We receive inquiries every day regarding winch selection so I thought I might address this in writing for easy reference. Some of this is based on experience, some on manufacturer data and some on opinion and is worth exactly what you just paid for it.

Recovery winches, like many products, come in various ‘flavors’. Many buyers focus primarily on price, some on name recognition and some purely on reputation and/or experience.

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE

The fact of the matter is that most off roaders rarely use their winch, some are lucky (or unlucky) to use it once a year. Avid off roaders may use theirs every weekend. Some are expeditionary in nature and rely on their winch to pull them across rivers, over mountain passes and in many cases in areas with little to no help or support. Another words, their very lives may depend on their winch. So the first thing you need to do is understand YOUR needs.

Are you the ‘just in case’ user, the ‘I wheel several times per month’ user or the ‘I’m headed to the Amazon’ user?

HAMBURGERS, WON TON OR STIR FRY?

First off, where are winches made? This is the most common question next to ‘which winch do I need?’. The truth of the matter is that ALL winches are made in China or Taiwan except for Warn and Ramsey. But even that statement is not really accurate. Warn manufacturers their Zeon and other higher end winches in Oregon but you will find Chinese or Taiwanese parts in them. Warn’s lower end winches, including their VR series, are typically made in China. Ramsey, while assembled in Oklahoma does use some Chinese and Taiwanese parts from my research. Every other winch is made in Asia, without exception. Tis the global economy as of today.

So then, what is the difference? If most winches are made in China or use Chinese parts then why spend more money? While there are a handful of factories in China that build winches for all of the winch ‘manufacturers’ and some use a system of ala carte design (you can choose this finish, these solenoids, these levers, etc) some are built to very specific design criteria. Some are tested more than others, some components are better than others, most always this is reflected in price and warranty.

BRAND DESIRE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

There are many winch brands out there, some more popular than others but for this article I’ll focus on what U.S. Off Road carries. As of today we carry Warn, ComeUp, Mean Mother and Viper and I’ll group these by price/quality.

What I might classify as our entry level winches are Viper and (previously Engo). U.S. Off Road has carried these lines for many years and have sold hundreds with less than 1% warranty rates, which by any metric is exceptional. They start off in pricing at around $335 and go as high as $600 for synthetic rope versions in higher capacity ranges. Both are Chinese made of course, both companies have extensive experience in the industry. Viper’s main focus is the ATV/UTV market and sells thousands per year in addition to their vehicle recovery winches.

The Viper Max with steel cable I originally installed on the FJC in 2011 is now on my car trailer and works perfectly as well. Made in China but fully supported in the USA you can’t go wrong with Viper.

Then there’s a mashup of Warn, Mean Mother and ComeUP.

Mean Mother is a quality brand from Australia and we have sold plenty of them since 2016. Be sure to read the 4wd Toyota Owner article (14mb pdf) about our FJ winch mount and Mean Mother 9500S winch combo!

ComeUP has seen extensive use in Arctic conditions and expeditions, is made in Taiwan and has a very good reputation. They start off around $900 and go up from there. Again, components, design and packaging are great.

Warn needs no introduction, their brand is known world wide. Warn’s high end winches are made in Oregon, lower range in China. Expect top quality and support from Warn.

So which is the better winch? Do a Google search for ‘recovery winch problems’ or something similar and what will you find? Mostly Warn of course. Why? Simply because there are far more out there, not necessarily because Warn is lower quality.

Every single winch ever built will eventually fail. Whether it’s 1 year or 30 years down the road, lightly or heavily used, there is no firm criteria. What is the most common failure? Solenoids/contactors hands down. Most everyone uses sealed one piece solenoids now instead of the old ‘trashcan’ style that you would see on a Harbor Freight (30 day warranty) unit. The one piece versions are far superior when it comes to withstanding water, heat and vibration. Next is…and don’t laugh, coating failure. Yep, the paint or powder coat tends to come off. Some manufacturers use hydrocoating on their winches and seems to hold up very well but coatings on winches are really no different from paint on your 4×4 but in the form of powder coat, every so often you should clean the grime off and give it a coat of wax…no kidding. Keep a cover on it if you can. Next is motor failure, rare but it happens, especially if you over work the winch and the winch doesn’t have a thermal cutoff switch. Anything man makes can and will fail, but those are the common items.

