Ironman Winch - Opinions/Experiences? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Anthony.L
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Tapage
Club 4X4 Panamá
IMOP the big advantage on a Warn or any other good bran winch .. it's if something fail you can buy that piece ..
Not sure if that happen with Ironman or any other non recognized winch ..
I have a MM E12K since 2004 and I got a replacement solenoid in warranty ... buy now isin't longer in production so I have no more parts for this winch ..
Not sure if that happen with Ironman or any other non recognized winch ..
I have a MM E12K since 2004 and I got a replacement solenoid in warranty ... buy now isin't longer in production so I have no more parts for this winch ..
True, Warn has a strong history of backing its winches up with parts and support.
Many import winches are T-Max clones. While you may have to do some research, many common parts are interchangeable between various "brands" since they come out of the same factory. Not as certain as Warn's legacy, but also not as hopeless as is sometimes depicted.
In any case, something like a bum solenoid shouldn't be the end of the line for any winch. You should be able to adapt another solenoid to a winch so long as you get an equivalent rated one and wire it right.
Many import winches are T-Max clones. While you may have to do some research, many common parts are interchangeable between various "brands" since they come out of the same factory. Not as certain as Warn's legacy, but also not as hopeless as is sometimes depicted.
In any case, something like a bum solenoid shouldn't be the end of the line for any winch. You should be able to adapt another solenoid to a winch so long as you get an equivalent rated one and wire it right.
Tapage
Club 4X4 Panamá
My MM E12K winch it's up and running and for 350 bucks I can expect more than that .. it save my asss couple of times and I have a spare gearbox anycase .. ( I got the last one in the Florida warehouse )
why don't you consider superwinch , i'm pretty sure this is good winch and sumersible soleinoid .
4WD Toyota Owner Magazine
SILVER Star
Glad you saw it in 4WD Toyota Owner magazine
, ditto on the Slee bumper setup. We like them both. Since we have the Ironman installed, we may as well report further on it as an actual user. It's been great so far. We have done both test pulls for timing purposes as well as real-world recovery and no problems as yet. We replaced the steel cable with Viking Offroad synthetic (also awesome) and so far so good.I have had a Warn M12000 that's been bulletproof mechanically, but the solenoid has fried twice. Once was my fault, the winch was under water, but it still got me out. I wrote a thank you letter the Warn about that, i was so impressed. The other was an unknown cause failure under not hard load. Also have an 8274 that had a solenoid failure on trail. Each time, Warn was SUPERB with their customer service.
I have also had a Superwinch EP9000 that failed on trail.
We now have CSI and Pierce winches on the table for testing. CSI is straight Chinese. It'll be interesting to see how they do.
I read all the comments here and I think people are not well informed when they make these statements. Ironman 4x4 is a company that has been in the market since 1958 and has sold their products in 120 countries for more than 50 years. Their products are originally from Australia and have been tested in the toughest terrains around the world.
They are just entering the market in US. They have been well reviewed by the 4wd Toyota magazine and Toyota trails magazine among others. In addition, their customer service is the best. Eli (the owner of Camel 4x4) is on top of things and he is always very helpful. I just bought the monster winch, the roof tent, and the recovery kit. The prices are fair and as I mentioned before, they are well reviewed by well recognized magazines in US.
I believe it was about time to end Warn's monopoly in US. Their prices are ridiculous! They could do that because they were the only ones in the market, but now a lot of companies are finally coming to US to end that. Check ironman4x4 and camel4x4 sites for more information. Give Eli a call if you have questions. I can assure you that he will be very helpful.
They are just entering the market in US. They have been well reviewed by the 4wd Toyota magazine and Toyota trails magazine among others. In addition, their customer service is the best. Eli (the owner of Camel 4x4) is on top of things and he is always very helpful. I just bought the monster winch, the roof tent, and the recovery kit. The prices are fair and as I mentioned before, they are well reviewed by well recognized magazines in US.
I believe it was about time to end Warn's monopoly in US. Their prices are ridiculous! They could do that because they were the only ones in the market, but now a lot of companies are finally coming to US to end that. Check ironman4x4 and camel4x4 sites for more information. Give Eli a call if you have questions. I can assure you that he will be very helpful.
