My WARN 8274 rebuild part 1..... (3 Viewers)

[woodsman 44]

Bump for a great thread!!

I just picked up a 8274 and the number on top is...303213...any idea what year this is?

Second I want to get a 4.6 motor and upgrade the solinoid as well...albright or super winch, which one to use?

Heres some pics...cant wait to rebuild this workhorse classic!

 

[flintknapper]

That looks like a fine candidate for a rebuild. I'd do the 'Albright' solenoid.

Don't know if the serial number will tell you the year of manufacture or not, but the unit looks like those produced from the early to mid 1980's.

Be sure and post pics when you are done.

Flint.

 

[Hack]

Nice find! Looks to be in far better condition than the last 8274 I bought.

 

[1911]

I just picked up a 8274 and the number on top is...303213...any idea what year this is?

Look on the metal badge where you found the serial number, on the bottom there should be a date code. The last digit is a number, and is the last digit of the year it was manufactured. The letters before it are codes for the day and month, IIRC. As an example, here is mine:

8274 badge

• 1911
• Mar 16, 2018

My Date Code is "JM8", so it was manufactured in 1978. J=10th letter of the alphabet, and M=13th letter, so mine was made on October 13th, 1978. Pretty sure that's how it works, but the year part is correct in any event.

 

[1911]

Second I want to get a 4.6 motor and upgrade the solinoid as well...albright or super winch, which one to use?

The "Superwinch" contactor as sold by Summit Racing is an Albright copy. That's what I used on mine, and it has worked well these last 8 years and is vastly more reliable than the solenoids it replaced.

If I were doing mine over again now, I would probably use the Warn contactor, which seems to be a heavier-duty unit but is twice the cost of the Summit "Superwinch" unit.

 

[woodsman 44]

The "Superwinch" contactor as sold by Summit Racing is an Albright copy. That's what I used on mine, and it has worked well these last 8 years and is vastly more reliable than the solenoids it replaced.

If I were doing mine over again now, I would probably use the Warn contactor, which seems to be a heavier-duty unit but is twice the cost of the Summit "Superwinch" unit.

Thanks 1911

I ended up going with the superwinch one from summit instead of the WARN because of the double cost and I havent heard of anyone's failing yet.

Next I want to order a new 4.6 motor to replace the old 2.5 ? motor... but not sure on which one to buy, (want reliability) looks like a few to chose from...

 

[1911]

Thanks 1911

I ended up going with the superwinch one from summit instead of the WARN because of the double cost and I havent heard of anyone's failing yet.

Next I want to order a new 4.6 motor to replace the old 2.5 ? motor... but not sure on which one to buy, (want reliability) looks like a few to chose from...

Well, I'll tell you my experience. First I tried a new motor advertised as a replacement for the 8274 from DB Electric. The cost was very reasonable, but it only lasted 6 months and then it wouldn't turn on 2/3 of the time. It turned out to be a Chinese-made motor. I took it apart, to see if it could be fixed - the armature was junk, and all the copper had worn off in 6 months. Not like I used it every day, either.

After that, I bit the bullet and bought the motor for the Warn 9.5XP winch, from Warn. It was not cheap - $300, eight years ago, but it has always worked and never let me down. I have made some amazing pulls with it; pulled a big dodge dually pickup towing a huge 5th-wheel trailer with stuff on it out of a ditch and up a hill.

The Warn 9.5XP motor is bolt-in, except that it has a splined output shaft and earlier 8274's (including mine) had a smooth keyed shaft. If yours is keyed, you will have to buy a late-model 8274 splined pinion gear from Warn. It was like $20.

The 9.5XP motor is 6 hp and my original 1978 8274 motor was only 2.5 hp IIRC. The 8274 and 9.5XP motor combo is a powerhouse! WAY more than 8,000 lb. capacity.

 

[woodsman 44]

Well, I'll tell you my experience. First I tried a new motor advertised as a replacement for the 8274 from DB Electric. The cost was very reasonable, but it only lasted 6 months and then it wouldn't turn on 2/3 of the time. It turned out to be a Chinese-made motor. I took it apart, to see if it could be fixed - the armature was junk, and all the copper had worn off in 6 months. Not like I used it every day, either.

