Winches: real world experience with cheap winches

You'd have to read the thread for the "logic" behind it.

 

Fantastic explanation. Thanks mate.

 

Lots of local farmers rely on the Harbor Freight winches. They actually use their winches more often than the guys who use their trucks as toys. Until you start getting into 4 digit pricing they are all made in China. I don't see the point in paying twice as much to get one with big name brand label on it.

I have a 2500 lb Harbor Freight winch that I paid under $100 for on my ATV. And a 9500 lb Smittybilt on my F150 and they've worked fine. I don't have one on the Tacoma, but that will eventually change.

Be realistic about what you need. I've been driving off road since the 1970's. I've always managed to get myself out of many jams the old fashioned way without a winch. But I'm getting into my 60's now and having a winch just makes it easier. I don't have plans to go out and bury my truck up to the axles every weekend. And I'm not using it commercially. If I were then I might invest more in a winch. But I do spend a lot of time on muddy or snow covered forest service roads and farm roads. Sliding into a ditch happens. It doesn't take a lot of winch to pull yourself out of those situations.

And the key to longevity is to use the winch. Just like the owners manual suggests driving 10 miles/month in 4X4 to maintain the system, the owners manual on my winches suggest pulling the line out and reeling it back in under load once/month. Do that and even the cheaper ones will work when you need it. It is the guys who mount a winch, don't touch it for 3 years and get mad when it doesn't work.

Having the right equipment matters. I've NEVER used my winches when I had enough winch cable. I keep several 20-30' tow straps to extend the reach. Shackles are great to attach straps to vehicles, anchors or to extend the reach of my winches.

For what I do I like steel cable better. It is heavier, but less likely to be damaged from use. In a nutshell for self recovery synthetic is OK, but if you're going to use the winch to pull others out cable is better. Synthetic might be the best option for what you're going to do, but it is a lot more expensive.

 

I've seen the thread, some guy suggesting anything bigger than 8k is a waste of money...., and he never shows up to the thread again, so it's mostly hundreds of posts talking shit about the original poster, and a bunch of people with big winches making sure they kick the dead horse.

Not claiming to be not a winch newb - but I weighed the options and I think the 8k will do fine; warn says so themselves (called customer service to dial in my final purchase). Essentially what the guy on the other end of the phone said was that any winch that is at least 1.5x the GVWR would be adequate for any thing but the most insane pulls; he just said to make sure to set up "major pulls" (like uphill, in deep mud, or other higher weight pulls) with as few wraps as possible to ensure that power is not an issue. He also happened to have almost the same truck as mine including color (his is 4WD), and he bought the exact winch I bought and says it's awesome, has had great power, and he has no regrets about not getting the 10K. Not only had i heard it from the horse's mouth, I also did a ton of research and there are a ton of people with Tacomas and 8k winches getting it done.

 

Yea I referenced it mostly for the jackassery contained within. An 8k winch is just fine for our trucks. I run a junked mile marker that only had dead solenoids and needed some grease. It's done everything I asked it to do. Not gonna go into depth but not your typical "oh no I'm stuck on a wet root overlander".

Going with a hung-lo-china brand I would up-size because of over enthusiastic ratings and questionable QC.

 

Haha, it was a fun thread, funny to stumble on while I was researching. As for not being daunted by a couple wet roots, I'm guessing I fall into that category too, but I have very little 4wheeling experience. I do have a ton of off road experience - almost all of it has been on 2 wheels, and most of that has been without a motor - so I know that momentum is my friend when the road gets rough, and I'm definitely not going to set up some self-rescue hashtag overlander Instagram jackoffery type photos just to whip out my winch, but I do want it there when I've truly gotten myself into some shit. We are probably similar in that regard.

I was recently self shuttling with a buddy for some early-season high-elevation mountain biking, and I got a little stuck in a snow drift, mostly because I didn't take the time to see how long the drift was and didn't assume I'd get stuck, so took it way too slow.... Luckily I had a couple friends in the car who went and jumped in the back of the pickup while I gingerly rocked my way out of the pit I dug, and I felt relieved... But ever since that experience, i can't get winch out of my mind.

 

While there's other ways out of situations some good thinking and winch will make things a bit easier.. Sometimes.

 

I ended up getting the warn VR 8s, and since I am going receiver mounted front and rear, I'm thinking I'll run the power cables to quick connects front and rear, and putting a battery switch in there to be able to turn the power to the cables off when not in use.

