" with a full brush bar, headlight guards, and fog lights from Bottorf.

Nate (at Bottorf) really recommended Mile Marker and SmittyBilt winches. He said they are both built by Mile Marker and cost far less than Warn while being of very high quality. He recommended winchdepot.com which seems to have very good pricing and free shipping.

Here's my dilemma: Size.

Is 8,000 enough for our trucks, or do I need to go to a 10,000?

I compared the specs. size by size of an 8k Mile Marker vs an 8k SmittyBilt and it seems like the Mile Marker is a much better winch, for only $29 more.

8K Mile Marker: http://www.winchdepot.com/Winches-Wi...pn=MIL77-50141

8K SmittyBilt: http://www.winchdepot.com/Winches-Wi...0702&t_pl=6426

The bumper will fit a 10k winch, but there seems to be a hugh jump in price, especially if I want to stick with Mile Marker.

Thoughts?

Thanks

~Max

 

our rovers are heavy go with the 10k winch or find a used 9500 warn..you can find those reasonable

 

With a ****** block, which is very wise to use anyway, 8k is fine.

 

Tom is correct.8k is fine but you should use a ****** block and get as much cable off the spool as possible.The less cable on the spool the more effective/more power the winch will have.Also most of the winch manufacturers use the same company for there electic motors so its the gearing that makes difference.I have a warn M800 and I like it because it is a pretty fast winch with a tested background.

 

i do agree that ****** blocks are very useful but just remember a good one is not cheap, you reduce you're winching radius by half and it will take twice as long to re-spool cable..which could be an issue with the mile marker..they are notoriously slow.

 

I have never been concerned with speed since I do not do any competitions that require it. I am just happy to be able to get myself out no matter how slow the cable line is, if I make it home that is what really matters.

 

Ditto on that on. 8k and a ******

 

Keep in mind you're going to need recovery gear in addition to the winch, whichever winch you get.
I took a look at the site and for the price difference between 8k & 10k you can buy quite a bit of additional gear. Several ****** blocks, cable extensions, tree straps, shackles etc. And still have money left over.

 

If you go with the smittybilt your gonna have to mod it. I had one on my jeep YJ. they are good budget winches, but they are cheaply made (china).

1.) take the cap off and put some good water proof grease on the gears. It comes with cheap stock grease, and it's not water resistance grease. The motor/gear box is not 100% waterproof (it can withstand normal water, but you sink it, it will take in a lot of water).


2.) since the electric (solenoid) box is not water proof either, consider putting it up into the engine compartment away from the motor/winch. you will need some extended wires but it's not too hard to do.

I got my smittybilt under water and learned the hard way.


Also the remote wiring harness connector broke on mine. I ordered a wireless remote off roadlessgear.com, but had to wrap the wire all around the front bumper taking the jeep home one day because I did not have the tools to manually wind the wire after the remote broke....lol

Personally, after my experience with Smitty, I would save up the extra few hundred bucks and get a Warn or winch of better quality. You will be much better off in the long run.

 

10k winches are expensive but you can find a reasonable price on a used 9.5k since they are the most common size. IMO a warn 9.5k is the best winch made.