smittybilt or rough country

[Galmo22]

i am going to be buying a new winch. want at least 8000lb for my 79 yota 4x4. i have herd good about both, just want some opinions and experiences. and no... i dont have money for a warn! lol

Smittybilt Part 97281 - Smittybilt XRC 8 Winch
Rough Country RS9500 Electric Winch

 

[greentruck]

I've been happy with our XRC12 so far. No big pulls, but worked when I needed it, err, my little brother needed it on Xmas Day

 

[Galmo22]

right on, i have herd more about smitty bilt, cus the rough country is a newer product...(doesnt mean its not good) just curious.

 

[greentruck]

Just looking at the Rough Country, it looks like it probably came out of the same factory as the Smittybilt, i.e. both are T-Max clones.

It really depends on how the importer spec-ed them. My guess is that quality-wise they're six of one, half-dozen of the other, though. Customer service may be a bigger difference in a case like this. Can't help on the RC and the Smittybilt is working fine, so no need to "test" customer service there. Sorry I can't give you more guidance.

 

[Chop Shop]

I have installed tons of smittys and they kickasss.

I have pullled out allot of folks with mine.

 

[DrivingMissRosey]

i am going to be buying a new winch. want at least 8000lb for my 79 yota 4x4. i have herd good about both, just want some opinions and experiences. and no... i dont have money for a warn! lol

Smittybilt Part 97281 - Smittybilt XRC 8 Winch
Rough Country RS9500 Electric Winch

What about the new line of warns with the non-domestic components? They are likely more in line with your pricerange. In another thread, someone put that they have non-domestic components but are assembled in good ol' US and A!.
Warn Industries - Entry Level Series Winches

 

[BELMONT148]

Just installed a used RS9500 winch and it seems to be fine. The spool speed is decent, however the finish sucks. After only 4 months of usage the bottom half of the coating is flaking off and rusting. The paint is paper thin. Also some of the chrome components are already rusting. Works fine though. It will get a test later this week at Golden Mtn Park for GSMTR, so I will report back then.

Jeremy

 

[Warn Industries]

What about the new line of warns with the non-domestic components? They are likely more in line with your pricerange. In another thread, someone put that they have non-domestic components but are assembled in good ol' US and A!.
Warn Industries - Entry Level Series Winches

I was just going to suggest this. Thanks! The VR series offers a 10,000 and 12,000 lb. winch (and an 8,000). And yes, some of the parts are sourced from other countries, but some are also made at the Clackamas, OR plant. And these are on our assembly lines here in Oregon right now.

Anyway, just a suggestion.

- Andy

 

[BELMONT148]

My rough country pulled my heavy 40 up a hill 80' in a single slow pull without heating up or breaking. It had to pull it over quite a few rocks too.

Jeremy

 

[landcruiserjunky]

I've had the xrc8 on my 60 for close to three years. No complaints, only some exterior pieces have rusted but I've never covered my winch. Its funny, a couple of years ago you would have never heard good remarks about junky "chinese winches"

 

[jynx]

Hoping to get my xrc12 on in the next few weeks. I read alot before I got it, check out pirate4x4. There is a pretty long thread over there about the xrc8 when it first came out. Those guys are pretty rough on things and they all had pretty good things to say.

I think greentruck said something to the effect of if you take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. I am gonna be following his thread about greasing it before it goes on the arb.

Good luck,

Tucker