STEEL VS SYNTHETIC

How about steel cable vs synthetic rope? Volumes have been written about this and arguments from both sides have some valid points so I’ll simply give my opinion. I will never ever use steel cable again if I can help it. Maybe on my car trailer where the pull is short and straight and the load is typically light and predictable. But on my 4×4 it will be synthetic every time. Why? Several reasons. Weight, a spool of 3/8″ x 85′ Amsteel or Dyneema is about 3.6 lbs, aluminum hawse 1.5 lbs for a total of 5.1 lbs. Steel cable on the other hand along with the roller fairlead can be up around 30 lbs or more. Then there’s safety, synthetic doesn’t store near as much energy as steel cable. Snap a rope and it typically falls to the ground, snap steel and you better have a winch blanket on it or you may lose body or truck parts.

Rope is much easier to work with but the drawback is abrasion and UV. On our integrated winch mounts the winch is under the bumper cover so UV doesn’t come in to play as much but if you have an exposed winch installation like on a Jeep then it is a very good idea to have a winch cover, and use it. Rope abrasion is best dealt with by using a rock sheath, a ballistic nylon cover over the rope that can be positioned over a rock edge or other spot where the rope may rub. Steel cable can rust so it has to be maintained as well. Like I said, use your Googlefu and read some of the very good articles out there about steel vs synthetic.

OK, SO WHICH ONE ALREADY?

Generally speaking I feel as of today that the Mean Mother winches give you a lot for your money. Me, I’ll spend a few hundred dollars more for the Mean Mother over entry level winches but that doesn’t mean a Viper 13K winch with synthetic rope is a bad choice, it just depends on your needs and usage. Should you go with Warn? If you have the money it won’t be lost purchasing a Warn… or a Mean Mother or ComeUp for that matter.

I classify the Warn Zeon and M series and ComeUp winches as expedition class units, but you will pay for them and their abilities. Do you need a built in wireless remote to fully operate your winch or is an add on module ok? Is in and out enough or do you want temperature warnings too? There are plenty of details that can drive your decision and the best advice is to study the specs of each winch. This is very much a case of getting what you pay for but either way we feel that we have a solution to your recovery winch needs.

If you are in the market for one of our winch mounts and are wondering about which winch will fit please read this article.

You can shop our line of recovery winches here: https://www.usoffroad.us/store/vehicle-winches/

 

Here are a series of customer made videos showing the installation of our winch bumper in his FJ Cruiser along with a Smittybilt winch. He does a good job of covering things which makes this a great tool to go along with our install docs. As the Tacoma install is almost identical it’s worth watching for those applications as well.

First Video: This model of our mount is from 2014 or earlier. We have since changed a few things including going to 1″ wide shackle mounts, more drainage in the winch tub and made some slight clearance adjustments to the torque arms as noted in the video. We also now include some plates that go on over the 3 outer mounting studs for better faster surface contact, never had a problem but we thought it was a good idea. The torque arms are installed and welded with jigs but can flex left to right even though they are .250″ thick as that is not their intended purpose but rather to arrest the torque forces created by winch usage in a front to back and vertical planes, so flexing them for a perfect fit is perfectly ok.

As noted in the install docs, the AC lines will vary from vehicle to vehicle in their alignment, some need to be moved as noted, some do not, our V notch in the rear usually gives plenty of clearance in 2007-2009 models but in 2010 Toyota made some changes and will usually require moving the AC line back as noted in the video. Using fuel line is also noted in the docs and was used here as well, makes for a good long term insurance policy against abrasion that I have verified on my own FJ and others over a period of 7+ years. Every winch solenoid box is different and routing the 2 to 4 gauge wires are therefore all different but zip tying them to the bracing, as done in this video, always works well and is highly recommended.

Cutting the plastic is typically a very simple task but the rusted fasteners made your job a bit tougher, you he was smart to leave some plastic to trim to fit as noted in the docs. 

 

Video 2:

Part I

Part II

Part III

 

Video 3: