rusty jeep

If you are going to Ouray you probably won't need to be worried about the winch. The trails are not that bad. Mostly just really beautifull scenery. But it is a good piece of equipement to have. Trails are usually heavily traveled so if something happens someone will be coming along shortly to help out. Just got back from Moab and Ouray last week...had a great time...lots of snow.

djdingo

Thanks for all the replies!

Is there a good way to mount a winch on the OEM front bumper? I eventually want to get it replaced but I have a short list of necessities to get before the trip and the rest of the money is for the trip so I can't afford to get a new bumper right now.

Lanster

Costco dot com has a Mile Marker PE8000 for 369.99. For any deal hunters.

IMFletch

Mile Marker is another great value in winches. A friend of mine used one for years of hardcore wheelin and he never had an issue with it. For me a Warn is worth the extra $$ but for light use, it maybe hard to justify financially.

Good luck.

somewhereinla

I recently read an article on a winch shoot out in Moab. Most of the brands were tested and the two best were Warn and Super Winch. Super Winch performed as well the Warn, and in some cases better, and at about half the price of a Warn, a much better value. Also Bill Burke (an offroad legend) recommend the Super Winch... The Warn is definitely a great winch, just keep in mind that half the price is because of the name, nit the performance.

Geeper4x4

My thoughts are worth nothing but I also need a winch and have spent time observing different winches working. This is where I'm at on the whole winch thing.

The Smittybuilt will take care of most light use needs. The cost is so low $300 it's hard not to say it's a great value. They are a little slow but stuck is going nowhere. I think I will eventually get this winch as a rear receiver hitch winch. Not sure about stowing it because I only have a 2 dr.

Superwinch EPi9.0 is one of my favorites and is on my list to buy. SOON>>>About $600. It is good, reliable and quite fast with a 125ft line, fairlead, and pulleyblock included it is my biggest bang for the buck value.

The best winch I've seen being used and is very fast with NO cool down necessary is the Warn 9.5xp $1,000. Well, cool down might be necessary but it pulled so hard and fast on both pulls I watched cool down just didn't happen. It can pull harder and faster than anything around. It is amazing to see the difference of the low end and a high end winch.There is a reason why the serious guys tout the Warn name. They also back their winches and that costs money for them as well. I just don't have the funds or honestly the trail use for this much winch. It sure is nice to watch it work though.

Winch sense:
Just remember to give the motor time to cool down for longer pulls. This will help the motor to last longer. Also pulling more line out allows the winch to pull better. It is like a big gear with more line on the drum the winch is in high gear and looses it's pulling power. With more line out it is in low gear
and can pull at max rating on the first layer. You need to leave 4-5 wraps on the drum for safety. Also a pulley block can help give you pulling power by going out and back to the vehicle pulls that line off the drum and doubles the power since it's going around a pulley. Just know that it slooows things down a lot and isn't always possible on the trail. Never hook the cable back to itself around anything. A strap and another buddy works much faster. You will need a tree strap also for the trail.
Now go get dirty, rocked out, and almost stuck.

nclehmann

There's an easier, less invasive way of doing it also. But it's more expensive. There are 3 brackets (that I know of) that will attach to the front bumper or frame rails and allow you to mount a winch above the front bumper without cutting into the bumper.

Warn:
http://www.quadratec.com/products/12114_010_07.htm

Ramsey:
http://www.quadratec.com/products/12114_300_07.htm

Rough Country:
http://www.roughcountry.com/winch_mounts_jk.html

You can also find a way to mount a 2" hitch receiver in the front of the Jeep under the front bumper and get one of these:

Hitch receiver winch plate:
http://www.quadratec.com/products/12014_93.htm

Good luck.

screws

Damn for the price of some of the brackets you can buy a nice stubby front bumper and get rid of the plastic crap bumper.

nclehmann

I agree. Ridiculous prices. That's why so many have turned to chopping up their stock bumpers.