What is the best winch for my Jeep Wrangler TJ?
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Is there any worth getting a stronger winch to make recovering others easier? I'm asking cuz my younger brother has a full sized truck, and drives like a younger brother.
If you do a lot of recoveries or your recoveries tend to be slog fests then having more winch is not a bad thing. Problem with putting on a larger winch because you want to recover larger vehicles is that it will not work. Your TJ weighs less than they do so unless you plan on anchoring yourself down and adding that stress to your chassis you would be better off setting your brother up so he can self recover.
Anchoring my Jeep wouldn't really be an issue. But ya, my major concern is how well the TJ frame can handle it long term.
You wont have an issue if you get a 12K winch. Obviously a good winch plate and rear bumper are essential. Take a look at a 6 ton press, the steel that supports it, then take a look at a Jeep frame. 12,000 lbs isn't enough force to permanently bend the frame and the winch will catch on fire before it gets much past that number. 12k is also fine for full size recovery.
That's what they make spring spacers for !Custom, and it might make the front end sag a little!
Sorry to post in an old thread but I'm looking at a used Warn m8000 and didn't know if this is worth checking out.
From the description: "I have a warn m8000-s winch synthetic rope like new been on vehicle never used comes with a corded handle and a wireless programmable controller"
Seems legit but has been posted for a few weeks which always scares me.
From the description: "I have a warn m8000-s winch synthetic rope like new been on vehicle never used comes with a corded handle and a wireless programmable controller"
Seems legit but has been posted for a few weeks which always scares me.
Dan, I have no knowledge about replacing steel cable with rope on an existing winch, but I do know that Warn uses the same 3/8 synthetic on both the 10,000 and 12,000 winches. It is definitely up to the task and kind of the standard size for the 8,000 to 12,000 class winches.
I finally made the switch to rope and have never looked back. I wish I had done it sooner. You need to learn to keep it out of the sunlight as much as possible and learn how to splice it, but there is really nothing to it. You can learn to properly splice it in 10 minutes.
Hope this helps.
I finally made the switch to rope and have never looked back. I wish I had done it sooner. You need to learn to keep it out of the sunlight as much as possible and learn how to splice it, but there is really nothing to it. You can learn to properly splice it in 10 minutes.
Hope this helps.
I’ve had a Warn winch on on my various different trucks I’ve had since 1977. The formula that has always worked was having a winch with a bare minimum of twice the GVWR of the truck and this math has served me well.
When I started looking for a Jeep a few months ago, I had it my head that I wanted the overkill of a Zeon 12000 pound winch. When I found the Jeep I purchased, it had a virtually new M8000 steel cable winch converted to synthetic. I was ready to sell it in favor of a Zeon until I read Chris’ glowing endorsement. I decided to leave it in place and give it a chance. After all it does meet my twice GVWR formula and it is a Warn product.
Today, I got mired to the rear axle in one of those suction cup kind of bogs. Lockers on both ends and 35 Mickey Bajas didn’t get it out of the thick glue. A tree had been kindly placed by God in the exact location I needed. We used a soft shackle snatch ring for a double line pull, which sort of indicated my lack of confidence.
The front axle wasn’t as deep as the rear and when I started winching I noticed that the left front wheel wasn’t turning, but the vehicle was moving fine. I stopped immediately and realized I had left it in gear by mistake. It was dragging the Jeep on the non turning wheels!
. Hope that mistake didn’t cause damage to be discovered later.Anyway, I just want to admit my lack of confidence was unwarranted. This winch is, as Chris claimed, the correct winch for a Jeep and Peppergat did a very solid installation, both mechanically and electrically.
This is in line with something I’ve said since I was in the Army fifty years ago and that is: “You never need a pistol until you need it BADLY.” Same goes for a winch. Had I not had a capable winch yesterday, I might still be trying to walk out of those woods.
My jeep has an old Badlands winch on it from the previous owner. It's saved my butt several times.
. Well, in our far Eastern end of the state we get rain and things get green. I’ve lived elsewhere in the state where brown is the much more common color of things..
Grumpy Old Man
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