3Pooches version 3.5

Hey Mark, Today my wife & I went for a drive in the truck to look at the rivers flooding. I believe we were right across the river from your house. We drove Harpers Ferry Rd all the way up the canal road to Shepherdstown. Ate dinner there at Lilah Restaurant, then headed back home.

 

Whose got an ultraguage...


And uses Ram ball/DMM??

I've gotten a duplicate mount somehow

 

Yeah, it's crazy, river is up 18' and climbing. Here's a pic of the neighborhood boat ramp, its flooded all the way up to the street. Next time you're out here give me a shout.

 

Just saw the news about the runaway barge too.
Very nice out that way. Was a nice drive!

 

Linking the rear!





I kidd, i kidd. Upper control arm for my kids GC. Waiting for all parts to show so I can rebuild the wore out rear suspension.

 

You cant joke about stuff like that. It’s not funny and can cause trauma.

 

My bad.. I sorry.. or what ever the kids say today.

 

@Tiny's Taco Tim, your winch. The controller box deal was kind of separated from the actual winch, right? I'm trying to figure it out from Ironman's website, but I'm confused. Did you have to mount it someplace else or could it attach to the winch body? Maybe I should ask which one you got, first. So...

 

Im pretty sure he said his came with 6’ of cable to relocate the controller box, which is awesome.

 

I believe “me’s sorry’s” is the term you were looking for

 

Hmm. Guess I'll have to figure out where to put this thing. Actually I might have an idea now that I hate ARB.

 

Ironman 9500k. Yes, it is separate box with a couple feet of cable, so you can mount it where you want. Minebis fiver side of the winch with easy reach in access. Submersible as well with a beather hose / heat escape hose. I was quite happy with it working on the trees.
https://ironman4x4america.com/monst...DwvG-56uTZEVqTzzMd02Okzyv4GeKrGRoCQ08QAvD_BwE

 

Cool. They have a sale going so I went with the 12k. I may have a spot for the box. It's not ideal, but it's a start.

 

I'll look later, but I think it's long enough to reach the engine compartment. Which I didn't want to do. I do have the heat escape hose in the engine compartment near the air filter box.

 

This is timely as I just started looking into winches. How does Ironman compare to Warn? A comparable Warn is more than twice the cost; are you paying for the "W" on the winch or is there really that big a difference? I suspect the former and that for occasional use the Ironman should be plenty. I like the fact it has a wireless remote. Would be curious to hear your likes/dislikes of it.

 

Warn is the king of winches. They're great if you're constantly using it, but for us the lesser names are fine. The Tacoma had a Smittybilt which worked fine for me. I mean, I pulled more stumps than trucks with it and it was great for that. Smittybilt seem to be pretty good about standing behind them. I believe Randy had an issue with his and they were quick in sending out new parts.

I'd even look at the Badland winches at Harbor Freight. I have no experience with them, but the folks that do seem to really like them.

So why did I go with Ironman? Price and features. For a 12k lb winch they charge around $700 (synthetic rope). They had/are having a sale right now and I got mine for the low $600s shipped. Anyway, they state they make them for the military (big check box there) and they're fully waterproof. That's where the breather comes in that Tim was talking about. I also liked how the control box was set up to be remote right out of the box. I made in-cab winch switches for the Tacoma and it was a bitch without a remote box. I wasn't sure if I was going to do it again (I'm not), but I wanted to be prepared to do so if I needed. And a small plus for me was that the hook didn't come already attached to the rope. I'm not a big fan of the hooks and am definitely changing over to the d-ring thing (a shackle hooks to it, no hook).

In the end, I was torn between the Harbor Freight and Ironman. Seeing Tim use his during treework part one sold me on the Ironman. If he had the Harbor Freight that day I probably would've been buying one the next day. It boiled down to having experience with it.

 

I'm fairly certain right now that placement of that box is going to be a problem. Everytime I open the hood on the Heep I don't see how people are fitting V8s in there. Or dual batteries for that matter. There is little to no extra room. And a huge portion of that I've already stolen. I do have a mount for an ARB compressor in there, and after my recent experience with them I'm not giving them anymore money. So that's a nice flat area to put something on. Not sure it'd be ideal as far as functionality, but I'll see what I see when I have the stuff in my hands.

 

Some of the same thoughts Dave had regarding Warn. Great winch, expensive, plenty of repair parts around. For my usage, which so far has been trees, Badlands was the route I was going to go until I saw the Ironman. The Ironman has a lower profile and a control box that you can put almost anywhere. It also has a 90' synthetic rope and wireless remote control included. I went with the 9500 lb because the bumper is rated for 10k. I will probably never need it, I hope I never need it, but this one also can operate under water with the extended breathing / heat exchange hose.

 

We made two aluminum L brackets and mounted it vertically next to the winch. The control box and winch are is nicely sealed, so you could surface mount it if need be. I'll try and get a pic of how mine is mounted later and post it.

 

From the build thread, first pic, the control box is right side next to the winch, and is standing on end vs the its side. There is very little writing on it, so it doesn't stand out. @Mojo Jojo, you can see the profile difference between this and Warn / badlands. In the middle opening is the "Ironman 4x4" above the rope. The is the top of the winch. I don't know if I could have fit the Warn or Badlands in there without removing and relocating the control box. Another + for the Ironman. Bottom pic, the control box is left side behind the reach through hole on the flat surface.