Warn winch vs Smittybilt

I like warn winches but read on here or another off-road forum, can't remember which, that engo winches were highly rated.

 

My last Jeep Rock Crawler had a Warn XD9000I winch and it worked very well with no issues or problems !!!!

 

My shittybilt took a crap on me when I was alone and really needed it. ended up striking it a couple miles uphill in the snow. My luck, they were logging and had a bulldozer clearing the road. out I went and turned around. turns out they have a small fuse in the solenoid. I now carry a pack of them in case shit goes south. other than that, the smittybilt isn't bad for the price

 

thank you

 

Thanks for the heads up , what kind of fuse is it and where do you get em

I also have the smittybuilt winch you looking at 9500

If you have hidden winch mount I recommend getting the extending cables for the box pluggin in the controller on a hidden mount is a pain In the ass

But other then that I like it does the job for me

 

hey friends, reviving an old thread here - any reason folks can think of for the big difference in reviews over on Amazon? Smittybilt has

$569 Smittybilt X2O GEN2 10K Waterproof Wireless Winch with Synthetic Rope - 98510

no real negative reviews,

Warn 89611 ZEON 10-S Winch with Synthetic Rope - 10000 lb. Capacity

warn has a bunch. And the Warn has far fewer reviews... doesn't seem to match the experiences of people on this thread, but strange nonetheless.

 

I can’t decide which winch to pick but I can say this

That I paid a lot more money for my XRC 9500
Then that X20 that’s a wicked deal

 

My brothers smittybilt stopped working on him the first time he needed to use it. Warranty is taking care of it, yet he still has to pull everything a part.

My warn gen 2 vr8 still working a year later, yet I've only used it a couple times on non recovery stuff.

 

I am getting to buy a winch as well, on the fence between the Smitty XRC 9500 and the Warn VR8000. Leaning towards the Warn but am dismayed that people are having trouble with the warranty process. Ah what to do?

 

I've had 4 Warn winches over nearly 40 years. Own 2 now. Had one warranty claim. They sent parts overnight air. No questions asked. 5 different friends with Smittybilt. All have had multiple warranty issues. They were taken care of....but I see a high fail rate.

 

I've never had any issues with Warn winches , one of the best well know Warn winches is the very popular #8274 sidewinder . It was very popular back in the day especially for its fast spooling speeds

 

thanks all for the anecdotes, went with the warn

 

I've been going back and forth as well on the smittybilt vs warn.

The price of the smittybilts sure are enticing, and I was looking at the 10k smitybilt. My thought was to oversize the "lesser quality" winch so (in theory) it wouldn't have to work so hard.

Then I go and find a good deal on a Warn VR10 for $630, so I think I know where I'm going, lol...

EDIT: got a VR10 from 4wheelparts for $570... picking it up today!

 

After much soul searching went Warn, Gen ll VR8. Think it will fit my needs well.

 

likewise, zeon 12-S, and used it this morning for the first time after being snowed in at camp

 

Warn will never leave you stranded! Nice choice.

 

Y’all got me worried about the Smittybuilt x20 I’m getting ready to buy for my SSO Slimline bumper that will arrive shortly. In reality it may never be used but you never know what may happen in our 1-2 snows per year. I picked it because I’m sure it will fit as is without cutting any brackets and it’s wireless out of the box which is nice.

 

Don't be worried. They're perfectly fine winches, lots of people use them without issue.

 

If your worried about reliability, I posted this in another X20 related thread. A little, very inexpensive, proactive action might be in order.
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On another, related note I was researching winches and found that the Smittybilt can sometime fail due to moisture getting into the wireless switch. Smittybilt replied to the user at this link with these instructions to bypass the wireless switch for troubleshooting. Might help someone who needs their winch and for whatever reason finds themselves without the wired controller.

Troubleshooting:
Here is a trouble shoot guide for the switch.

Below is a Test Only to bypass the wireless on/off switch on the control box cover which should allow you to operate the winch in wireless mode. Please respond with any results.

Please follow these steps:

1. Detach the control box from the winch while leaving all wires hooked up.

2. Remove 4 screws on the bottom of the control box holding cover to control box base plate.

3. Carefully lift the cover off of control box and disconnect the two red wires from on/off switch and connect together with a suitable jumper wire.

4. Attempt to spool out the winch with the controller set to wireless mode.

The user there found this direct replacement for the Smittybilt wireless switch (

$13 Waterproof Mini Off-On Rocker Switch

GAMA Electronics Waterproof Mini Off-On Rocker Switch) that they and other users found to be trouble free so far.

$15 Waterproof Mini Off-On Illuminated 12 VDC Rocker Switch

This one is the same switch but with a red light as well.