What type of cable to you run on your winch?

[bloc]

I seem to remember the brake on most modern winches being within the drum, and have read synthetic doesn’t do a great job of conducting heat out during long outward spools. Obviously not when most of the work is done, but for instance if someone had to lower another truck down a steep hill that may be a problem.

Another potential downside to synthetic not mentioned yet.

 

[Fisher23]

That is the same one I have .. though I swapped out the fair lead for a black warn one and use the sidewinder, though factor 55 is good also.

When installing don't forget to slide the anti-chaff protector over the line BEFORE you install the line.

 

[RET2]

That is the same one I have .. though I swapped out the fair lead for a black warn one and use the sidewinder, though factor 55 is good also.

When installing don't forget to slide the anti-chaff protector over the line BEFORE you install the line.

BEFORE? now you tell us.

 

[DPA200]

Anybody have any experience with either of these two more budget friendly options?

SMITTYBILT X20-12 COMP GEN2 WATERPROOF WINCH WITH SYNTHETIC ROPE AND ALUMINUM FAIRLEAD

COMEUP WINCH SEAL GEN2 SERIES 12.5 WINCH


im trying to weigh out if I’d be better off with going with a comeup with a steel cable or going with a Smittybuilt with a synthetic cable. I’m getting a bunch of electrical upgrades to my truck soon but I’ve blown my budget already by far. So something like a Warn/Coneup with synthetic is just outta budget right now. Thoughts if either of those 2 above would be a good viable option?

 

[CharlieS]

There are a bunch of people on ‘mud with the smittybuilt. People I’ve talked to and read about seem happy enough with them. I think the comeup is a higher quality winch. When I did the math, buying a steel cable winch and swapping out for synthetic line wasn’t economical.

I got a Warn Evo 12k synthetic for only slightly more than the Smittybuilt. For me the warranty, customer service and future parts availability of the Warn was key to my decision.

 

[Tex68w]

I have had winches from Warn, Smittybilt, Superwinch, Ramsey, and Mile Marker (hydraulic). I've personally never had a single issue with any of the Warn winches I've owned but my fathers XD9000 just s*** its motor this week so it does happen. I am currently running a Smittybilt XRC Gen 3 and I have been very happy with it so far but it has admittedly seen very little use (that's a good thing lol). I've owned other Smittybilt's in the past with varied success but they've always taken care of me when I had an issue, just drive to your nearest 4WP and they swap it out, easy enough. I see Smittybilt as a secondary brand to Warn and now ComeUp but IMHO it's a very close second tier option and usually for half the price. I'll never own another Superwinch or Ramsey winch, awful stuff in my experience and I have no use for a hydraulic going forward. I seriously considered a ComeUp for the GX and when it comes time to hang one on the LC it'll likely come down to a ComeUp or Warn.

The only winch I have owned in the past decade with a steel cable was the M12000 that came on my Power Wagon. I didn't see the need to replace it with synthetic even though lots of owners do. I have no issues working with a steel winch cable and in some cases it is superior to that of the synthetic. I agree that overall synthetic line is safer to handle and the weight savings are nice, but it isn't always the answer.

 

[kcjaz]

.... When I did the math, buying a steel cable winch and swapping out for synthetic line wasn’t economical.

^^^^
yep. I can verify that math. While I went synthetic, I also think there is a reasonable argument to going with cable if your use case is only in emergency and once a year or so and you are trying to stick to a budget. Adding syn latter only makes sense if cash flow/budget constraints dictate.

 

[CharlieS]

Lower weight, safety and corrosion led me toward synthetic. For me, steel and road salt are a bad mix.

 

[afgman786]

Anybody have any experience with either of these two more budget friendly options?

Smittybuilt

Comeup


im trying to weigh out if I’d be better off with going with a comeup with a steel cable or going with a Smittybuilt with a synthetic cable. I’m getting a bunch of electrical upgrades to my truck soon but I’ve blown my budget already by far. So something like a Warn/Coneup with synthetic is just outta budget right now. Thoughts if either of those 2 above would be a good viable option?

If you want budget friendly, HF offers a 12k for $600.

