Well, I got the winch yesterday and just installed most of it today. I put it on the Mopar bumper - I should have picked a different bumper, because I had to do some slight modifying to get it to work.

Anyways, this is the Milemarker 10,500 lb 75-series winch. It hooks to the power steering pump and pulls like no tomorrow, as long as the engine is running. I won't be doing anything in the Jeep that will cause the engine to die, to this is a non-issue for me. What IS the issue is LONG pulls without having to stop because of overheating. Or being able to run under mud and water. I've had two electrics in my life and both died within a year (both brand four-letter name winches). Thelast Milemarker I had lasted three years with use every week (pullingout stuck patrol cars, trucks and uprighting trees...) and never any isues. The These are the reasons I went hydraulic.

Some of the common misconceptions about hydraulic are they create noise in your pump and they subject the pump to abuse. THis is false on both. If you don't route the hoses properly, you will get some noise... just don't make really sharp turns with it and you will be fine. As far as pump abuse - your pump makes the same pressure, wether it is being used by the winch or your steering... or nothing at all. There are no additional stressors put on the pump because of the addition of this winch. If anything, it is better because you have far more fluid in the system... keeps it cooler.

So... without further mealie mouthing, here we are:





THis next weekend, I will get it really stuck in deep goop and see how she does getting out. I suspect I won't have any issues.

 

x2...........

 

I had great luck with a hydraulic on a 1Ton Dodge

 

No need to upgrade your pump?

 

I would suggest an upgraded pump should you decided you want to be able to winch and steer at the same time, especially if you upgrade to larger tires.

 

What do you do if your Jeep is stuck and will not or cannot run?

 

then your stuck, have to wait for a friend or someone else to help..

 

This is possibly the winch to be mounted on my shrock-mid bumper if it ever arives.
I'll take hyd over elect anyday for occasional use due to maint issues and even so try to find a tow truck using them daily that isn't hydraulic.
To the OP can you point me in the direction to get one.

 

Awesome setup!!! How protected are the hyd lines from trail grabbers?

 

If the hydraulic lines get smashed, that means I have serious problems. I ran the a line from the power steering pump, through the opening on the left side of the radiator (lookng at the front of the vehicle) and to the winch, which sits protected by the bumper and frame members. The exit port from the winch, on the opening to the right side of the radiator and down to the steering mechanism. I brought this to a friend at a hydraulic company and had the lines custom cut to length and new fittings put on. He then wrapped it in a thick, hard plastic armor material to prevent chafing on anything. Even if it wasn't a friend, it would have only cost $25. Oh - he also out a gauge on my pump to test PSI from the power steering pump and found it to be about 1220 PSI. Because Mile Marker rates their power at 1400 PSI, that makes this a 9900 pound winch. I will post photos of the hoses in the morning.

TO answer other questions - I weighed the pros and cons of owning this winch. I have never had to use a winch with the engine not running - and I've done a hell of a lot of winching. Of course, I don't live in the mountains where I could flip my vehicle. I have, however, had two different electric winches fail on me. With these facts in mind, I feel a hydraulic better suits my needs. To be honest, I wouldn't know how to right a vehicle with the winch on the front, anyways.

Winching and steering is not a problem. You winch and if you turn your steering wheel, it uses the other available pressure. If you are really straining the winch, once you turn the wteering wheel, it automatically routes power to the steering and the winching pauses until the wheels reach the desired position. Once the wheels have been turned, more pressure goes to the winch again. It's very slick and even in thick goop, I've never had a problem with this. It's almost instantaneous. Again - if I do decide I want the other 600 lbs of pulling force I'm losing, I may consider upgrading my pump. Of course, I don't know who makes these... Or... a smaller pulley might do the trick. I'm not sure.

I had the 10500 hydraulic mounted on a Hansen bumper on my 06 Rubicon - it was awesome and, after three years of winchinh at least once per week, this setup never let me down. I regret buying the Mopar bumper because it's just not the same high quality of, say, Shrockworks or Hansen. I saw a MORE stubby bumper and was very impressed by the design and build quality.