Which one and why? Anyone have experience with both? Tell me something about them that I can't read on the website.

 

WOW!!! anyone going to step up to the winch question? We do have some people who wheel in here right?

Also, I would like to add to it, the XRC-10 is $400, I like that. Smittybuilt's "allegedly" (love that word) overheat easily. But, the XRC-10 says it has "overheat recovery"....wuzzzat? Anyone...Bueller....bueller....bueller

 

I have seen alot of the XRC-8s and have asked those folks what they thought. So far, no negative feelings about it. Worse grip is the speed.

 

Ive been wondering the same thing. I need a rear winch now and i cant see speding a ton of money on something that may not get used much. Does anyone know if a 3/8x80 synthetic rope will fir on either?

 

Cash flow for me (like many others) is tight right now. Instead of buying the Warn that I WILL buy, I opted to just pick up the XRC8 for $270. I did a lot of research before hand, and was impressed with the stats of it. I have used it 10 or so times and really like it. I'm not sure why people say it is slow. Look at the speeds of it. They have a flyer on their website under "new products" or something like that. It gives the speed with no load, 2k, 4k and 8k/full load. Compare those speeds to the others, and it is faster than most. I know they changed this model not too long ago (maybe 6 months or less?). They put on a bigger motor 5.5hp instead of the 4.1hp ( I think?) that was on it before. They may have changed the gear ratio too. So, perhaps those that say it is slow are talking about the first generation?

The biggest test I put it under was pulling another members flipped 4 dr JK up a steep 100' cliff that he went over and landed on his top. I was sitting on top of the ridge line with 3 other Jeeps... ALL had Warns. Me and another Jeep were in the middle and doing the main pulling up the hill, while the 2 flanking Jeeps were keeping it on line by pulling it left and right as needed. Of course, there were times when we had to have all 4 pulling at the same time too. Well, 2 of the 3 Warns would overheat and they would have to stop and rest them. The XRC8 never had an issue at all!

It does pull a lot of amperage and that did slow me down. Possibly what kept me cooler than the others, too. I would pull for 1-2 mins and my battery would slowly drain. Even with keeping the rpm's near 3500-4k. The battery light would ding and come on, continue pulling, then ALL of my dash lights would come on and I would have to stop the pull and let the alternator charge up for 20 secs or so... then start pulling again. Mind you, this was a huge load. I also have the stock battery, and alternator. I dont think a diff battery would have made MUCH of a difference as it was draining faster than the alt could charge.

Again, that was under the most extreme conditions you could probably put any winch under. It worked great. Equal to, or even better, than the Warns. I cant compare to the Superwinch, but this story, plus the other pulls I have done, plus the PRICE... Not sure how you could go wrong with the XRC8.

 

Ok you sold me on it.

 

me too...was the guy who went off the cliff ok? Sounds like a pretty wild story.

 

remember if you get it at 4wd make sure to ask about their lifetime warranty.

 

I know all the Warn owners are going to disagree, but Superwinch makes some of the best if not the best winches. Their winches were the only one used for the first 20 years of the camel trophy and they were rated head to head with Warn in the moab jeeper magazine winch reviews:

http://www.moabjeeper.com/articles/g...?articleID=353

At about half the price of a Warn with an equal quality, I would definitely choose Superwinch...

 

I am getting the xrc8, it has great reviews and with its price I can afford to replace the steel line with synthetic rope