 

[DPA200]

There are a bunch of people on ‘mud with the smittybuilt. People I’ve talked to and read about seem happy enough with them. I think the comeup is a higher quality winch. When I did the math, buying a steel cable winch and swapping out for synthetic line wasn’t economical.

I got a Warn Evo 12k synthetic for only slightly more than the Smittybuilt. For me the warranty, customer service and future parts availability of the Warn was key to my decision.

Is this the Warn model you went with? $850 isnt bad. I didn't know they had a sub $1k option. That's not much more than the Smittybilt.

WARN 103255 VR EVO 12-S

Hmmm, interesting to have so many options. As soon as i finished typing this the shop i have doing all my electrical responded with a quote for this exact Warn winch. From them:

"We highly recommend this winch, it is our most commonly installed winch and we have had great success with them. It being a synthetic line also helps with the weight"

Anybody else recommend this? Might be the happy medium of synthetic and name brand, but still somewhat budget friendly

 

[Tex68w]

VR is their entry level CHINA winch, so in that regard they are on par with Smittybilt. Compare statistics and you'll see the SB's outperform the VR and they have a better warranty. If willing to spend $1,200+ then go ComeUp or Warn all day. Under $800-ish I pick the Smittybilt XRC Gen 3 or H2O.

 

[DPA200]

VR is their entry level CHINA winch, so in that regard they are on par with Smittybilt. Compare statistics and you'll see the SB's outperform the VR and they have a better warranty. If willing to spend $1,200+ then go ComeUp or Warn all day. Under $800-ish I pick the Smittybilt XRC Gen 3 or H2O.

So in your opinion I'm gaining nothing with a VR Warn vs Smittybilt? 4WP I saw has the XRC Gen 3 and it comes with a free aluminum shackle for $699
So at the sub $1k price range no reason to spend $87 on the Warn VR vs this?:

Smittybilt XRC Gen3 12K Comp Series Winch with Synthetic Cable - 98612

1 more question for the new to the winch wordl type of guy. Whats the deal with the Factor 55 flatlink? I feel like everybody has these now and nobody just has the regular hook. Is this something I need? Is it something that's hard to swap out at a later point?

 

[Tex68w]

So in your opinion I'm gaining nothing with a VR Warn vs Smittybilt? 4WP I saw has the XRC Gen 3 and it comes with a free aluminum shackle for $699
So at the sub $1k price range no reason to spend $87 on the Warn VR vs this?:

Smittybilt XRC Gen3 12K Comp Series Winch with Synthetic Cable - 98612

1 more question for the new to the winch wordl type of guy. Whats the deal with the Factor 55 flatlink? I feel like everybody has these now and nobody just has the regular hook. Is this something I need? Is it something that's hard to swap out at a later point?

Well there's a $150 difference between the two, that alone would buy you your Factor55 hook/thimble of choice. They are comparable, the Smittybilt has more power and a faster line speed and a few other perks that the Warn lacks. At that price point I'd go for the Smittybilt as you aren't gaining anything with the Warn nameplate since it's a Chicom model.

In regards to the Factor55 stuff, no, you don't need it but a closed winching system is safer than your standard hook. Most buy them because they look nice and they stow better than a hook that either needs to be clipped to something or sucked up tight and it'll still dangle there.

 

[DPA200]

Well there's a $150 difference between the two, that alone would buy you your Factor55 hook/thimble of choice. They are comparable, the Smittybilt has more power and a faster line speed and a few other perks that the Warn lacks. At that price point I'd go for the Smittybilt as you aren't gaining anything with the Warn nameplate since it's a Chicom model.

In regards to the Factor55 stuff, no, you don't need it but a closed winching system is safer than your standard hook. Most buy them because they look nice and they stow better than a hook that either needs to be clipped to something or sucked up tight and it'll still dangle there.

Thanks. Good tips. Yeah good way to look at it the price difference would pay for that Flatlink. That’s the main thing I noticed, they do look much nicer how they stow flat.

 

[kcjaz]

Thanks. Good tips. Yeah good way to look at it the price difference would pay for that Flatlink. That’s the main thing I noticed, they do look much nicer how they stow flat.

