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I recently posted about a winch bumper I bought a couple months ago. I don't believe that it is from Warn but it is the same style bumper. Knowing that's the bumper that I'll be using which a friend of mine will be doing some beefing up to, what winches are you guys using on these trucks? I have a 1978 F250 4x4 that weighs approx. 5500lbs that I 4wheel with in mud and trails. I've been looking at the Warn M8274 but that's a lot of money to blow without knowing about other winches that may be better for less. Any advice would be appreciated!
More than enough to pull your rig out, unless you're driving a loaded cement mixer lol. Personally I prefer the older 8274's (pre 90's), they've been around since the early 70's but it just seems the older models hold up better (the newer models use some overseas made parts). You can usually pick one up on Craigslist if you're patient, they can go anywhere from $200 (one that needs rebuilt) to $2000 for a vintage model that is in mint condition.
On the top of the upper housing there will be a code with two letters and a number. For example, we'll use FB6.
The first letter stands for the month the winch was made (A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.). Therefore, with our example, F would equal the sixth month: June
The second letter stands for the working day of the month, not including Saturdays or Sundays. Our example says "B," which would be the second working day of the month.
The ending number represents the year the winch was made during the '70s or '80s. In this example, it's 6, so that'd be '76 or '86. (Remember, M8274 production started in '74 and this coding system stopped in the early 1990s, after that, Warn used serial numbers.) Beginning in about 1980, Warn switched from a metal socket on the control pack to a plastic socket. So, depending on which one your winch has would determine which year your M8274 was manufactured.
I have a 9500 pound Ramsey and I won't recommend it. Although they are right in the Warn price range they sure don't have the quality. If I had it to do over I would just buy the cheep ones. For the price of a good 9k anymore you could buy 3 of the cheep ones to one of the big name winches.
I have the same exact looking bumper as yours but mine has a Warn sticker. It looks factory to me. While it's not a 100% guarantee, I would guess your bumper is actually made by Warn.
Looks just like my Warn bumper. I've seen 2 different types of these bumpers. The ones like pictured here with rounded outer edges, & the other type with the outer edges being more angled & square.
I haven't got a winch to fill the void but I added a couple of old ammo cans for storage.
Personally I'd want at least a 12k rated winch on a 3/4 or 1ton truck, but the 8274 will most likely do everything asked of it with a skilled user.
I've read to get one rated for, at the minimum, 1 1/2 times the weight of your vehicle. That should give it the power to pull the vehicle, plus overcome obstacles like rocks, logs, sticky mud, etc., that'll cause resistance. At 5500 pounds, and in mud , I'd say that Warn is at the bare minimum.
Always double the weight of the vehicle. If your truck weighs 5,500 lbs, get at least a 11,000 lb winch. I know a couple guys running the Smittybilt winches with no complaints. I had a 8,000 Ramsey on my '96 F150 with 35" boggers and I burned it up three times. Along with a friends Warn 8,000 on his Heep, I paid to have his fixed. I overkilled my "99 F250 with a Ramsey 15,000, needless to say I had no problems with it at all.
