yes, we love Warn but...

jeep9mm

New Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Charlotte, Wilmington
I know I know...Warn is the industry standard. Hear me out tho...As long as my Jeep is my DD, I dont see it ever gettin bigger than two inch lift and 32s. Seeing as its a 2004..its gonna be my DD for a looong time, so I wheel it in URE and thats pretty much it...although it would be possible to save up and drop 500+ on an m8000, considering the mild wheelin i do and the fact that a winch is rarely used...i wouldnt wanna drop that much money on a warn...cuz it would take me a long time to save it up...so how bad of an idea would it be to buy a HF 8000 winch?
I mean they can be had for 280 and if it works for a few years...hey thas straight with me...i can just buy another one or maybe ill be out of college and havin more money..

anywho..what do u think? is it a complete piece of junk or if its gonna be used a few times a year it might be worth it.

Plus i can always get it and add the W sitcker to it right? jk


Rod
 
you get what you pay for.

Duane
 
A friend of mine went through 3 of them in something like 4 months. At least the warranty policy is good, haha.
 
I just passed the first year on my warranty, and mine still works I went and tried to pull out the blu yak and had to use it atleast 5 times. The only problem is the speed.I plan on getting a Warn up front in the future and moving it to the back.
 
Warn. Because when you NEED it, you NEED it.

Whatever you do buy, using it is better than letting it sit. If nothing more than spooling all the cable out and pulling it back in (under load, like a slight hill), it'll help everything stay lubed up.
 
just noticed in the sunday paper advertisements here in charlotte that Northern tools is having a sale and have the ramsey 8500 on sale for $399, not a bad deal....
 
From what I saw the HF winch is a rebadged ramsey w/ cheaper parts. Looks like a ramsey and the remote from a ramsey fits it. Joe Darlington runs HF on his DD and his trail rig . Not sure how long he has had them but he has had no problems yet
 
well thats why I thought of it...I was reading in some post where a guy ordered one and it turned out the oinfo on the HF website is all wrong and all the specs that were on his box matched Ramsey's RER 8000 or something like that. They look exactly the same. I also have read horror stories but they all seem to match to a pre 2003 HF model, then I read that they came out with a new one (which seems to be a rebadged Ramsey) that has not had many problems, its a lil slow but it seems to work well enough and the one thing ive heard excellent stuff about is their warranty. I've read that if you break it they will just hand you a new one...

And to whomever asked why do I need one if I only do URE? Gimme a break...people act like URE is a speed bump, and maybe it is if ur running 35s and locked and what not. And, I myself have ran all through URE when its dry, but when its wet and with my 31s and open ends, I have had to turn around in some spots so why not have one right? It can't hurt...unless its this winch is that crappy that its almost guaranteed not to work...which is what I want to find out.

Btw...if anyone has a used M8k or the likes that works well and they wanna sell, lemme know

Rod
 
if all you wheel is uwharrie, that 300 bucks would be better spent on a locker than a winch. and if you spend that 300 on an HF winch, just to have it burn up the day after the warranty expires, then turn around and spend the 500 on a warn, thats a wasted 300 bucks. do it right the first time.

Duane
 
I didn't use my winch this weekend b/c it is dead but I sure did need it w/ all the muck. Made me run my rig even harder but thats the fun part right :driver: :D There was alot of places we ended up just pulling vehicles up hills and stuff due to the slickness. There was a ton of cable pulling from those w/ winches so just b/c someone says why do you need a winch at uwharrie only means they haven't been there at the right time. I belive a year or 2 ago Mike and John were there and spent 6 hours alone winching up Daniel
 
Thank you Josh

CLR...2004 model year, 6 years left on warranty, not putting a locker in to void it. Just right now, my jeep is at the dealer having work done that would cost prolly a decent amount if it wasnt for the warranty... so im not in a big hurry to cancel out my warranty by locking a d35 or 30. And I don't know what you drive or how you drive, but winching in URE can be necessary sometimes and I've seen well built rigs do it.


Rod
 
CLRracer said:
if all you wheel is uwharrie, that 300 bucks would be better spent on a locker than a winch. and if you spend that 300 on an HF winch, just to have it burn up the day after the warranty expires, then turn around and spend the 500 on a warn, thats a wasted 300 bucks. do it right the first time.

Duane
Click to expand...

That was my point exactly, Duane.



jeep9mm said:
but when its wet and with my 31s and open ends, I have had to turn around in some spots so why not have one right?
Click to expand...

Don't get all girlie on me, 9mm. Have some fun while you're out there, dude... :flipoff2:

I'm not trying to bust your chops. I've run UNF, and other trails, in a stock TJ in good and bad weather, that's why I suggested spending the money somewhere else.

I actually deleted the part in my first post where I said, "Put the $300 in a savings account for a selectable locker".
 
