Everything that Smittybilt made wasn't cheap. They made a decent bumper and nerf bar set for years. The problem came when they started to stretch themselves too far in the 2000nds. Smittybilt was acquired by it's current owner Lund Holding Company, in 1998/99. It's a bit sad to see the company in this shape. In the 80's, it was one of the few companies that made aftermarket parts for Jeeps. (The other company was Con-Ferr).
I have nothing against the Smittybilt winch but it's just another rebranded Chinese winch. The problem is not that they're all crap. It's that they have very little QC which can make them hit or miss. If you're using your winch often or even if you don't, you don't want to be stuck someplace, spool out the cable and find that it's not working.
Here are the specs:
Over fifty years of experience and talent in manufacturing heavy duty off-road products now goes into the Smittybilt XRC8 8000lb Winch. Featuring a 4.1 horsepower Permanent Magnetic Motor, and a Planetary Gear System with 265:1 gear ratio, this Smittybilt winch provides all the power and performance you need. For an affordable, reliable winch system with maximum muscle and durability, trust the XRC-8.
From those specs it looks to be similar to the old Ramsey REP8000 which was one of the only winches that used a Permanent Magnet. The reason for this is that a Permanent magnet requires no power to create an electrical field. Most of the other Ramsey and winches from Warn and Superwinch use Electro Magnets. Since it uses less power to run, many budget Jeepers buy them also. Since it has less strain on the battery/charging system. The downside is that permanent magnets lose they strength with age. I would also guess that they are also limited in how much they can pull since I've only seen them up to 8000lbs.
The only budget winch I'd consider is probably the Tabor 9000. It's not cheap but its a lot of winch for a decent price. Still, you can find Warn M8000's for under $500 occasionally. Now if you still can't afford one, then a Chicago Freight/Harbor Freight/MileMarker/Smittybilt is better then no winch.
