hey, i need some advice on winches. my tj is still my daily driver and i basically wheel on the weekends when i can, so i don't need anything fancy or expensive. what should i look for? how much towing capacity do i need? what are the differences? whats the benefits/negatives to different winches/manufacturers?

mile marker/warn/ramsey

they are industry leaders

8,000 min
9,000 is good for what u got

You should get 8000 lb pull minimun. Virtually all the less expensive winches are made in China. The biggest differences between electric winches is the size and type of motor and gear reduction. The least expensive winches ($300 for 8000lb pull) use permanant magnet motors (PM) and the rest use series wound motors (SW) (electomagnetic). The SW motors have more power in a smaller motor unit and turn faster than PM motors. Permanant mag motors are also subject to loosing some power with age if they are run hot. For another $150-$200 more you can get a decent SW motor winch, Mile Marker comes to mind as a well known less expensive brand. Mile Markers are made in China. Warns entry level winches are also made in china I believe. The winches made in the USA are the expensive ones. there is very little difference in the way they are designed and built (excpt the Warn 8274, Big $$$$). If you're on a tight budget a PM winch will do fine. They are slower because they have more reduction but pull just as hard. Do a lot of research and shopping before buying one. Using the search button on this forum can turn up a lot of opinions and information posted in the past. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

None of the Warns are made in China, unless that is new in the last few months. Only Warn of that list use electro magnet motors, all the rest are PMM once again I'd be shocked if Ramsey (the slowest of slow) used an emm that would be new.

Here is the bottom line, buy a light duty cheapo winch and when that day arrives that you really need it and you get whack yourself in the head and say "I should bought a Warn".

Any 8k+ winch no matter where it is made will most likley "work", however...how many pulls, how long before it self destructs, if it will get slower and weaker over time, will it be fast enough to pull up slack while driving and winching at the same time (98% of all winching is like that).
These are questions only answered by the purchase of a Warn. Because when out wheeling YOU will be confident!

You should expect 10-20 years+ of like new performance from a Warn.

SD

Superdog makes a good point! However that point would be better viewed if there were scores of folks on here ***** about their cheapo winch not behaving like expected.. I never see these posts which leads me to believe they last as long and work as good as the Warn does..
As for the wound versus the magnet windings.. hell they are both magnets when being used... So if you plan on little if any use of the winch why not buy a $400 one?
But do get the biggest you can afford! You will find yourself being called in the middle of the night and asked to come pull your friends 3/4 ton ford out of a creek! So arm yourself with a winch that WILL pull more than just your ride..
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Come on SD he says right off the bat he doesn't need Fancy or expensive. That excludes most Warns.
SW motors have field windings that creat a magnetic field, ( Thus, electromagnatizim). If they also have a permanant magnet they are compound motors. I guess you're claiming Warn is the only winch that has no permanant magnets at all, I find that hard to believe since they don't make the motors either and surely Bosch or whomever makes them doesn't sell only to Warn, but you may be right, I may be wrong. I do know Warn doesn't advertize where their winches are made like they used to. Like Mile Marker, They don't talk about it on their web site. They are happy to let people believe they make certain things in the USA, and in the case of Milemarker it seems they encourage the reader to come to that erroneous conclusion with out ever saying it. It was easy to brag "Made in the USA" before they started building Warns in Mexico. It's the Warn "Value Series" (Tabor, formerly called Magnum, 1 year warranty) I suspect is made in China. If they're not made in China they are made in Mexico. Same difference. Much of the high price of other Warns is for the LLT warranty . Which I believe is limited to the mechanical parts that rarely break on any brand. The Motors and solenoids are what usually fail. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

I can't give you a winch comparison because I have only owned Warn winches. But buying a winch just doesn't stop there, you should concider these items as well. 3 inch wide strap, a snatch block, a couple of shackles, etc. All these things aside, I strongly suggest that you replace the steel cable, that come with a winch, with a synthetic rope. I replaced the my cable with a 3/8" AmSteel Blue rope. AmSteel seems to be the most affordable and they have been around for many years and their reputation is impeccable. Here is a site to use for comparison, infact, I bought my Warn 9500ti from these folks.
http://www.e-winches.com/default.aspx

Have fun and winch safely.

i hate to go against the grain here but if you can't afford a warn and just want something for emergency use, get that $300 harbor freight 8000 lb.'er or a come-a-long. keep in mind that once you have a winch, you will use it on more rigs than your own if you choose to. most 'wheelers are more than willing to assist in a recovery. my buddy went though 2 cables on his warn in a tj winching on trucks that got stuck while rarely using it for his own needs. it's very hard to turn down a request for help when someone gets in trouble no matter how stupid they are. a quality winch will meet your winching needs while helping others for years. a cheap winch will get YOU by for a while.

you will not get as many pulls out of a cheap winch as you will with a quality winch. it's just anything else. you get what you pay for. i've 'wheeled for 15 years and have never really "needed" a winch for a recovery. i've managed to get by with shovels, straps, come-a-longs, hi-lifts, pushing, pulling, etc. while a winch would've been convenient in many situations i've never walked out or had to get help outside of my non winch equipped group to to get unstuck.

my cj-7 came equipped with a warn 8274 when i bought it 12 years ago. the motor was rusted out inside and didn't work so i took it off. it wasn't until i moved to AZ and started rock crawling that i figured it was a necessary piece of equipment to make some of the waterfalls that are impassable without winching. i rebuilt it and it works great. the point is, i really didn't "need" it in the dirt, mud, snow, sand, or mountain trails. there are trails where a winch is necessary to complete the trail. if those are the trails you run, my advice is to buy warn. if you've never really needed a winch and just want one for convenience during recoveries, get a cheap one and see how long it lasts. i have a chinese angle grinder that has made it through 5 times as many disks as i thought it would when i bought it for $15 and it just keeps going. you can roll the dice for $300, or be confindent for $1000. it's up to you and your needs for a winch.

:edit: if it's just for looks on a mall crawler, get a cheap chinese job and put a warn cover on it.

What I tel people that ask me this question is get what you can afford. If you cannot afford an 8274 Warn don't buy one but don't be the first one to volunteer to pull out everyone that gets stuck, From what I can see after tearing apart several winches for rebuilds, warns, Ramsey, MM Most are put together very similarly, there will be a difference as stated previously in the type of motor and gearing and quality of gears and other parts, but they are all similar. No Warn does not make 'their' motors they are purchased from BOSCH, as no winch manufacturer makes motors. To answer the very first question and the reason everyone is on the 'my winch is better than yours' kick Get what you can afford but like BJ says get the biggest you can afford, then use it sparringly or you will most likely be buying another one...

As for synthetic line, yes it is nice, and pretty. rub it across a rock, submerge it in mud do not properly maintain and you will be needing another one. Steel cable has it's weakness but will last along time with care to keep from kinking it or damaging it. Proper winching techniques will allow it to last a long time. synthetic is very expensive compared to a good steel cable.

If you can afford it there is no better winch than an Warn 8274 in my opinion as the only one I have ever witnessed failing was due to a bad motor which was a poor design and Warn no longer uses that brand of motor.

I have a Warn 8000lb on my cj 7 and it has saved my <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" /> so many times it owes me nothing. The very first repair was this winter and it was new solenoids. I go out many times by myself, that is 2 people in one truck and my favorite trail recquires winching in a couple of spots and for my money Warn is it.