School me on Warn Winches (1 Viewer)

[70 FJ40]

I don't know much about winches other than how to use them and that Warn has been the standard for decades. Although I've heard they aren't what they used to be. I have an 8274 on my FJ40 and have used it many times. I'm wanting to get something for my 100. Was highly considering getting Badlands Apex but I want know it won't fail when I need it and I'm kind of a snob. At least that's what my wife tells me. So I'm gonna keep my eye out for a used Warn. What are the good ones to look out for other than the 8274 cause that won't fit on a 100 very well. I'll probably be putting it in the stock bumper with a hidden winch mount from Trail Tailer. Maybe later I'll get an ARB bumper. I may even try to get a winch on the cheap that needs some work and learn more about how they are put together. If there is a good thread or resource to learn more about this, I'd be glad to do some reading. Thanks

 

[John McVicker]

No personal experience but some of my friends are using Warn Zeon 8 & 10 k. They have always worked when called upon. Although I believe they have uped their game, I would not put any HF winch on my vehicle,..ever.

 

[gnob]

you can buy used warns really cheap if you stay diligent. watch fb and cl.
probably a 9500 would be a good choice for your 100.

 

[AgentOrange]

Also, if you find a little bit of an older Warn for a decent price, they can be rebuilt. It can be very worth it on some of these tried and true winches. I have had great luck with my Warn VR series winch as well, although I know it is not the same as some of the higher end Warns. But their quality has been pretty good nontheless. Also worth looking at is the newer ComeUp winches. I've been very impressed with them the times I've seen them

 

[TheForger]

I have a Warn VR12000 that I bought back in 2014 that I've rebuilt before and it's amazing. No issues whenever I've needed it and it's a work horse. Still have the steel cable too which I don't know if I'll ever get away from. Initially I had issues with water intrusion but that didn't shock me because it was not advertised as waterproof when I purchased it. I tore it all down & cleaned it up and it was surprisingly simple; just a series of planetary gears. Used different seals & some silicone when I put it together and I haven't had any issues since. Their newer VR series winches (VR Evo) are advertised as IP68 waterproof

 

[alia176]

Last weekend I drove 12 hours round trip to buy a Warn M6,000 (apparently same ratio/power as a M8000) winch for my daughter's 3rd gen 4runner as a suprise bday present (under her pillow). I did manage to squeeze in some skiing at Wolf Creek ski resort on this trip but yes, I'm a total Warn winch snob.

With that said, ComeUp winches seems to garner respect in this arena. I'm not sure if I'd install any other brands of winches in a Landcruiser. My buddy swears by his Warn XP9.5 and he has pulled in excess of 10k with it w/o any worries. I love the USA made and service/parts availability.

Now if this was a Jeep, that's different

 

[70 FJ40]

I think a 9500 lb would be perfect for the 100. I've seen most commonly 8000 lb. Is that too small for a 100 series? Which models are the most reliable? I've seen an x8000 and an x8000i any difference in those?

 

[alia176]

I think a 9500 lb would be perfect for the 100. I've seen most commonly 8000 lb. Is that too small for a 100 series? Which models are the most reliable? I've seen an x8000 and an x8000i any difference in those?

IMHO, all Warn winches are reliable. Reliability and capacity are two different matrics so please clarify your question.

 

[70 FJ40]

Sorry. I was asking if an 8000 lb winch should be avoided for a 100 series because it does not have a large enough capacity?

Seems like when looking for older winches there are M's and i's and xd's maybe others. I don't know what the differences are

 

[alia176]

Sorry. I was asking if an 8000 lb winch should be avoided for a 100 series because it does not have a large enough capacity?

Seems like when looking for older winches there are M's and i's and xd's maybe others. I don't know what the differences are

This is a purely subjective answer but in strictest terms, yes a 8k will pull a stuck 100 series out. You might have to do a double line pull using a snatch block but it's totally doable. A 9500 is a nice size for a 80/100 series. The "i" next to a number indicates "integrated solenoid pack", meaning it's stuck to the top of the winch vs making it removable and mounting the solenoid pack away from the winch.

Go to the Warn website for all kinds of info on their winches.

 

[suzuguru]

I love Warn, personally. I think I've got at least 8 of them. (I've got (6) 8274's, an M6000, and an M8000) The older ones are definitely a safer bet. Sometime around 2005, they started outsourcing some of their stuff to China. Not sure which ones, though. There are also a few really good winches that come from England and Australia. (I don't remember the names.)

 

[alia176]

You might have to let go one of the 8274s, asking for a friend.

 

[suzuguru]

Sorry... no can do. I have to have a backup for my backup's, backup's, backup.

 

[70 FJ40]

So if the i stands integrated solenoid I'd probably want to avoid one of those because I'm assuming if I put it in the sock bumper I'll need to remote mount the solenoid pack. Ya?

 

[suzuguru]

That’s right.

 

[TheForger]

Seems like when looking for older winches there are M's and i's and xd's maybe others. I don't know what the differences are

I would say yes, 8k is too small. Keep in mind you are only getting the max pulling force with one layer of cable on the drum (typically 5 complete wraps). The more wraps you have on the drum, the less you can pull before failure occurs or it stalls. So you want to consider how often you perform recoveries using all 90-100ft of cable. I'd venture to say that most recovers are done within 30-40ft, so you need to factor in how well a winch will perform with 3-4 layers wrapped on the drum.

Using the Warn 9.5XP for example, it can pull 9,500lbs on the first layer but only 6,940lbs on the fifth layer -- 73% of the max capacity. While those max pull ratings will differ for each winch, if you were to take similar values using an 8,000lb winch, you could only pull 5,840lbs on the fifth layer, less than the gvwr of a 100 series.

EDIT: Of course I'm not factoring in snatch blocks & other devices to increase pulling power, I'm only referring to a straight single-line pull

 

[gnob]

the m8000 is a bit underrated from my understanding.
and there's absolutely nothing wrong with double line pulls.
i picked up a used m8 for 150$ recently. guy was all stoked to throw it out in favor of a HF. lol

 

[alia176]

So if the i stands integrated solenoid I'd probably want to avoid one of those because I'm assuming if I put it in the sock bumper I'll need to remote mount the solenoid pack. Ya?

I believe the XD might also be integrated pack of I'm not mistaken.

 

[florida95fzj]

you can buy used warns really cheap if you stay diligent. watch fb and cl.
probably a 9500 would be a good choice for your 100.

I've been seeing a lot of high prices on used Warn winches where I am. $1000 for a 25 year old M12000 is the best I have found so far. Does that sound about right?

 

[gnob]

I've been seeing a lot of high prices on used Warn winches where I am. $1000 for a 25 year old M12000 is the best I have found so far. Does that sound about right?

for the big dogs, that's about where i see them 750-1200.
sample of current.
as mentioned, stay diligent. prices are all over the place. it just helps to sit on a few bucks so when the one pops up youre ready.