Recommendations on winch for 2nd Gen 4w4 taco?

What do yall run and recommend?

 

It's black Friday at Harbor Freak! I have heard the 12000 Apex is pretty comparable to a Warn, might be worth a shot.

I have a Warn Evo 8000, which is plenty for my little regular cab and has saved my butt but it might be worth considering a bigger one.

My 4x4 guy swears that ComeUp is the best winch brand. No matter what you get, go with a synthetic line! Much safer, easy to work with, and big weight savings!

 

I run the harbor freight badlands apex 12k. It’s a tad slower but lighter and half the price.

 

I went with the ComeUp DV12s. Perhaps a bit overkill at 12K lbs of pull, but I figure better to have and not need.
I liked it for the Warn-like quality at a better price. Made in Taiwan.
Only had to make a couple of recoveries to date, but it's been great so far.


But to be honest, for the price of a ComeUp, you could buy a HF Badland Apex right now, and a 2nd one for back up.
And the specs on that look pretty good (on paper).

Manufacturer to manufacturer comparison, equivalent models:
ComeUp
https://comeupusa.shop/products/dv-12s-light-12v-winch

Warn
https://www.warn.com/zeon-10s-winch-89611

Harbor Freight Good luck, and let us know what you go with!

edit: FWIW, I figured 2 winches is not as good as 1 winch that does not fail.

 

I'm rocking the Smittybuilt X2 12k Winch. Waterproof, synthetic line, remote controlled or hard wired. It's pulled everything in it's path and moves my heavy ass just fine. Got it on sale a few years ago for $500. Which ever one you go with I recommend synthetic!

 

I got mine from Calranch, cheaper than harbor freight, pulled an F350 with an elk in the bed up a sandy hill just fine

https://www.calranch.com/ironton-12-000-lb-12-volt-dc-electric-truck-winch-black-sku5010055

 

I took a chance on XBull 13,000lb. Has performed spectacularly and I've put it through the ringer.

https://www.xbullauto.com/collections/winch-series

 

· SmittyBilt XRC 9500 lb winch with synthetic wire. I have had it about 5 years, it has always worked well. I have added an aftermarket wireless remote which is very handy.

 

Dude, you can totally 3D print your own winch.



The metal hook messed up the paint though, so I 3D printed a plastic hook too.

I do also run the SmittyBilt 9500 synthetic wireless thing. And by "run" I mean, "installed five years ago and have never once actually used it."

 

Any 10k and up should be solid. Just remember that synthetic can’t be dragged over other surfaces, while steel line can. Evaluate the terrain that you’re gonna be wheelin’ on and pull the trigger.

 

i run a smittybilt X20 gen 3 10K which has the synthetic robe (wont rust and just make sure you dry it out good if it ever gets wet yeah it cant be dragged over ground, but i just use it to pull me out of a jam being im a 2x4) it has the wireless remote which is nice.

more important is make sure your winch is about 2 to 2.5 times what the weight of your truck is for good measure. my tacoma weights in at 4800 with me in it
and with all my mods and camper shell and bumpers etc.

I had two concerns that i took into account when i installed my winch.

i placed a battery cutoff switch dedicated to the cable that comes off the main battery that goes to the winch and i placed it next to the battery under my hood where you have to pop my hood open to get to it.

having that counters against two possible issues

1) in a crash, if your battery cable is live and it gets shorted out during an accident, then your battery can catch fire, explode whatever. i just didnt want my cables live going to the winch all the time and if i ever have a collision i didnt want them shorting out.

2) i hate to bring this up but in certain areas of the country (i live in southern california) i have heard of instances where kids will mess with peoples trucks at night and pull the winch out and pull it over the cab roof and connect it to the rear bumper and then turn it on and compact your truck

yeah... sick ass people... i know someone this was done to

so my winch cannot be powered unless you can access my hood and open it .... you cant reach the battery cutoff from anywhere thru the grill.... you can get to the clutch release on the winch to manually payout the cable...... but at least they cant power it up and be nefarious

 

I installed a Warn Evo-10 on my 2014 Taco with the semi-hidden winch bumper and this has worked very well. Added a bracket for some Hella cube driving and high beam lights (4 in total).

 

Okay, this would definitely be evil, but how on earth would these hoodlums activate the winch without the winch control?

 

easily done with a paperclip or anything jabbed into the connector to short the pins.

my smittybilt x20 for example is a wireless control but it has the optional cable and the main power and the cable control connector are right on the winch body all it takes if the battery is always hot to it is to flick the power switch and jab a paperclip into the pins to bridge the ones that drive it in.

put it this way, my truck parks outside too tall for garage and im not taking any chances ... hence why i made sure mine cant be powered. Hoodlums seem to increase in quantity as i get older. too many have nots jealous of a nice truck or thieves.... catalytic converter thefts in Long Beach Ca alone are off the charts... you wanna lose your cats ...go park there just one night ... they wont last an hour... i even have a plunger switch hidden up under my cat guard, if you try to remove it, the plunger extends and the alarm goes off


not trying to highjack the thread, sorry about that, but when considering a winch install, and depending on where you live....it cant hurt to consider things like this to factor in as you plan the install