After that, I bit the bullet and bought the motor for the Warn 9.5XP winch, from Warn. It was not cheap - $300, eight years ago, but it has always worked and never let me down. I have made some amazing pulls with it; pulled a big dodge dually pickup towing a huge 5th-wheel trailer with stuff on it out of a ditch and up a hill.

The Warn 9.5XP motor is bolt-in, except that it has a splined output shaft and earlier 8274's (including mine) had a smooth keyed shaft. If yours is keyed, you will have to buy a late-model 8274 splined pinion gear from Warn. It was like $20.

The 9.5XP motor is 6 hp and my original 1978 8274 motor was only 2.5 hp IIRC. The 8274 and 9.5XP motor combo is a powerhouse! WAY more than 8,000 lb. capacity.

Got the cases split tonight and my motor shaft is splined

I saw those DB Electric motors on ebay...bummer there not any good or reliable....WARN is a bit to much money so Ill have to fine a 4.6 HP thats made well.

 

[woodsman 44]

well it looks like the WARN 6hp are going for around $230...I might pull the trigger...reviews seem to be positive so far.

 

[1911]

well it looks like the WARN 6hp are going for around $230...I might pull the trigger...reviews seem to be positive so far.

If it helps you, the Warn part number for the 6 hp 9.5XP motor is # 68608.

 

[woodsman 44]

If it helps you, the Warn part number for the 6 hp 9.5XP motor is # 68608.

1191, did the warn 68680 come with a new sealed bearing?

 

[1911]

1191, did the warn 68680 come with a new sealed bearing?

It's been so long, I don't remember, sorry! I know I had a new bearing for the pinion, but I don't remember if it came with the motor or with the Upper Housing rebuild kit.

 

[woodsman 44]

Bump to top

Anyone notice how many views of this thread....

 

[flintknapper]

Bump to top

Anyone notice how many views of this thread....

Well...hopefully it has been helpful and inspired others to freshen-up (or in some case resurrect) this most worthy winch model.

Hard to believe it has been 10 years since I started this thread.

Thanks to all who have contributed to it.

Flint.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Super dumb lazy man's question. I have a brake rebuild kit to install on one of my 8274s. Can that be done without splitting the case? I went through the inside years ago, but did not replace the brake. It's time to do that.

But I have enjoyed and benefited from this thread. Very much appreciate that you wrote it up and have stayed with it!

 

[Stumpalama]

Super dumb lazy man's question. I have a brake rebuild kit to install on one of my 8274s. Can that be done without splitting the case? I went through the inside years ago, but did not replace the brake. It's time to do that.

But I have enjoyed and benefited from this thread. Very much appreciate that you wrote it up and have stayed with it!

Yes, You can. But you have to at least lay the winch on it's side to be able to replace the bearings. Also, c-clamps don't fit between the brake and the casing, so you need to make a clamp with some flat bar and a couple bolts.

 

[Hack]

Well...hopefully it has been helpful and inspired others to freshen-up (or in some case resurrect) this most worthy winch model.

Inspired me to tackle my 'spare' 8274 that I mounted to a portable carrier. Also it inspired me to join this forum. Haven't regretted either decision. Lots and lots of great people here, doing incredible things that I only wish I had the ability to do.

 

[woodsman 44]

Im starting on another 8274 build up/restore

This was the brake shaft gear that sets the brake on I assume....found in bottom of case in 4 pieces

Second pic is a spare one that I have...Im not liking the 4 lines/marks...mabey tooling or beginning of stress/cracks?

 

[John McVicker]

My first thought is those are not stress related. They seem too uniform to be stress cracks.

 

[William Ries]

Newbie here. I just finished rebuilding my 8274 from the mid 80s. It had the origonal motor so I wanted to replace it with the xp motor. So I ordered it up and installed it. Every thing went smoothly until I went to bench test everything. So the wiring was supposed to all be the same right? I replaced the f1 and f2 and a wires with 2 gauge. Nothing worked when I hooked it all up. Then I read something about the solinoid panel having to be grounded. So I took some paint off the xp motor housing and low and behold It started all working. Does this sound right? I can't find an answer any where! I have had no luck finding any info on wiring up a new xp motor to an older style wiring setup. Thanks in advance