i have had my fair share of 8274 on my 80 series and jeeps in the past... i like the simple design easy to be rebuilt and modify and great community and support on these winches
School me on Warn Winches (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter 70 FJ40
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Sure warn is expensive. Compared to apex badlands or smitty built or similar.When you consider they now retail for ~$2300 new, that's probably about right
But warn has been a trusted brand since the beginning of time so is it worth it?
Does the new warn have the same quality and reliability as some of the other brands out there???
I too am a Warn snob. I had an 8274 on my Jeep TJ and I just put a 9.5XP on my 80 Series. I did some real winching with the 8274 but I haven't used the 9.5XP yet. When I drove my TJ I wheeled with 3 40 series cruisers all with 8274's of various vintages and I've seen them do amazing things.
The new Warn's have Albright solid-state control-boxes instead of the old style solenoids, it's my understanding that the Albright boxes are more reliable / better. Any old Warn with a remote solenoid pack can be upgraded with a new Albright control box purchased either direct from Warn or from 3rd party vendors. If the solenoids are still fresh on the used winch you find I'm not sure the upgrade is necessary, but if they're old and crusty and you get the winch for a low enough price the solid-state box might be a nice upgrade.
Whether or not an M8000 is enough for your 100 series depends a lot on what environment you wheel in, if you're in a lot of deep mud / bog holes then a 12,000 lb winch is the go for a big cruiser to overcome the suction of the mud, if you're winching up dry/loose desert hill climbs then a fast 8,000lb winch will work better because you can winch and drive and the 12,000lb winch will be too slow to keep up with your driving.
A 9,500lb or 10,000lb is a nice middle-ground. A little faster than a 12,000lb winch, you can double-line pull to get out of suction-mud, and they're not too heavy hanging on the front bumper. You'll still outrun them winching and driving though. I got the 9.5XP because it's the fastest Warn in that weight class. Not even close to as fast as an 8274 though, that's the ultimate winching and driving winch because the no-load line speed is blistering fast to take up slack when you get traction.
-Bucket
The new Warn's have Albright solid-state control-boxes instead of the old style solenoids, it's my understanding that the Albright boxes are more reliable / better. Any old Warn with a remote solenoid pack can be upgraded with a new Albright control box purchased either direct from Warn or from 3rd party vendors. If the solenoids are still fresh on the used winch you find I'm not sure the upgrade is necessary, but if they're old and crusty and you get the winch for a low enough price the solid-state box might be a nice upgrade.
Whether or not an M8000 is enough for your 100 series depends a lot on what environment you wheel in, if you're in a lot of deep mud / bog holes then a 12,000 lb winch is the go for a big cruiser to overcome the suction of the mud, if you're winching up dry/loose desert hill climbs then a fast 8,000lb winch will work better because you can winch and drive and the 12,000lb winch will be too slow to keep up with your driving.
A 9,500lb or 10,000lb is a nice middle-ground. A little faster than a 12,000lb winch, you can double-line pull to get out of suction-mud, and they're not too heavy hanging on the front bumper. You'll still outrun them winching and driving though. I got the 9.5XP because it's the fastest Warn in that weight class. Not even close to as fast as an 8274 though, that's the ultimate winching and driving winch because the no-load line speed is blistering fast to take up slack when you get traction.
-Bucket
and when you update the 8274 to the xp motor and Albright. you're gtg.
love this 8274 group so much good info here on mud and facebook
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Only buy Warn used. Not worth new what they think they are.
They aren't bad in general, just over valued.
ComeUp
SuperWinch
Runva
Carbon
Bushranger
Sherpa
These are all equals in terms of performance w/o the brand name vig.
And in case I missed some s*** to stir ... use only steel cable.
Twine is for hobbyists, weekenders, and those who enjoy knitting and Bud Light.
Or Jeepers...who go out of their way to not use the equipment they brought with them, for fear of broshaming.
They aren't bad in general, just over valued.
ComeUp
SuperWinch
Runva
Carbon
Bushranger
Sherpa
These are all equals in terms of performance w/o the brand name vig.
And in case I missed some s*** to stir ... use only steel cable.
Twine is for hobbyists, weekenders, and those who enjoy knitting and Bud Light.
Or Jeepers...who go out of their way to not use the equipment they brought with them, for fear of broshaming.
