Warn winches - surprising story (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Threads
336
Messages
5,169
Location
Port Coquitlam
Website
www.flickr.com
This past trip had an unpleasant accident for me, during one of the uphill battles my winch line failed. Now this is a Warn 8000 winch that I purchased a year ago from National (before they closed down). This recovery was on a 20 degree up slope, in snow with a muddy bottom. I had 70 feet of the 100 foot wire rope spooled out and everything was going fine, at about 60 feet out the cable let go and the truck fell back until it luckily jammed and kinked under the pressure. The part that failed was the small crimped on loop at the end of the cable (the one that attaches to the drum), now this is ridiculous because I had 40 feet on the drum so there was no reason for it to fail. The loop broke open and the only think that kept the truck from falling back was luck.
So I wrote a letter to Warn, thinking it might get a reply but that's it, it outlined exactly what happened and that I was disappointed in the quality of the product. I sent it yesterday, today I got a phone call from them and we went over the details of the accident again. To my surprise the rep apologized for the incident, said that he had not encountered an issue like that before and even though it's not their practise to do it normally he would send me a new cable by mail. Granted I sent pictures of the winching process and the terrain to prove my case but I was still shocked.
So for those that look at some no name Chinese knock off product and wonder if it's worth paying the extra for the name brand - think about this, how good is the customer service for that product, I used to have a Champion winch, but I knew I would get no support from them, and as soon as I could I upgraded to a Warn. Now granted the Champion did last for 4 years and over 20 recoveries, where the Warn was on it's 8th, so the argument falls short there. I do hope this was an isolated incident and the new cable will work flawlessly but I do have admit that the level of service I received was beyond expected.
DPP_0003_1.jpg
 
I've only had to contact Warn a couple of times when I was sourcing information for my old M12000 and they were always a great help.
 
I too have had exemplary service from Warn, sent them an email and I get a call back usually within a day or two. I've also had good service from ARB in the past, before they fully R&D'd their air lockers I went through a couple of "mishaps" to which they sent me replacement parts on their nickel. Of course, this was 15+ years ago, but I don't forget good service
 
Last edited:
I'm glad I was so much help in breaking your cable. ;);)
 
That's great to hear, but disappointing at the same time. Hopefully nothing else breaks.
 
Lance has a certain 'familiarity' with the end of a Warn winch cable.
 
good to hear they took care of you. back when they still made their full floater kits, i ran into issues with the wrong hub gears and one shaft being too long. they next day aired the correct hub gears and sent a call tag for the axle. i gave them measurements and they had it cut and shipped back within a couple days. i love warn...excellent customer service for me also!
 
Great outcome and level of service.

Very surprising that the cable tore the eye off the end with that many wraps on the drum, it really shouldn't have had so much strain. Anyway a cable failing to me does not quite equate to a winch failure, as far as comparing your old champion to the warn :meh:.
 
Great outcome and level of service.

Very surprising that the cable tore the eye off the end with that many wraps on the drum, it really shouldn't have had so much strain. Anyway a cable failing to me does not quite equate to a winch failure, as far as comparing your old champion to the warn :meh:.

I totally agree with that but it was more in relation to overall product finish. I've had a couple Warn winches apart in the past as well as some other knock offs and there are some differences in quality internally.
 
Maybe the bottom wraps on the drum' slipped', due to inadequate tension on the bottom wraps between the load pulls, which ended up pulling the tab loose. I have seen 2 or 3 loose wraps on my drum spin, when tension has been released. The biggest problem I have with winches is keeping sufficient tension on the bottom wraps to prevent the cable from digging down between the lower wraps, which can twist and distorts the cable. Worst case scenario it pulls the cable backward into the spool severely bending the cable, which essentially ruins the cable.

[FONT=&quot]I think next time we are together (e.g. McIntyre Rec Site) and have enough room we should all line the trucks up and unwind and wind up all the cable under proper tension to minimize this problem. The cable that comes with a winch is pre-tensioned, so it wraps fairly well around the small drum. Replacement steel cable (not from a winch supplier) is cheap but should be pre-tensioned before use or it too will slip on the drum because it is too stiff to wind tight to the small radius of the drum, until lit is has been used a few times
[/FONT]
 
When doing my winch check-ups I always unspool to the end. That part is held on via a Screw.


There is a place in POCO that looks after my cable needs (cant think of the name) right now.
 
If you have enough line of course...
0710_4wd_07_z+arb_winch+snatch_block.jpg
 
There is a place in POCO that looks after my cable needs (cant think of the name) right now.

Only placein PoCo that I know that deals in wire rope and everything related to it is Bison, good guys, large selection of anything related to rigging. Have been in business for ages. Sometimes they carry slightly used straps that are no longer "legal" for rigging but work perfectly for off-road applications - fairly cheap too.
 
Good report! I bought warn because I liked the fact that you could
still get parts and technical service and for the old winches.

[FONT=&quot]The cable that comes with a winch is pre-tensioned, so it wraps fairly well around the small drum. Replacement steel cable (not from a winch supplier) is cheap but should be pre-tensioned before use or it too will slip on the drum because it is too stiff to wind tight to the small radius of the drum, until lit is has been used a few times[/FONT]

In the instructions for my Warn M12k it said that before using it you must unwind it all and wind it up again under tension using a hill or by light brake application if a hill is not avialable.

I may have to test the Warn service. My M12k had started very intermittenly not working, almost like a loose connection and after a heavy day of winching it quit. I've isolated the problem to the motor using jumper cables, so next chance I get I have to pull my bumper and check it out.
 
Only placein PoCo that I know that deals in wire rope and everything related to it is Bison, good guys, large selection of anything related to rigging. Have been in business for ages. Sometimes they carry slightly used straps that are no longer "legal" for rigging but work perfectly for off-road applications - fairly cheap too.


Bison , thats it , Woops I am becoming forgetfull again LOL

Yeah , I had the same thing go on my M8000
 
Good report! I bought warn because I liked the fact that you could
still get parts and technical service and for the old winches.



In the instructions for my Warn M12k it said that before using it you must unwind it all and wind it up again under tension using a hill or by light brake application if a hill is not avialable.

I may have to test the Warn service. My M12k had started very intermittenly not working, almost like a loose connection and after a heavy day of winching it quit. I've isolated the problem to the motor using jumper cables, so next chance I get I have to pull my bumper and check it out.

Check the ground , it is underneath the motor , they sometimes corrode and become problematic.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom