I am getting ready to buy a winch and thinking that for the moment I am going to go with a cheaper winch. I don't wheel every weekend and when I do it is reasonable but I want to be prepared. Does anybody regret buying a cheaper winch as an insurance policy? I am OK upgrading later if I start to use it enough to make a difference but don't want to completely waste money.

 

I regret spending the money on my 9.5ti, I dont use it enough to justify the cost..

However, I love its looks..

 

i run a cheapy cheapy winch on my rig
and ive abused the crap out of it
other than the slow line speed you really cant go wrong

 

I too have the Warn 9.5ti and while it's spendy, I know 5 years from now it will work just as good as now.

You can't argue the fact that the Smittybilt's are a good value, but everyone I've seen has corrosion within the first year, and the solenoids seem to be flaky.

IMO, you can't go wrong with the Warn M8000. You can find them for under $600 out the door and they're great. Ran one for many years.

 

My Smittybuilt has gone through 3 MD winters....lots of salt here and everything rusts. When I got the winch I knew there would be a few problems....I spent $5 on some stainless screws and to this day still have no rust. I can't speak for the solenoids as mine has been fine but the rust part can be eliminated cheaply.

 

Yeah pretty much true, Smittybilt has gone through 3 different manufactures that make there winches. The latest version is a lot better than the older models. Plus if you buy it from us we can get you a Lifetime Warranty on a Smittybilt for $30, or any winch for 10% of the winch price. I just replaced a 3 year old XRC 8 for nothing today because the guy had the Warranty, and he got the new style.

IMO the best winches for the money are Superwinch. Priced at or below $600, 9000lbs winch, with fast line speed and reliable.

Give me a call, I would be glad to help you out.

 

my superwinch has been flawless...got it for 400$ never failed me, even been submerged for 3 hrs under water and still works just fine! for me theres no point in buying a 1500$ winch...i could buy 3 superwinches for that price if they ever do die on me.

 

The best winch is the one that performs everytime you need it; regardless on how often you use it. I do not want to ever be in the situation "second guessing" if my winch will handle the task.

It only took my 1st time getting stuck (without a winch) to realize that I'm never gonna be that victim again. I then decided that there was no price limit for a quality winch. If my winch died on me when I needed it, it's like not having one at all.

Everybody has their own reasons for their choices.

 

Superwinch Epi9.0 worked flawlessly. Fast, strong and reliable. Then one day I plowed it into a guardrail. The end of the line for that winch and Jeep.

Superwinch on the mod list now!

 

I may not use the winch portion of my PowerPlant much, but I use the compressor part of it a lot!