Which winch and mount?

[t_j]

Looking at winches and mounts at the moment and need some input (never purchased a winch before).

First off mounts, choices are:

- Rough Country @ $200 (4)
- ICI @ $200 (1)
- WSI @ $375 (2)
- SDHQ @ $395 (3)
- Outlaw @475 (5)

Having read the reviews/post about the mounts i'm steering toward the ICI mount unless someone can tell me why the WSI/SDHQ mount is better. (numbers in brackets are my order of preference)

Second which winch:

Recon 10500Lbs Pro @ ~$450
Smittybilt X2O-10 Gen 2 @ $400

Both have synthetic line and wireless remotes, the recon comes with a nice little accessory set, but nothing that could not be picked up for arround the price difference.

 

[OrangeAddict]

The newer smittybilt comes in a 12000 Lbs variety now with the synthetic rope I believe. I would go for the 12000lbs if I could.

The WSI winch mount is heavy duty. I really liked it.

 

[AZEngineer]

I just spent a bunch of time on these very decisions. I need a winch for emergency extraction and not for rock crawling. I ended up going with the Rough country mount and a Warn Xeon. The mounts all looked pretty comparable and the Rough Country was a lot cheaper delivered than the others. I would get the rough country again. I like that it retains the rubber dust/dirt shield on the truck and it is very well made.

The winch decision is much tougher. I read for hours online and I talked with folks at 4 Wheeler Supply and also a very helpful guy at SDHQ (I'm local). Online can be summarized by a few schools of thought.
1) I can only afford the cheaper winch
2) Buy the cheap one and when if fails buy anothers. Still cheaper than the Warn
3) I want to trust the winch to work when I need it so I bought Warn (or Ramsey or Milemarker)

At 4 Wheeler supply they basically said they sell way more Smittybuilt than Warn because they are way cheaper. He also said they get tons back, and quite a few dead out of the box or soon later. He recommended buying the Smittybuilt because I could get 2 for the price of one Warn and still have money left. The guy I talked with didn't fill me with confidence on either his expertise or recommendation.

Then I drove to SDHQ and talked with a very knowledgeable guy there. He hands down said buy the Warn. He also said there was no reason to get the top end Warn unless I was doing a lot of continuous winching. He was very negative on Smittybuilt overall. He said they won't fill the Smittybuit CO2 tanks any longer as they had one that get very hot when filled. He felt that Smittybuilt quality has really dropped over the years.

I then called my dad and he thought it was crazy to buy a winch for emergencies and not be sure I could trust it.

Lastly I called Warn and the tech there strongly recommended the Zeon over the higher end system for my needs.

Here is a link to my install from last weekend.
What did u do to your raptor today? - Page 311 - FORD RAPTOR FORUM - Ford SVT Raptor Forums - Ford Raptor

 

[Kanakry]

I would go with the WSI mount. We actually that is the route we are going before Snoball for GLRE-1.5

 

[IRONMAN]

Looking at winches and mounts at the moment and need some input (never purchased a winch before).

First off mounts, choices are:

- Rough Country @ $200 (4)
- ICI @ $200 (1)
- WSI @ $375 (2)
- SDHQ @ $395 (3)
- Outlaw @475 (5)

Having read the reviews/post about the mounts i'm steering toward the ICI mount unless someone can tell me why the WSI/SDHQ mount is better. (numbers in brackets are my order of preference)

Second which winch:

Recon 10500Lbs Pro @ ~$450
Smittybilt X2O-10 Gen 2 @ $400

Both have synthetic line and wireless remotes, the recon comes with a nice little accessory set, but nothing that could not be picked up for arround the price difference.

Are you looking for a steel cable winch?
Let me know if I can help you out on a price.

 

[t_j]

Are you looking for a steel cable winch?
Let me know if I can help you out on a price.

I'd rather a synthetic line TBH.

Sent you a large shopping list about an hour ago

 

[OrangeAddict]

Another name that is right up there with warn is superwinch. Both of these companies have been doing winches for a long time and make an outstanding product. They also charge for there development, customer service, and quality.

 

[IRONMAN]

I'd rather a synthetic line TBH.

Sent you a large shopping list about an hour ago

The price you have up top for the Smitty is a steel cable price

"Smittybilt X2O-10 Gen 2 @ $400"

Let me know if I can price something out for you. Send me a pm on which one.

 

[t_j]

The price you have up top for the Smitty is a steel cable price

"Smittybilt X2O-10 Gen 2 @ $400"

Let me know if I can price something out for you. Send me a pm on which one.

Ah yeah I see now the one with synthetic (S/B98510) is $150 more, pm'ing you a copy of the list I emailed.

 

[IRONMAN]

Ah yeah I see now the one with synthetic (S/B98510) is $150 more, pm'ing you a copy of the list I emailed.

Just got the email, let me work on this right now.