A lot depends on your personal tastes. Warn is good, but they aren't all that. I've seen or heard from personal acquaintances of several failing. Sometimes it's simple, sometimes its catastrophic. There is no perfect mechanical device, just some are obviously better than others. Being a winch snob is your choice. I've got several Warn's. Some are good, some are not that impressive.
Things I have learned:
Speed costs. How fast of unloaded line speed do you want and what are you willing to sacrifice to get it? My 8274 is blazing fast and pulls way more than it's rated capacity. My HS9500i is just as quick, but it doesn't pull nearly as hard as that 8274. My M12000 is ancient, it's slow, it makes weird noises and never gets serviced but it pulls like a locomotive and always works, despite having the so-called worst style of solenoids on it. I have an M8000 that's probably a 1980's vintage. It's light weight and it pulls o.k. for what it is. I'm not that impressed, but it worked till I took it off and put the 8274 on there. Almost any high-speed winch sacrifices a lot of pulling power for speed and uses the amps to prove it. Unless you're dealing with life and death speed needs or a competition, I'd rather have a medium speed winch that uses 100-150 amps less at full load than the fastest winch that pulls 600 amps at full load.
Waterproof. Not a huge deal for me, I live in the desert. If I wheeled in the jungle, or had a bumper that I couldn't access the winch for service, I'd be more concerned about it. Newer is better in terms of solenoids and water resistance. Age kills o-rings and seals, despite whether they came from China or U.S.A. If you live near the ocean, get the best sealed winch you can.
Reliability. I've seen a ton of rigs that get wheeled pretty regularly use the old HF 12K winch successfully for many years. The only complaints have been that it is slow, the factory cable is short and the circuit breaker tends to trip before you can overload the winch and stall it. Multiple guys I know are running the new APEX 12K winch and have beat it hard and not had any real issues. Yes, they can fail, but there are a ton of them that are getting abused daily and work just fine. Any of the Warn integrated solenoid winches before the Albright type contactors are subject to solenoid failure. I've burned up a lot of them, both genuine Warn and the aftermarket cheepo versions. I'm not impressed at all with the design. A few friends have had Smittybilt winches and liked them a lot. I think it has a lot more to do with how you abuse them, than anything else, unless you are talking about Solenoids, those I've seen fail when they should have lived.
Quality of Components. This is all over the map. Some of the HF stuff is better than some of the big name stuff. Seems to be a total crapshoot except the high-end Warn stuff. Those seem to have pretty decent quality of parts, especially the 8274 version.
Keep in mind, I live in the desert, and our winch needs may not match yours at all. Most of us run 10K plus winches now unless it's an 8274. Not uncommon to see FJ40 sized rigs with a 10-12K winch on them. As for the synthetic vs steel line debate. Synthetic is getting cheaper and better but steel is really tough when you abuse them over rocks and letting the winch sit out in the sun for a decade. Really a personal choice in many aspects, although the safety of synthetic is really an important consideration that is slowly winning me over.
Things I have learned:
Speed costs. How fast of unloaded line speed do you want and what are you willing to sacrifice to get it? My 8274 is blazing fast and pulls way more than it's rated capacity. My HS9500i is just as quick, but it doesn't pull nearly as hard as that 8274. My M12000 is ancient, it's slow, it makes weird noises and never gets serviced but it pulls like a locomotive and always works, despite having the so-called worst style of solenoids on it. I have an M8000 that's probably a 1980's vintage. It's light weight and it pulls o.k. for what it is. I'm not that impressed, but it worked till I took it off and put the 8274 on there. Almost any high-speed winch sacrifices a lot of pulling power for speed and uses the amps to prove it. Unless you're dealing with life and death speed needs or a competition, I'd rather have a medium speed winch that uses 100-150 amps less at full load than the fastest winch that pulls 600 amps at full load.
Waterproof. Not a huge deal for me, I live in the desert. If I wheeled in the jungle, or had a bumper that I couldn't access the winch for service, I'd be more concerned about it. Newer is better in terms of solenoids and water resistance. Age kills o-rings and seals, despite whether they came from China or U.S.A. If you live near the ocean, get the best sealed winch you can.