Just ordered my Flatlink. I have bought into the safety concept of closed system rigging but admit that the Flatlink is really just a very pretty looking and expensive shackle. You could just replace your hook with an actual bow shackle and hook it on whatever you were going to connect the hook to on your bumper. It would be a little less convenient than the Flatlink. Or use the hook to store the line and swap the hook for a bow shackle when use it. Unless you are racing these extra few minutes won’t matter if it’s not too annoying for you. Factor 55 also makes a $66 loop guard that would let you store the winch line with the loop pulled tight against the fairlead and you would just swap it with a soft or bow shackle when using it. From a pure safety point of view this would be the best as you could use a soft shackle to connect your winch thimble to your anchor point. No large chunk of billet aluminum in the line to go flying at someone if something breaks. Just not quite as sexy as a Flatlink with Factor 55 logo stamped on it.

Warn also makes a similar thing called Sidewinder for slightly less money than Flatlink. It’s larger and really is just a fancy shackle but it allows the elimination of shackle in some situations as it has a removable pin, not a hole.

 

[CharlieS]

Is this the Warn model you went with? $850 isnt bad. I didn't know they had a sub $1k option. That's not much more than the Smittybilt.

WARN 103255 VR EVO 12-S

Hmmm, interesting to have so many options. As soon as i finished typing this the shop i have doing all my electrical responded with a quote for this exact Warn winch. From them:

"We highly recommend this winch, it is our most commonly installed winch and we have had great success with them. It being a synthetic line also helps with the weight"

Anybody else recommend this? Might be the happy medium of synthetic and name brand, but still somewhat budget friendly

Yes, that is the Warn winch I have.

Warn is a very reputable manufacturer with excellent customer service. The warranty is 7 years (https://www.warn.com/Attachment/DownloadFile?downloadId=1766), which is more than the other winches that I was looking at. Warn also supports their products with replacement parts readily available, so if you ever need something to restore or repair your winch, that won’t be a problem (good luck with parts for your Harbor Freight winch or Amazon copycat).

The whole issue of manufactured in China is overdone. Warn stands by their products, regardless of where they are made. Being xenophobic isn’t really useful.

Perhaps this is less of an issue for people with a 4 Wheel Parts nearby, since someone suggested you can easily replace failed winches, but I don’t live anywhere near that store or anything like it.

All of the above is well worth the minor price difference for ME. You may have a different set of criteria?

Also, Factor 55 extensively tests their products and provides data to consumers. This gives me peace of mind when I am trusting my safety to recovery gear. Maybe a random cheapie Amazon recovery product would be fine, but I ask myself if I’m willing to trust my life on that, especially for a dollar here or there. I only buy rated recovery gear.

 

[kcjaz]

The whole issue of manufactured in China is overdone. Warn stands by their products, regardless of where they are made. Being xenophobic isn’t really useful.

^^^^
yep. "Made in China" is more complex than just saying it is all bad or not as good as "Made in USA". Not saying this thread was speaking that broadly, as it now a discussion about two specific winches both manufactured in China but generally there does seem to be an over tendency to assume that "Made in China = "lower quality" which is just not always true. The tricky thing is that it is sometimes true and to make it worse, there is a lot of counterfeit stuff manufactured in China (and other places).

I could be wrong but I believe both Warn and Smitybilt are U.S. companies with some manufacturing in China. That is fundamentally different from a Chinese company making stuff in China for export. Non Chinese companies who manufacture in China usually do so under their processes, procedures and specs, and QA. They also control their supply chain. Do you like your iPhone? Guess where its made. Chinese made stuff made by Chinese companies can also be, and often is, high quality. Generally, you get what you pay for. When the quality and materials are the same, the price gap drastically narrows. Part of my day job is to approve for Engineering, new suppliers sourcing digs up. Often, at first glance, there usually seems to be a huge savings. Then we enforce codes and specs and guess what? The price gap drops to 10%, or goes away completely, or they just say "can't meet spec" and we DQ the supplier. (Then I get yelled at for making us un-competitive but that is a different issue).

I also have several personal examples of buying Chinese made things where I have had issues or questions and received great tech support . I bought a Topdon battery charger which I received yesterday via Amazon. Its menus are different from the manual supplied with it. I actually thought I had a Chinese counterfeit of a Chinese product. I emailed the Chinese company and got a reply in a few hours saying they had updated the menus but haven't the new manuals printed. This isn't a one off either.

