Wow I have just looked through the first couple of pages so I still have a ton or reading to do here, so I'll wait to ask questions but I just wanta say you have one beautiful rig. I'm jelly and cant wait to read more.
Meet "Fat Amy" my Amazon Green 200 Series
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- Thread starter
- #683
http://vid910.photobucket.com/albums/ac307/abhitchc/200 Series LandCruiser/trim.ABEE0D8D-8688-4EE2-BAE0-659717CC481F_zpspctrbf0h.mp4
Someone embed it for me; I am having trouble. @wngrog , can you lend a hand?
Someone embed it for me; I am having trouble. @wngrog , can you lend a hand?
- Thread starter
- #684
Here we go:
Now...... 6 pages of 2 or 5 buckets!!
OK now that I have just spent the last 2.5 hrs reading this entire thread I feel qualified to post some actual substance and my .02...
So about the winch choices, and this is coming from someone who has taught off road safety and recovery to search and rescue groups as well as in the military, and done many recoveries both self/and added (as I'm sure many of you all have as well). The winch is something I see a lot of people skimp on, because they feel, "oh I'm never gonna need it much really... , maybe once or twice.." Yeah exactly, when you get stuck your probably gonna have you buddy hook up a strap and pull you out, or you are gonna have him use his winch. When you need your winch is when you are all alone and by yourself... That is when you NEED the winch to work, and it may or may not be when you have your wife and kid(s) with you. Now do you really want to be relying on that off brand winch you bought 4 years ago, that you save $500 and only tested for 20 seconds... Or do you want to know for a fact that you have a trusted product that is known for working reliably day in and day out in all kinds of environments and conditions? I mean if your budget winch works great, but if it doesn't, then what?, are you prepared to leave your rig and hike for help, are you prepared to stay in it over night with your family till help arrives(whenever that maybe) also what happens when your winch dies mid pull? Your now on the line under load and you now have to rely on the item that just died to hold you (if you are on a hill -happens more than you'd think).
OK enough with the scare talk, now let loom at the more practical side of things, you buy a cheap winch, it fails, no biggie its got that "lifetime warranty"... Now you have to go through all the hassle of removing your bumper(again) to get the thing out, and then you have to ship it back to the manufacture (there's $100 one way), then you wait while they decide if they are gonna rebuild yours or if they are gonna send you a new one... Now you pay another $50-100 in return shipping to get it back and then you have to reinstall it (removing the bumper yet again..) Only to be back to square. Now more money spent making your initial deal or cost savings seam not so great anymore... There are somethings to consider here when buying a winch, that most people never look at. One is where is the winch manufacture actually located at? -for me I'm super lucky I live 20-40min for Warn,ComeUp, and Engo... So I can really pick with ease. For you superwinch is close(they are on the east coast) so shipping costs will be less IF you ever have issues. There are only 4 winch manufactures that I would spend my money one cause I have seen them work time and time again and I listed them in order of how I'd buy with the first two being neck and neck. I have seen way too many s***tybuilts DOA, and crap out on the trail, and heard horror stories about how 4WP treats people on warranty stuff, and even experienced it myself, they will try every trick in the book to blame you owner/operator for the problem and if you installed it yourself, that's like nails in the casket.
One thing you pay for with Warn (same with ARB) is their customer service! It's second to none. I bought a used Warn winch and it was beat up pretty bad(it was at night and I was in a hurry) anyhow I ended up calling Warn the next day after looking at my mistake in buying a $300 90lb paper weight... They told me to bring it down, labor was $40/hr take less than 3hrs to rebuild and probably $less than $200 in parts(sweet still way ahead) I got there the guys were super nice, told me not to worry they'd have me all fixed up and taken care of after talking for amin or two and finding out I was in search and rescue and military, he asked if I was in a rush to get the winch back and I said not really. And he then said to give him a couple weeks and he'd hook me up. Well about a week later I get a call, my winch is ready. Go down and pick it up, everything is brand new except the clutch housing (has the SN stamped into it). The guy made me a custom winch that started life as a 9000xd that now had a 9.5xp motor, all new weather tight seals, that at the time they had only put on the ti's a brand new cable, new roller fairlead new remote control, all new wires and control box, new drum, new brake ect. and they even put the specific hook on it I was looking for. All of this and the labor for a hand shake and a thank-you. Yeah free! That's the kind of customer service that you pay for when buying one. -mind you I bought it used and I was not the original owner, so their warranty didn't have to apply...