Reliability. I've seen a ton of rigs that get wheeled pretty regularly use the old HF 12K winch successfully for many years. The only complaints have been that it is slow, the factory cable is short and the circuit breaker tends to trip before you can overload the winch and stall it. Multiple guys I know are running the new APEX 12K winch and have beat it hard and not had any real issues. Yes, they can fail, but there are a ton of them that are getting abused daily and work just fine. Any of the Warn integrated solenoid winches before the Albright type contactors are subject to solenoid failure. I've burned up a lot of them, both genuine Warn and the aftermarket cheepo versions. I'm not impressed at all with the design. A few friends have had Smittybilt winches and liked them a lot. I think it has a lot more to do with how you abuse them, than anything else, unless you are talking about Solenoids, those I've seen fail when they should have lived.
Quality of Components. This is all over the map. Some of the HF stuff is better than some of the big name stuff. Seems to be a total crapshoot except the high-end Warn stuff. Those seem to have pretty decent quality of parts, especially the 8274 version.
Keep in mind, I live in the desert, and our winch needs may not match yours at all. Most of us run 10K plus winches now unless it's an 8274. Not uncommon to see FJ40 sized rigs with a 10-12K winch on them. As for the synthetic vs steel line debate. Synthetic is getting cheaper and better but steel is really tough when you abuse them over rocks and letting the winch sit out in the sun for a decade. Really a personal choice in many aspects, although the safety of synthetic is really an important consideration that is slowly winning me over.
the only people who prefer cable, have simply never used rope. 
none of the other winches would have a leg to stand on if warn hadn't opened the market and set the standard.
you can run all the cheap shyt you want. my warm will still pull you out when it fails.
none of the other winches would have a leg to stand on if warn hadn't opened the market and set the standard.
you can run all the cheap shyt you want. my warm will still pull you out when it fails.
Lol nonsense. Twine is no match for rugged terrain compared to steel. Keep your knitting needles handy otherwise.the only people who prefer cable, have simply never used rope.
none of the other winches would have a leg to stand on if warn hadn't opened the market and set the standard.
you can run all the cheap shyt you want. my warm will still pull you out when it fails.
Warn isn't the only game in town, but it is the only egregiously over-priced game in town. To each their own still.
Would you accept a pull from a Badlands should your Warn die? Happens all the time.
ok, I'll bite.
1. if you are consistently dragging your cable across terrain to the point it's possibly damaging the line, you probably need lessons in rigging.
2. this thread is not asking about new warns, which i agree are currently overpriced considering they're obviously built right next to the apex and other foreign bs.
3. if by some chance my rig blows up and both of my warns fail, I'll take whatever rope/cable to get my broken shyt out of the way of others.
i would simply never run an import winch on principle.
1 - agreed, rigging does give some control over what your line touches, but 20% of the time you don't have a choice. Or, that one time you don't have a choice, and it's enough to sever twine like a knife through butter. Plus each hard pull degrades the life and capacity of twine. Especially if it's been through dirt or mud, slowly cutting the strands from the inside with each subsequent pull. It's just far too 'consumable' imo to be considered a serious replacement for steel. At least for those who don't want to be constrained by 'twine anxiety'. (will it break this time?!)ok, I'll bite.
1. if you are consistently dragging your cable across terrain to the point it's possibly damaging the line, you probably need lessons in rigging.
2. this thread is not asking about new warns, which i agree are currently overpriced considering they're obviously built right next to the apex and other foreign bs.
3. if by some chance my rig blows up and both of my warns fail, I'll take whatever rope/cable to get my broken shyt out of the way of others.
i would simply never run an import winch on principle.
2 - lol one point I'll concede, Warn isn't the only overpriced game in town. Recently found Red-Winch. They make Warn seem positively affordable.
3 - Good to know. And same here. At that point it's time to brow-bash the tow strap.
lol Why would I? But you will one day.i think you're the only one in the group with the "twine anxiety"
the rest of us use and actually believe in the product
The misconception is that this stuff was designed as steel replacement. It wasn't.
It was designed as a safer alternative for people who don't know what they are doing. So that when it breaks, fewer people are injured as a result of the ignorance.
'Drive modes', 'terrain modes', 'offroad traction control' in newer vehicles are in the same vein. Only these are a bit more insidious as they purport an offroad capability equivalence when they are really far cheaper for the manufacturer to deploy while also charging the consumer more for it.
There's pros and cons to each. You have to know what you're doing with each. I like my steel rope out here in the Arizona desert. Some of the sanctioned event's I have gone to don't allow the use of steel anymore.
