Topic: Harbor Freight 8000 pound winch..

[Bill M.]

Lol you guys just Osama Bin Laden'd this post!!!

JK JK...

But anywho the harbor frieght winch really is a low end winch. My friend bought one for his XJ, and he burnt it up the first time it was used to pull him out of a small mud hole. Save the money, and buy a Mile Marker, Ramsey or Warn. I've had nothing but the best from these three winches.

[95 Lowbuck]

I got to tell you, after being in the manufacturing industry for 30 years,
there is a reason those China winches are cheeper.
It's not just the labor costs.
They are very good at taking cost out of a product at the risk of quality.
I myself have seen more U.S.A. made products lost to China only to
come back becuase of quality.
It all comes down to how commited the U.S. company is to manufacturing in China.
If they think all they have to do is send over some blue prints and a good
product will delivered, they will be surprised.
It takes alot of micro management from our side to ensure quality.
So much so that to ensure thier quality repretation they can spend more
money than it is worth going to China in the first place.
I personally would never buy a cheep imatation of the real thing,
you will be disappointed every time.

[chardrc]

x2 on that... there is a 5-7 year cycle of when stuff gets sent to china / India to when the company gives up and brings the work back stateside... the quality and consistency lacks...

[VA_YJ]

I don't have an electric winch, but I am planning on one in the future.  I have a J-Rations magazine with an article reprinted from MoabJeeper magazine.  The guys did torture tests on the following winches: Bulldog, Superwinch EPi9.0, Chicago Electric, T-Max, Ramsey, Mile Marker, and Warn 9.5xp.  Only three winches survived the tests: Superwinch, Chicago Electric, and Warn.  The Warn was the best of the bunch, with the fastest line speed and longest duty cycle.  The Chicago Electric was very slow and near death at the end of the tests.  The Superwinch was almost as good as the Warn for a lot less money.  The problem with tests like these is you don't know who's the big sponsor, or how controlled the experiments really were.

I think most folks will agree that Warn is the best in the business.  Warn has a lifetime warranty on mechanical parts and one year on electrical.  I'm going to take a look at the Superwinch before I decide (one year electrical and mechanical).  Most of the Chinese winches (not wenches) have a 90 day warranty.  Like most things, it seems that you get what you pay for...

[Jesse-James]

http://www.moabjeeper.com/articles/general/listing.cfm?articleID=353

[Jesse-James]

The Horrible Fright winch does draw a lot of amps; you may want to invest in a dual battery setup and a higher output alternator if you're going to do much winching. 

The reason I ask is the above article said the opposite....

The Chicago Electric also had the lowest current draw on every obstacle. The low draw makes this winch ideal for a stock battery and charging system

[YJmechanic]

interesting to see all the inside info about who makes what  and what is basically the bastard son of what, 

on my side of it i will not disagree with warn being on top but lots of other companies are making descent products,  just depends on how much you use it,  i wheel somewhat regularly and have had a mm8k for several years with no problem,  is kinda slower though, but not enough to make me upset

[jfrabat]

I am thinking about getting a superwinch myself when I do make the investment.  Maybe not as good as a Warn (although the article proved it was just as reliable under those conditions), but still a good winch at a more affordable price.  I'll probably go with the EP9000, but that is yet to be decided...

[TrailsLessTaken]

I got one the Warn 8000# ones when they were going for the $579 or whatever, i was going to buy a nicer one but as my buddy put it, its not something you use all the time, and the others may pull you out a lil quicker, but as long as it gets you out thats all that matters.  He said he ran that Harbour Freight one for a year or two, then ran in to a guy going through a divorce and needin to get rid of jeep stuff and bought an 8000# Ramsey for $150

[Jeffy]

I bought my Warn 8000M for $429 years ago.  It was a really good deal.  If I was buying one today, I'd probably go with the off-brand Tabor 9000.

[bluepwr]

they have warn #8000 for 541.00 delv

http://www.winchdepot.com/parts/warn/winches.aspx

[chardrc]

wow that allot cheaper than at 4wd hardware... or quadratech..

[TrailsLessTaken]

thats a good deal, I just went down to 4WP and picked it up and it was 569 plus another 40 bucks in sales tax

[jfrabat]

I wonder which is a better deal; that warn or this superwinch:

http://www.winchdepot.com/prodDetail.aspx?partNo=SWI09032

Felipe

[aw12345]

I. don't think you can go wrong with that winche either, Me and my buddies were winching some old trees up a hill to block off some illegal trails and My warn held up very well and so did the superwinch. They had the model you are looking at and it has very good pulling power and speed. So did my Warn though, got that puppy hot as hell but kept going at it