Hello all,

After a few times getting lucky in my '12 JKUR, I've decided that a winch will be my birthday gift to myself. However, I'm stuck trying to decide how much is "enough", vs. "luxury". I'm definitely going with a Warn, but I'm wondering if an M8000 is going to be enough for a 4500lb+ 4 door. I have no mods other than ARB bumpers front and rear - perhaps 100lbs net gain from those. I live in NC, so I'm not going to be hauling myself up a cliff in Moab every day, but we do have red clay that turns to vehicle-sucking primordial ooze whenever it rains, and there's no avoiding it off pavement.

Thanks!

 

You'll absolutely want a 9500 or 10,000lb + winch. The general rule is 1.5x your weight but the winches are rated at the capacity on the 5th full wrap on the drum. It's not frequent that people actually pull all 85' of cable out during a recovery.

It should be noted a little more clearly with the purchase of any winch that it needs to be run monthly to avoid solenoid sticking problems. It's not a problem you want to find when you need the winch the most.

 

Like mentioned a 8000 pound winch is a bit small. You can always run snatch blocks to double your line pull but it's not always practical.

My buddy runs a 8K on his JKU and it seems to work pretty hard but it gets the job done. I run a 10K and have no complaints.

 

You won't be able to go to Moab all the time in NC but you will be able to go to Uwharrie which is a decent place to test your Jeeps abilities. 10K for a 4 door is minimum. Lots of places in NC to have fun Outer banks Crossing "OBX" is a great place to drive on the beaches for miles. I say intergraded solenoid looks nicer but its your choice also I prefer an in bumper Winch mount vs the top of bumper one.

 

I haven't been to Uwharrie yet - that's on next year's list - but I did overnight on Portsmouth Island this summer





The ARB stubby isn't really enclosed like the full-width ones are, but it gets the drum between the frame rails at least. I'm thinking I like the non-integrateds better, because it seems to be lower-profile.

Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking. Of course, if I could wedge one in, a 12000'er would have that pull on the first layer out

 

I would suggest 12K for a JKU. By the time you ad winch, bumpers, a bit of armor, tires and wheels plus your gear and passengers, you are pushing your JKU weight well over 5500#.

I prefer to have a winch a little on the bigger side rather then smaller and find out it's just not enough.
FYI for those that go through mud. The suction in mud hole can double you vehicle weight.

 

With the small price differences you can find nowadays, doesn't make a lot of sense to settle for 8k. And don't limit yourself to one or two brands when you are researching, lots of new names on the market to look at, with good reviews and amazingly low prices. I could almost buy three 10k's with synthetic line for what I paid for my warn hs9500i w/ steel cable 16 years ago. (great winch, and still running strong, but kinda makes you think...)

 

After measuring it this morning, a 12K isn't going to fit without more cutting than I'm comfortable doing. But I should be able to shoehorn a 9.5xp - with a snatch block, I'd feel OK getting out of most things I'm likely to encounter.

 

Which 12K are you looking at? The 10K and 12K Smittybilt X2O are the same physical size.

 

Yea, and the reason I went with the 12K X2O on my JK. It was only $100 more if I remember correctly.

And get the extreme warranty from 4WD and your golden. I tore mine apart... cracked motor housing, 1 broke mounting bolt, bent the main shaft and drum and finally snapped the synthetic rope. 4WD handed me a brand new everything.