Based on the low amp draw of this winch, I believe this switch should work,

$39 Blue Sea Systems 9001E e-Series Battery Switch, Selector 4 Position, Red

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000K2MCR2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_F54Q076VAJWHT5WR9NPW

Does anyone have experience using this switch? I see that some people say they have used this switch or one like it in this capacity, does anyone have experience using it? Would love to hear more about how you wired it, how easy it was etc... Seems straight forward, but the manufacturer's illustrations seem to indicate that the switch takes two power sources and you switch between two power sources to power all of your outputs.

All I need the switch to do is turn power to front cables on, or power to rear cables on, or all power to cables off, can I do that with this switch? Or do you have a different suggestion. Thanks!

 

Order this and support a TW member... @Gilmorec61

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...witch-bracket-protect-your-investment.619464/

Also, I set up my winch exactly as you are about to do. See thread...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/winch-wiring-advice-needed.694252/
I skipped a circuit breaker and fuse on my install.

 

thanks for the tag @stonylaroux

@Just_Tombo let me know if I can be of assistance

 

There is a military recovery manual floating around out there that is a good resource. It states something like being mired up to your hubs= pulling 200% of your vehicle weight and being mired up to your frame rails = 300%. Something to consider.

My experience with a Chinese made TJM winch was not good. I used it to recover someone else once, but I'm a pretty conservative driver so I have never needed to winch myself out. Maxtrax are my first option. Anyway, the TJM ($550 back around 2012 or 13) solenoid failed. Luckily I found out while doing a maintenance pull. TJM sent me a new one for free, and that one failed shortly after. I gave it to my friend to mount on his trailer after that and bit the bullet for a 9.5XP-S. I found an article where they torture tested a bunch of winches and the XPS came out ahead.

The Warn has been flawless except the selector lever can be finicky. For me, the price was worth the peace of mind. It's something I never plan on using, but if I need it, I really need it. We go pretty far out without any other vehicles, well outside of cell signals. An unreliable winch could mean an extended wait for expensive help or having to choose between waiting in the vehicle for someone to find you or hiking back to civilization, potentially without the ability to carry enough supplies from the vehicle to make it.

If you are bouncing around the woods with friends, a Warn is probably over kill. If you start dipping your toes into self-reliant solo travel, I believe it's a good investment.

Edit to add
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11mhVXacpFWGyq1O4WGzSnLfEdt6xsh6I/view?usp=drivesdk

 

I got no skin in the game but if you’re gonna go Chinese then RUNVA is typically regarded as a well known budget brand.

 

It’s an obvious allusion to massive pulley systems or snatch blocks as people call them

 

Yeah dude my original post recommended a snatch block as an essential recovery kit item. Sandman then said something about needing 500' of cable for more power, which made no sense to me.

 

He's joking and referring to this post.

Enjoy the read...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/that-8-000-lb-winch-is-a-waste-of-money.682105/#post-24038416

 

Great info man! Thanks! I see you used the included switch with your winch - do you essentially just have both front a rear sets of winch cables on the same posts for the switch? so when you are in the "on" position, both front and rear are on? and then off, no current anywhere? Thanks again for the good info.

 

I ended up getting a Blue Seas switch. The one that Gilmorec61 can include. I bought it separately. The included switch from the winch didn't fit the bracket.

I have both front and back leads going to the same post on the switch. When switched to on, only the lead with the winch hooked up could complete a circuit but technically both are live. Switched off is disconnects it completely from the battery.

I had considered a three pole switch to choose a direction to send the current but it would have been hard to fit 3 4/0 sized lug crimps onto it. With two poles I was at least able to stack the front and back leads on a single post.

 

Awesome, that's great info, again, thanks and thanks for including links to your thread - that one guy had a good idea to essentially plug his rear cables into the front Anderson clips when needed, and they just "live" there most of the time as needed.

@Gilmorec61 thanks for reaching out, but I have a first gen so will not be able to use your bracket, but I appreciate that you are making a product!

 

Hey no problem! I plan to expand to 1st gens at some point. Stay tuned

 

I had a winch once. She had a peculiar nasty looking rash. I gave her 1/2 fee and sent her away. The manager called offering another winch. I refused telling the Mgr, "The first was defective. I don't want another."