Looking at getting a winch.

Kinda narrowed it down to two units.

Either the smitty built X2NO comp 8 for $599
or the new black finish quadratech 9000 winch for $290

just not sure its worth the $$$ for the smitty with synthetic rope and sealed motor??? Guess I am wondering if those features are not really necessary but more luxury's?


looking for opinions......

 

Id say those features are nice, but you have to answer that. Is the price jump worth it if your just looking for a barebones winch, imo no. I run synthetic, I like the weight loss and safety, but realize I have to handle it more carefully around rocks than cable. Sealed is nice if you're in a wet climate most of the year. That being said, I run a warn 9.5 w/a neoprene cover and feel the best advice to give is to at least consider the warn m8000. I've seen them as low as around 600 also recently if you choose to be in the market for the smittybilt. Good luck.

 

I have a cheap harbor freight winch and it works flawlessly. $299 and its a 9000lb-er. Have never had a problem with it. Been very reliable.

 

Recon 10.5 k with synthetic line from Truck and winch works well. dyes your hands blue but much easier to handle than the stiff thick cable. especially in snow.
Been using a cheapo HF 8k for a few years now, it's been fine.
The remote is starting to wear out and the line is showing its age but it's pulled me and my wheeling buddies out of the muck and snow dozens of times and never stalled.

 

Do you mostly do water , snow , rocks , steep climbs next to deadly drop offs? I would buy the best winch I could afford , because I value my life . If you are hanging off a cliff and a winch is going to save your life , do you go for chinese , or american? steel cable , or nylon? It's up to you!

 

Warn is the best for line speed and performance. The cheap harbor freight winch was ranked 3rd for being reliable and line speed. Superwinch, mile marker, and smittybilt all failed within 10 minutes of the test. I cannot remember what placed second. The study was done by 4wheel parts I believe. I saw it at the beginning of summer. Hope this helps!

 

The second place was Engo, which only lost because the first had a better manual. Otherwise it performed as well or better. There's a thread on the vendors section. I believe it's one of the site sponsors and usually runs some promos.

I got one of the 10000lbs version with the synthetic line. Did not have to use it yet but several other folks who did confirmed it's very good.

 

I run a runva 10.5k. Its Chinese. It cost about $350 with steel cable and wireless. It's never let me down.

The Solonoid is not waterproof. Meaning it won't work submerged. The same goes for many winches. I've had it underwater with no problems. You can waterproof it or you can relocate it under the hood.

I recommend it for someone who just needs a winch for getting unstuck the odd time, etc... Its not like I'm constantly rock crawling, etc with my winch and couldn't justify an extra $1000 on the warn

 

If I remember correctly Recon took 2nd. Great winch for the price. Built in solenoid, waterproof, synthetic line and rated at 10,500 for apprx $479.00.

 

X2