 

[DPA200]

^^^^
yep. "Made in China" is more complex than just saying it is all bad or not as good as "Made in USA". Not saying this thread was speaking that broadly, as it now a discussion about two specific winches both manufactured in China but generally there does seem to be an over tendency to assume that "Made in China = "lower quality" which is just not always true. The tricky thing is that it is sometimes true and to make it worse, there is a lot of counterfeit stuff manufactured in China (and other places).

I could be wrong but I believe both Warn and Smitybilt are U.S. companies with some manufacturing in China. That is fundamentally different from a Chinese company making stuff in China for export. Non Chinese companies who manufacture in China usually do so under their processes, procedures and specs, and QA. They also control their supply chain. Do you like your iPhone? Guess where its made. Chinese made stuff made by Chinese companies can also be, and often is, high quality. Generally, you get what you pay for. When the quality and materials are the same, the price gap drastically narrows. Part of my day job is to approve for Engineering, new suppliers sourcing digs up. Often, at first glance, there usually seems to be a huge savings. Then we enforce codes and specs and guess what? The price gap drops to 10%, or goes away completely, or they just say "can't meet spec" and we DQ the supplier. (Then I get yelled at for making us un-competitive but that is a different issue).

I also have several personal examples of buying Chinese made things where I have had issues or questions and received great tech support . I bought a Topdon battery charger which I received yesterday via Amazon. Its menus are different from the manual supplied with it. I actually thought I had a Chinese counterfeit of a Chinese product. I emailed the Chinese company and got a reply in a few hours saying they had updated the menus but haven't the new manuals printed. This isn't a one off either.

I saw this message from Warn over on another forum:

"The WARN VR is made in China. It comes out of a factory that is only making our winches built to our specs, our design, our engineering. They are designed, engineered, and tested in our facility in Oregon. All of the other truck winches are leaving our factory in Clackamas, OR. Some parts of them are globally sourced. Some of them come out of our factory. . . ."

and this

"What matters to me as far as Warn winches are concerned is that Warn designs all of its winches, supervises manufacture wherever that happens to be, and stands behind its products by providing good warranties and great customer service."

So sounds like even though the VR line is assembled in China, it's still has the same warranty, same reputable company and testing, and same customer service as the higher end lines.

 

[kcjaz]

I saw this message from Warn over on another forum:

"The WARN VR is made in China. It comes out of a factory that is only making our winches built to our specs, our design, our engineering. They are designed, engineered, and tested in our facility in Oregon. All of the other truck winches are leaving our factory in Clackamas, OR. Some parts of them are globally sourced. Some of them come out of our factory. . . ."

and this

"What matters to me as far as Warn winches are concerned is that Warn designs all of its winches, supervises manufacture wherever that happens to be, and stands behind its products by providing good warranties and great customer service."

So sounds like even though the VR line is assembled in China, it's still has the same warranty, same reputable company and testing, and same customer service as the higher end lines.

the same may apply to Smittybilt. Bottom line here, IMO, is that you really can't make a big mistake between the two winches you are considering. You probably have already made the most important decision which is picking a price point and sticking to it.

 

[DPA200]

the same may apply to Smittybilt. Bottom line here, IMO, is that you really can't make a big mistake between the two winches you are considering. You probably have already made the most important decision which is picking a price point and sticking to it.

price point and sticking to it

Sticking to a price point, yeah that's what i try to do......but.
So here is where I'm currently at. I've pushed the Smittybilt aside for the time being.
The Warn advertising message has rubbed off on me today, i just hear so many great things about the company and the customer service.
The higher end Warn's look great, but way outta my price consideration.

So, now I'm debating between the:

$849 - WARN 103255 VR EVO 12-S
WARN 103255 VR EVO 12-S

and the

$1245 - COME-UP – Seal Gen2 12.5rs
COME-UP – Seal Gen2 12.5rs

Completely get that the ComeUp is a higher quality winch (and quite popular on this forum), but just not sure if the extra $400 is money well spent for my very minor usage. The winch is really just an insurance policy for me if things go sideways as they sometimes do. I have yet to encounter trails that require winching to get through. But i do travel very far from reception with kids, and almost always just the 1 vehicle, so really just want the winch to be there for me when i inevitably do need it someday.