I installed the Rugged Ridge XHD front bumper yesterday and I'm still up in the air on which winch I should go with. I prefer synthetic as I've used both on my ATV. I've had a superwinch 3000 and Warn 3.0XT for ATV winches and my experience was that the Warn was more dependable. I had the superwinch 3000 rebuilt twice for gears breaking but the folks at Superwinch had great customer service and supported the product fully so I'm not writing them off. I would venture a guess that I may never need to use this winch but put a few beers in me and I may have to retract that statement if I drive my jeep like i did my Arctic Cat 650. Has anyone had any experience with the rugged ridge winches or the smittybuilt? they seem to be the least expensive but I'm skeptical of the quality. Whaddya think?

 

I've had my smittybilt for about 3 years now. The only problems I've had with it are cosmetic stuff like the bolt heads rusting and the stickers peeling and fading. Other than that my only complaint is that it is pretty slow, but has never left me stranded.

 

- Compare warranties on each winch.

Not too many people on here running RR winches. You shouldn't have any problems getting feedback for smittybilt though.

Good luck and post pics!

 

I think for the price, i'm going with the smitty built XRC comp 10. I'm going value line on most of the build so I can spend more on the lift and tires. I may or may not use this but at least I will have one if needed. Will the smittybuilt bolt into the existin holes in the Rugged Ridge XHD?

I'm sure within a few years I will have gone back through and re-done everything I'm doing now (kinda like a house remodel) but I have to start somewhere...

 

should bolt up with no problem...

 

I have the same set up. Easy installation and the winch works great. It litterally just drops right into the mounting holes in the bumper. The wiring is all color coded and where the connections go are color coded as well, I didn't even mess it up ! I got mine from 4WD (site sponser). If you call them you can add a lifetime warrenty on the winch for like $50 that covers anything...

 

I read an article a while back in JP magazine and the Smitybilt winches got really good reviews. The article mentioned they made some noise, but held up really well. I'll be in the market sometime this year, after new bumper is put on. I'll have to conside if I want to spend the money on Warn, but if not I'll go with the smitybilt.

 

I would say it depends on your budget. I went with the XRC and have been very happy. I have only used it twice but I do make sure I run it at least once a month. For the price you could buy 3 XRC's for about 1 Warn.

One a side note I have been very happy with the customer support for Smittybuilt. Through my own fault I lost some of the bolts for the Winch and contacted them about getting replacements. I was prepared to pay because it was my own fault but they shipped to me for free in only a few days

 

does anyone have pics of the xrc 10 comp winch with the hawse fairlead? Just interested to know what it will look like!