I have also spoken to and personally met the owner of Engo and witnesded first hand how he personally took care of a customer who had a issue with one of his winches, he personally come down to the dealer who sold the winch tore it apart, saw the issues couldn't fix it right here so had the dealer give him a brand new winch of the shelf and threw in a wireless control for the hassle. And I have spoken with the guys at ComeUp and they have some really cool innovative technology that makes sense and works, like the "cone brake"... And I know Bill Burke uses superwinch exclusively and he put his stuff through the paces... and only uses quality products that work.
I think the late Chris Farley said it best in Tommy Boy; "...you can put a guarantee on anything, even a piece of s***, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still a piece of s***..." And at the end of they day all they are gonna do is replace your pieces of s*** with another piece of s***...
So about the winch choices, and this is coming from someone who has taught off road safety and recovery to search and rescue groups as well as in the military, and done many recoveries both self/and added (as I'm sure many of you all have as well). The winch is something I see a lot of people skimp on, because they feel, "oh I'm never gonna need it much really... , maybe once or twice.." Yeah exactly, when you get stuck your probably gonna have you buddy hook up a strap and pull you out, or you are gonna have him use his winch. When you need your winch is when you are all alone and by yourself... That is when you NEED the winch to work, and it may or may not be when you have your wife and kid(s) with you. Now do you really want to be relying on that off brand winch you bought 4 years ago, that you save $500 and only tested for 20 seconds... Or do you want to know for a fact that you have a trusted product that is known for working reliably day in and day out in all kinds of environments and conditions? I mean if your budget winch works great, but if it doesn't, then what?, are you prepared to leave your rig and hike for help, are you prepared to stay in it over night with your family till help arrives(whenever that maybe) also what happens when your winch dies mid pull? Your now on the line under load and you now have to rely on the item that just died to hold you (if you are on a hill -happens more than you'd think).
OK enough with the scare talk, now let loom at the more practical side of things, you buy a cheap winch, it fails, no biggie its got that "lifetime warranty"... Now you have to go through all the hassle of removing your bumper(again) to get the thing out, and then you have to ship it back to the manufacture (there's $100 one way), then you wait while they decide if they are gonna rebuild yours or if they are gonna send you a new one... Now you pay another $50-100 in return shipping to get it back and then you have to reinstall it (removing the bumper yet again..) Only to be back to square. Now more money spent making your initial deal or cost savings seam not so great anymore... There are somethings to consider here when buying a winch, that most people never look at. One is where is the winch manufacture actually located at? -for me I'm super lucky I live 20-40min for Warn,ComeUp, and Engo... So I can really pick with ease. For you superwinch is close(they are on the east coast) so shipping costs will be less IF you ever have issues. There are only 4 winch manufactures that I would spend my money one cause I have seen them work time and time again and I listed them in order of how I'd buy with the first two being neck and neck. I have seen way too many s***tybuilts DOA, and crap out on the trail, and heard horror stories about how 4WP treats people on warranty stuff, and even experienced it myself, they will try every trick in the book to blame you owner/operator for the problem and if you installed it yourself, that's like nails in the casket.
One thing you pay for with Warn (same with ARB) is their customer service! It's second to none. I bought a used Warn winch and it was beat up pretty bad(it was at night and I was in a hurry) anyhow I ended up calling Warn the next day after looking at my mistake in buying a $300 90lb paper weight... They told me to bring it down, labor was $40/hr take less than 3hrs to rebuild and probably $less than $200 in parts(sweet still way ahead) I got there the guys were super nice, told me not to worry they'd have me all fixed up and taken care of after talking for amin or two and finding out I was in search and rescue and military, he asked if I was in a rush to get the winch back and I said not really. And he then said to give him a couple weeks and he'd hook me up. Well about a week later I get a call, my winch is ready. Go down and pick it up, everything is brand new except the clutch housing (has the SN stamped into it). The guy made me a custom winch that started life as a 9000xd that now had a 9.5xp motor, all new weather tight seals, that at the time they had only put on the ti's a brand new cable, new roller fairlead new remote control, all new wires and control box, new drum, new brake ect. and they even put the specific hook on it I was looking for. All of this and the labor for a hand shake and a thank-you. Yeah free! That's the kind of customer service that you pay for when buying one. -mind you I bought it used and I was not the original owner, so their warranty didn't have to apply...
I have also spoken to and personally met the owner of Engo and witnesded first hand how he personally took care of a customer who had a issue with one of his winches, he personally come down to the dealer who sold the winch tore it apart, saw the issues couldn't fix it right here so had the dealer give him a brand new winch of the shelf and threw in a wireless control for the hassle. And I have spoken with the guys at ComeUp and they have some really cool innovative technology that makes sense and works, like the "cone brake"... And I know Bill Burke uses superwinch exclusively and he put his stuff through the paces... and only uses quality products that work.
