Has anyone ever sunk the winch in mud and did this cause any problems. I have never covered one or anything else and had no problems but I have never put one truly under water. I do not plan on going into mud this deep or water this deep but it would be nice to know for future adventures.

 

Most are at least 'semi' sealed. The winch mfg's have a pretty good idea what kind of abuse they are put through, so they make an attempt to keep them running in the conditions they are likely to see. Obviously, some are sealed better than others, but a dunking shouldn't cause any permanent damage. Just maintain it, and if you think your abuse warrants it, pull the winch apart and clean all of your mud and gunk from the insides..

I have had my warn 9.5ti on the front of my 4x4's for going on 11 years now. No mud baths to speak of, but several completely underwater dunkings. I have never been stuck and tried to run it while submerged, though.

 

My EPI 9.0s pulled me out of this mess no problem.





However about an hour later when I got into this it failed on me completely. I took it apart and cleaned it up and it's back to 100% but it did fail from being submerged in deep muddy water.





It really didn't look that bad inside but the brushes fit pretty tight in the part that they slide in and the little bit of grit that got in there binded them up enough that they would no longer make contact. Lesson learned. Have backup or wheel in groups of 2 if you are going to be playing in the deep stuff.

 

Thanks guys.