Hello fellow jeepers. For those of you that own a Smittybilt X20 10 Comp Series Winch or for those of you that are winch savvy. Can you tell me if this winch would be a good choice for my Jk unlimited. What are the pros and cons if so. I heard that Smittybilt is great product.
Thanks!

 

I am about to buy a winch as well, I thought about Smittybilt but I'll think I'm going to go with Warn.

Reason being, Warn is tried and true, last thing i want is a failure while winching, that could spell disaster.
Also, I find that smittybilt winches are super hard to pull the line out vs the warn, which is just a PITA more than anything.

 

Thx 4 info

 

Winches are one of those hot buttons that everyone has a strong opinion on. The one thing almost everyone will agree on is that Warn makes a superior product, but you pay for it. There are a few brands that make solid budget winches. Engo makes a really solid product that has tested well. You won't find a ton of people that have experienced failures with Engo, but they haven't been on the market all that long either.

Smittybilt is a good winch for the price. If you're going to be using it occasionally it should work just fine for you. They've been around longer and you'll find people that have experienced failures with them. This Thread is one of the more recent ones I've seen.

That's not to say that people haven't had their Warn Winches fail, but for the number of Warns that people are using, their failure rate is very low. They have been around a long time and are tried and true. The downside is that you'll pay for that reliability.

In the end it comes down to budget and what you think you need. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you or if you'd like a quote on any of the winches we carry. Our free shipping comes in handy on heavy products like winches.

-Ryan

 

Thanks for your time to respond and your wisdom on this topic. What type of Warn is good for me? I wont' be needing a power plant because I'm gonna purchase on board air later. I will keep you in mind when I decide.

 

I have the X2O 8 comp, for the handful of times I've needed it in the year I've had it, it has worked great.

 

Agree! I have the same winch, I've used it a bunch of times and it stands up great. I put it through some pretty hard pulls and it still works every time. Couple of key points is to get a cover for it just to protect it from the sun and if you get synthetic line condition it once a year. Keep it wound correctly and it will unspool just fine..
Good luck
Augi

 

Since you have a 4 Door JK you'll want at least a 10,000 lb winch. You can always double the pulling power of the winch again by using a snatch block, but you'll want the base pulling power to be at least 1.5 times the vehicle weight.

The Warn Zeon 10 is one option for you. It has a 3-stage planetary gear drive, series wound motor and pretty fast line speed. That would be my recommendation for you. You could look at Warns VR series of winches but I don't know what happens to the quality of the product when the price drops in their budget series.

Shoot me a PM if you'd like a quote on the Zeon 10!

-Ryan

 

There's other winches as well...comeup has been around in 60+ countries and making winches 38 years, they just entered the us market with what looks like a extremely nice unit with cone brake they patent applied for in 2001.

Engo winches Ive seen in action and bang for the buck is a workhorse and have several buddies with these

Warn and smittybilt I've had and would buy again

I think this time around Im giving the comeup winch a try based on the magazine article and curiosity...

I have ran warn and smittybilt as well have pulled with both and both worked fine, got my warn because the motor froze so I fixed it and used it...

Would run either again, I've pulled jeeps back over and out as well as back off ledges with tires off bead and halfway hanging over boulders....

Warn is great price is high
Engo is great price is great
Smittybilt is good price is great
Comeup ? Price is ? But definently willing to give it a shot....



Of you live in bad weather rain, snow, cold etc look for a weather proof unit or water proof something that won't rust out and freeze up or have contacts go bad...a good cover but after the season remember to uncover and pull line and respool it to shake off and corrosion or muck from non use....
Of you haven't used it in a while do a test pull before a big run.

In Washington state it rains a lot, used to log and haul in mud rain snow and over all YUCK circumstances and trying to bet something working while your hands are frozen, hurting wet and wrinkly your cold damp and tired just plain SUCKS........