I think the late Chris Farley said it best in Tommy Boy; "...you can put a guarantee on anything, even a piece of s***, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still a piece of s***..." And at the end of they day all they are gonna do is replace your pieces of s*** with another piece of s***...
TL;DR version:
He likes Warn.
He likes Warn.
Warn isn't the only one who makes good winch and who has good customer service. But don't buy a cheap winch to save a few bucks it will cost you in the long run, it always does...
- Thread starter
- #693
Thanks for that lengthy post @The Great Him , very insightful. I liked the Farley reference at the end. Reminded me of "sticking your head up a butcher's ass". Thanks for the props too.
I have been on the fence about the winch. Hence the reason I have not bought one yet.
To be quite honest, all our extra cash is being pooled to buy some land in Madison County right now, anyway.
I will probably get the ComeUp or Warn; just haven't decided just yet. I've rebuilt an 8274 before, so finding a Warn on craigslist and doing a rebuild is not out of the question.
I have been on the fence about the winch. Hence the reason I have not bought one yet.
To be quite honest, all our extra cash is being pooled to buy some land in Madison County right now, anyway.
I will probably get the ComeUp or Warn; just haven't decided just yet. I've rebuilt an 8274 before, so finding a Warn on craigslist and doing a rebuild is not out of the question.
Even though Warn has gone above and beyond any expectations I have for any company my next winch for my GX will probably be a ComeUp unless I find just a killer deal on a zeon10s
- Thread starter
- #695
Not too much to update right now.
Just rolled past 89,000 miles on the odometer. The 90k service is coming up. In addition to the usual stuff ilke tire rotations and oil, it looks like I need to replace my differential oil too.
Do you guys generally go with OE fluids, or do you go with Lucas or something like Amsoil?
I did get my switch installed for my future LED spot lights. It came with my TJM bulbar, and since I wired my TJM foglight to the OE foglight harness, I had no use for it before. Looks almost OE, but its just a bit too bright.
I placed an order for a pair of 225W driving spotlights this morning on Amazon. I'd love to have ARB Intensities, but quite honestly, I do not want to spend $600 a piece on LED technology that will be out of date in the next few years. These China specials appear well-made, and supposedly have even brighter of an output than the ARBs they are supposed to look like. A few members on ih8mud have had them for a while, and apparently have been pretty pleased with them. Time will tell if I regret not splurging on the ARBs.
Just rolled past 89,000 miles on the odometer. The 90k service is coming up. In addition to the usual stuff ilke tire rotations and oil, it looks like I need to replace my differential oil too.
Do you guys generally go with OE fluids, or do you go with Lucas or something like Amsoil?
I did get my switch installed for my future LED spot lights. It came with my TJM bulbar, and since I wired my TJM foglight to the OE foglight harness, I had no use for it before. Looks almost OE, but its just a bit too bright.
I placed an order for a pair of 225W driving spotlights this morning on Amazon. I'd love to have ARB Intensities, but quite honestly, I do not want to spend $600 a piece on LED technology that will be out of date in the next few years. These China specials appear well-made, and supposedly have even brighter of an output than the ARBs they are supposed to look like. A few members on ih8mud have had them for a while, and apparently have been pretty pleased with them. Time will tell if I regret not splurging on the ARBs.
Land Speeder
InstaH8R
LED
....ZEPPELIN
....ZEPPELIN
Having seen both sets in person (although not side by side) they appear to be the exact same thing. With ARB you are paying for not only the name, but the customer service and warranty backing... But as you said, other have and are running these with no issues. As far as them being brighter, idk, probably not.
I'm sure you could put some sort of resistor in the wire to the switch to dim the illumination on the switch...
Sent from my XT1585
I'm sure you could put some sort of resistor in the wire to the switch to dim the illumination on the switch...
Sent from my XT1585
Oh and as far as fluids I have always run mobile 1 synthetic in pretty much everything -all my rigs, motor oil, diffs, tcases... I honestly don't see the necessity for the higher priced aimsoil ect. Now if you had a fleet and or were putting a ton of miles on it then yeah but cost effectiveness of it, isn't there IMO. And really most of the synthetics are all gonna do the same thing, just find one you like or that is on sale and go with it. -NAPA brand is just repackaged Valvoline...
Sent from my XT1585
Sent from my XT1585
- Thread starter
- #699
Good idea about the resistor; I'll try that.
- Thread starter
- #700
