Winch Selection Survey

[USOffRoad]

While winches are like generators, compressors and money...the more the better, the question often comes up as to what is the minimum winch rating an FJC owner should purchase (and this can apply to about any rig on this site). The industry rule of thumb is 1.5x GVWR. An auto trans FJ has a GVWR of 5570 lbs which comes to 8355 lbs. While an 8000 lb winch would be under that I know some run them without a problem, however, much is dependent on how hard you are wheeling and if your FJ is stock or modified, guys with more capable rigs seem to find themselves in much more difficult recovery situations and hence need a higher winch rating to drag their rig out of the tough spot vs a stock rig getting planted in some light mud or sand on relatively flat ground.

Typically I will tell people a 9000-9500 lb winch will certainly do the trick but if your bumper is rated and has enough physical room to mount a larger winch it certainly never hurts to go with a 10k-13k winch.

We carry the Engo, ComeUp and Viper winches and have solutions for just about every application. I personally have been running a Viper Max 12k but just installed an Engo 10000S. Both manufacturers offer great winches for the money.

Having said all of that I've started this poll so everyone can state which rating they are using. Is your winch an 8000, 9-9500, 10,000 or 12,000+?

If you don't mind replying with the manufacturer and model it would be nice. Any other feedback and experience would be good to have as well. I'm posting this on several sites so I can accumulate some meaningful data.

 

[hotgemini]

Shame you didn't bother re-wording the poll to mask the fact it was clearly originally written for an FJC forum...

I haven't got hard data to back it up (and I'm an engineer, so that annoys me more than any non-engineer will understand) but my experience on the trails is that higher rated winches don't necessarily perform proportionally better. My gut says that this will be a combination of the exponential decrease in drivetrain efficiency as you gear down the same motor further to achieve the specified pulling power and that this may also be putting the motors outside their peak efficiency range.

So when I hear someone say "oh, my truck weighs XYZ, so I needed to go winch ABC" it immediately makes me uncomfortable, I'm not saying it is fundamentally untrue, just that headline figure alone isn't a great way to rate a winch. If I had my way, there'd be a series of nice graphs showing:
line speed vs load (at a nominated test temperature)
load vs max continuous winching duration (at specified line speed and temperature)
etc etc etc

Back on the original posters intended topic. My BJ74 has a GVM of 2740kg (~6050lbs) and I run an 8274 w/ the warn 6hp motor.

 

[USOffRoad]

Shame you didn't bother re-wording the poll to mask the fact it was clearly originally written for an FJC forum...

Well.. actually I did.

"What is the rating for the winch in your FJC/40/55/60?"

There's just not enough room in a survey, or really a need, to list very FJ model Toyota ever built.

As there IS an FJC forum on here, however, my caveat was "(and this can apply to about any rig on this site)" and as the curb and gross weights are in the same neighborhood (not like I'm comparing an FJ40 to a Dodge 2500 Cummins) then it's still a valid comparison. There was no need to list every FJ spec for this survey.

Just as your BJ74 has a 6050 GVM, my FJC has a 5570 rating. A semi loaded FJC could easily weigh more than a lighter loaded 74... hence my 'same neighborhood' comment.

Having said that, I'm not here to debate the method of selection so much as that can go on ad nauseam, but rather taking a survey...hence the title of the post 'Winch Selection Survey".

My criteria comment above was general and more conversational in nature.

I deal with engineers on an almost daily basis so I know exactly how you guys think (have several in the family too) so please accept the fact that this is a survey and not a detailed discussion about the various methods of winch selection. I know your engineer brain doesn't want to leave it at that... your fingers are already reaching for the keyboard.

Now, if you want to open a thread discussing the engineering principles behind winch selection, usage and pros/cons then I am certain that the forums would find it quite useful. On the other hand IH8MUD has been around for quite some time and I'd be willing to bet a search will bring up plenty of discussion about it.

As far as my given criteria above, to keep it simple I was referring to what is typically used in the industry to give a quick/dirty method for the evey day non engineer user to make a selection. Again, my mission is just taking a simple survey of current usage by the members here.

 

[Tapage]

I'll put this way .. depends ...

Where you goo and how heavy are you ..

I had in Tencha from Ramsey Platinum 9500i to my actual SuperWinch 16.5i ..

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi all,

FJ40 running an SuperWinch X9 9K electric winch.

Been considering a Warn M8000 for my Tacoma pickup.

Regards,

Alan

 

[cruiserpilot]

I run a Warn 9500 compressor winch on the front of my 60, and a Runva 11000 on the rear. I had a 6000 Warn on the
rear, but it seemed just a bit light. The front winch works great, haven't had a chance to use the rear yet. I carry a couple of
snatch blocks always, so I've never had to worry about not enough pull power.

 

[onlyonedr]

I carry a couple of snatch blocks always, so I've never had to worry about not enough pull power.

This is the best advice here. A snatch block, combined with a shackle and tree-saver, allows you to pay out more of your line and get to the lower layers closest to the drum, where any winch will have better mechanical advantage and more pulling power. True, it is slower to run out the line and slower for recovery but will double the pulling power of any winch in any condition. Depending on how stuck the vehicle is it will also require less of the winch to begin with, which is always better when considering heating of the electrics and such.

 

[LFD2037]

I will be going w/an Engo 10K w/synthetic line for my 80 series. @ first was going to go w/a Badlands 12K but changed to the Engo for several reasons:
my GVWR is 6,400lbs. so 10K is plenty
the Badlands is $400 w/ext. warranty & steel cable while the Engo 10,000s is $425 delivered
Badlands has pretty much no customer service & I've read Engo's is great