I have used the crap out my xrc12 and it hasnt failed. Before I bought my xrc12 I looked up and down all forums to find reviews and the consensus was that it was sloooow. Which is true. other than that no failures. Some Chinese made winchs are worth buying over a warn to save money. A warn is a warn, but as mentioned above, inexperience and installing the wrong way would cause any winch to fail.
I have had an 8274 on my 40 for the past 14 years and it has only needed to have the solenoids and brushes replaced.
I have a cheap Chinese made winch on my LX450, but I don't plan on it being in a situation where my life would depend on it. I looked at a lot of different Chinese winches, MM, HF, T-Max, Superwinch, Smittybilt etc. and they look very much alike. The different capacities come from different motors and gear boxes and they all look interchangeable. I am pretty sure that you can just mix and match the parts between all the brands.
The point is that I can see paying a lot of money for a Warn and I can see paying very little money for a Chinese winch. Which you chose would depend on its intended use.
What I can't see is paying a lot of money for a Chinese winch. $700 for the Ironman is about twice as much as the average price.
I have a cheap Chinese made winch on my LX450, but I don't plan on it being in a situation where my life would depend on it. I looked at a lot of different Chinese winches, MM, HF, T-Max, Superwinch, Smittybilt etc. and they look very much alike. The different capacities come from different motors and gear boxes and they all look interchangeable. I am pretty sure that you can just mix and match the parts between all the brands.
The point is that I can see paying a lot of money for a Warn and I can see paying very little money for a Chinese winch. Which you chose would depend on its intended use.
What I can't see is paying a lot of money for a Chinese winch. $700 for the Ironman is about twice as much as the average price.
1000Taco0001
SILVER Star
Ok.. Thread revival time. If you have an IronMan is it still working out have you replaced it? Any new insights?
Found this on an Aussie site when reading reviews:
"FYI warn and Iron man parts are interchangeable. I have a gear bock from XD9500 and it is identical as is motor and bolt up patterns. I think this is pretty standard across most winchs. Could be wrong."
Interesting if its true.
Found this on an Aussie site when reading reviews:
"FYI warn and Iron man parts are interchangeable. I have a gear bock from XD9500 and it is identical as is motor and bolt up patterns. I think this is pretty standard across most winchs. Could be wrong."
Interesting if its true.
1000Taco0001
SILVER Star
So I see these Ironman winches are on sale. Any recent feedback on them after some more years of use?
Hot Deals
ironman4x4america.com
I just bought one and am waiting for my hidden winch mount to install it in my LX470. I will report back ASAP once I get a chance to use it.
I'm also in the market for a winch and would be curious to see whether anyone has some time on an Ironman 9.5 or 12k. I am leaning toward the 12k but also feel the 9.5k would be sufficient with a snatch block for any hairy recoveries.
prwillard2
SILVER Star
I just got a 12k ironman winch. Based on the solenoid (which the box is way bigger than needed, and DEFINATELY not water proof), it would seem that they're nearly identical to the "Badlands" winch that is sold at Harbor Freight. Those have good reviews, so hopeful that this one will be good as well.
The mounting of the solenoid for the Ironman winch is horrible. They say to just mount the control box on the top of your damn bumper. No thanks. Currently working to design a custom solenoid box that will fit under the bumper that is hidden that is actually waterproof. I'll then wire it in to my cab as well for operation while maintaining the ability to use the controller with plug in and wireless reciever capabilities.
The mounting of the solenoid for the Ironman winch is horrible. They say to just mount the control box on the top of your damn bumper. No thanks. Currently working to design a custom solenoid box that will fit under the bumper that is hidden that is actually waterproof. I'll then wire it in to my cab as well for operation while maintaining the ability to use the controller with plug in and wireless reciever capabilities.
I don't see any seals at all on that box. Scary. I just ordered the 9500 synthetic winch today. Starting to question my decision. It was that or the Apex12k from Harbor Freight. Fingers crossed I made the right decision.
prwillard2
SILVER Star
I'll post my custom solenoid box. Putting it in an electrical junction box that I will make waterproof.