I just wanted to know how crappy it was, cuz some say its the absolute worse and some say its a rebadged Ramsey. I am actually leaning away from it, but i just needed some info. Believe me, if i could I would already have dropped a Detroit in there...but again warranty and d35. And for whatever wheelin anyone does, a winch is always a good investment...so i wanted to figure out how crappy it was. And hey if you can run all of URE in any weather with a stock TJ or the church van...then more power to you. My personal experience has been that for my Jeep there have been tough parts when URE is wet and i believe a winch is always a great idea so I wanted some feedback.
We may just have different opinions, i know some think that those people that put a winch on a stock TJ are retards and shoulda spent the cash elsewhere since they can't get too stuck...i think of them as smart and prepared and as good an investment as any in any kind of vehicle (except your church van) :flipoff2:

But like I said, I am leaning away from the idea because i do want my winch to work when it has to...no questions asked, not because all I do is Uwharrie.

Rod
 
i don't know one way or the other, but will a locker void your warranty for sure?

also, that ramsey for 400 is a solid winch, slow as hell, but works and is strong. just my opinion. i ran one for 4 years, and it worked great.
 
I'll step out and take one on the chin for the "mighty POS winch"... bought mine 3.5-4 years ago from Northern for $299 (came with "sapling saver", clevis, snatch block, controller, roller & hawse fairleads, and some other worthless bleep). Had stickers covering the "REP" stuff up (said "4000#"). It is slow, but is continues to take a lickin'! I know 3 others that bought them about the same time, and all are going strong today.

I *did* break it winter before last pulling stumps out of the back yard (single line... maybe I should have dug around them first? :D ) . Bought the entire "geared" side from an REP8000 off a bud for $40 (incl. shipping), cleaned it up, packed it full of grease, and slapped it on!

Based on what I've *SEEN*... it isn't any slower than the M8000!
From what I've *heard*, not any less reliable than the M8000!

Besides, I've only used to pull *ME* 5-6 times... the 50-60 were somebody else's trash! :p
 
off road use has not voided my warranty and it is evident. They have always worked on it without even bringing it up...however Josh with the blue rubi, he got screwed bc of offroad use. As far as an aftermarket locker, it wont void all the warranties, but it would have to void any axle problems and im sure theyd just void the whole powertrain warranty. Plus i have the 35/30 combo...


Rod
 
jeep9mm said:
warranty blah blah blah warranty blah blah blah warranty.

Rod
Click to expand...

warranties are for wimps :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

winches are a good investment. i have one on my truck, and i dont have lockers. but i got the winch used for a good price. anyway, i stand by what i said from te beginning, you get what you pay for.

Duane
 
dood, if im a wimp by keeping my credit cards in my pocket when I go pick up my Jeep tomorrow at the dealer and let DC foot the bill...thas fine by me hah


Sincerely,

Wimpy McWimperson
 
Caver Dave said:
I *did* break it winter before last pulling stumps out of the back yard (single line
Click to expand...

From what I've *heard*, not any less reliable than the M8000!
Click to expand...

Those 2 statements don't jive together. You would NEVER have broken an M8k by pulling on it to its stalling point. No way, no how.

Why am I so adamant about having a GOOD winch? Well, there's been 2 times where I've been on the business end, and if the winch had failed, I probably wouldn't be here today.. 1 of the 2 times, we were able to use a vehicle at the top of the hill and that winch to stabilize mine, but at Globe, it woulda been nasty.

Did a single line pull up a VERY steep, rutted hill, with a rear axle that was locked solid. 200 feet I would guess. Yeah, the 8274 and a M8k aren't identical, but the electricals are, as is the motor.

And yeah, I've had a Ramsey...
 
different experiences are just that, and everyone is going to have different opinions...but here is mine again.

that ramsey is slow, but a damn good winch. i bought a warn 9000i, and it took a shit on me on the 5th or 6th pull i did with it, on the ledge above slickrock at midnight. not good timing. i definetly pulls faster and harder when it is pulling, but i was missing the old slow ramsey when it quit. :flipoff2:
 
I wish you hadn't said that. My 9000i just arrived via UPS a few days ago.

I went with the Warn over the cheaper models, because you do get what you pay for. And, a winch is something you keep and swap onto your next rig if you ever sell.
 
Prob ANY winch is better than NO winch...and folks like CDave had a lot of success with the older Northern Tool/HF specials...(I think they are a different unit than when Dave bought his btw)

I understand the temptation to buy the cheapie...honestly, I would wait and invest in the Warn (or Ramsey or T-Max)...since you are ONLY wheeling in URE....just make sure to wheel with buddies who have a winch?

(in a pinch...you can use a hilift jack as a winch...to be honest I would go for the "Friends with winches" route however!!!)

My first winch was an OLD Ramsey...slow, strong, reliable...was on the vehicle when I bought it...when I got my YJ, I bought the Warn...someday when I got too much money laying around I will buy a Warn 8274 for the front and use my M8000 on the rear bumper...

Sam..m8000...Hinton
 
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