I have a MileMarker SEC8 Scout with synthetic rope..its never let me down. I'd probably go with an M8000 with steel for roughly the same price if I had it to do over. I do like the rope better than cable though so I'd upgrade the Warn later if I didn't have the coin to go for the M8000s.

 

I just swapped out the steel cable on my M8000 for a Warn Spydura synthetic rope. They're maybe not suited to all types of wheeling but for my purposes synthetic is the way to go.

 

I'm in the same boat with my JKR. I've had my heart set on the Quadratec 9500i stealth but have yet to pull the trigger on it. They seem like a great winch and not too "cheap" and I like the fact that I would be dealing with Quadratec if a problem should arise.

 

The Harbor Freight Badlands 12K winch is currently on sale for $289.99, the 9K for $249.99. You can purchase an additional 2year no questions asked replacement plan for $50. It's a good value winch. I don't have a Warn store near me, but I have a HF store near me.

 

I know the op was looking for reviews on Smittybilt winches but I have no experience with them. I'm a big Superwinch fan and have been running them for years. I would definitely recommend going for the 12K. Like said in a previous post the winch doesn't have to work as hard. It's usually not a lot more money for the extra pulling power. I also highly recommend synthetic line for safety, weight reduction, and ease of use.

 

Have you had any experience with their winch?

 

I just finished installing it about a month ago. I don't have much personal history with it.

Lot's of good feedback from others on this and other Jeep forums, and lots of videos showing it in action on Youtube. 4.5 stars out of 200 user reviews on the HF website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VUZd1OJrc4
It passes the redneck abuse test in this one, doing everything NOT to do with a winch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLna9SUGwyg

 

I have the superwinch tigershark 9500. It's a piece of shit. It works, and it will pull me out of anything, but it is embarrassing when it gets too hot and shuts off randomly while pulling someone out.

 

I've beaten the shit out of my warm vr8000 and it keeps on pulling. I've had it for 4 years and have probably used it 100+ times.. I've done absolutely no maintenance to it, i never use a snatch block, a lot of long, hard pulls on it. I've used it as a tow strap to pull others out, I've pulled down trees/ held trees while I cut them down so they didn't fall on the house. I'm a believer that that winch is damn near indestructible.

 

When picking a winch the winch rating needs to be at least 2 times the GVW of your vehicle.
I've run both Smittybilt and Warn, neither one has let me down. For longevity purposes the Warn can be rebuilt fairly easy with parts easy to get.