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Need a winch eventually 2 for the rig personally want a Sherpa or a warn. Thinking when needed won’t be a good time so might as well rest easy with confidence in the equipment. What are you guys using? Planning to start off with 1 already have a front hitch receiver and adding a second hitch to the rear incase it’s needed there with a trailer hooked up to the primary. Which carrier would you recommend as well.
thanks for the help
I just went through this journey recently with my Excursion.
Rule of thumb, they say winch size should be 1.5x GVWR. So I was looking for a Warn 16.5TI.
But I could not find a mount suitable for it, unless you get lucky and find an old Warn Trans4mer.
It seems the manufacturers have moved on and no longer make winch mounts for our old rigs. So I ended up with a front hitch receiver like you.
Only downside is those are only rated to 9,000 lbs line pull, so that is your limiting factor.
Rogue Fab makes a stout winch mount I would trust more than the HF version.
I got lucky and found a XD9i Multi-Mount used and scooped it up. This pairs nicely with the front hitch limit.
Aw, the Sherpa. Definitely a beast of a winch. Looking at the Stallion?
Depending on your needs, the warm 8274 is crazy strong. There is a reason why they have been making the same style for 50 years. One challenge is finding a mount that will support a front mount style.
don’t give no shade for the harbor freight winch. Look at some of the winch comparisons. It will definitely hold its own.
I have been very pleased with the badlands apex 12k since I put it on my excursion.
In addition to loading cars and trucks on trailers, I've used it to recover vehicles from mud holes, as well as a very large skid steer with bush hog attachment buried in a swamp.
It's done all I've asked of it so far.
I removed an old Warn winch that had steel rope on it, cable if you will.
the Remote was lost before I bought the truck, looked for a year to find another remote, Lost cause.
Installed a Badlands APEX 12k with Synthetic rope, don't want any of that fly back and kill you stuff if it ever breaks.
it has paid for itself time and again, each time it gets used, it is "paid for, in full"
love the Bluetooth controller that works further away, than the rope is long.
I just cannot Justify the immense cost of the other winch brands, they aren't any better than the Badlands 12k,
nearly all of the Off Road Recovery folks are using them.
Rory Irish, has 5 of them on his wrecker in Moab, "Trail Mater"...
ask him why 5 winches, and he explains it very well, sometimes, you need to do some super fancy rigging to pull up a wounded carcass out of a 300 ft deep crevasse....
Saw him string a line across the canyon, and a 2nd line on a shackle slid over the 1st line, to drop that line down into the canyon, and two other winches on each side to jostle the wreckage sideways to pull it straight up, and over the top.
I’ve bought multiple Warns used off of FB/Craigslist. I’ve also looked at the Sherpa ones with good reviews down in Australia. I would never go with a cheap Chinese winch. Do I think they’re bad? No. But I have a Warn 9.5TI I can still buy parts for and that Warn supplies diagrams for and offers technical support on.
I'm a die hard Warn fan. I've had a tour of the factory, had their Advertising guy out 4 wheeling and been in some of their advertisements, years ago.
Back in the day they were the only winch that we didn't break out on the trail.
I have a 9500xp-s now on my tacoma, but if I needed to get a new winch for something I wouldn't discount the badlands winch from HF.
Whatever you decide, unless your using it daily and abusing the cable, do yourself a favor and make sure you get one with synthetic rope.
I can't add much, I don't do much winching. I can say I bought a badlands winch 5k for my 4 wheeler and after 6 months it quit working. Won't spin either way, so I can't recommend.
I’ve got the Smittybilt X20 17,500 lb winch and love it. I use it for farm use, pulling out trees into clearings for firewood, and recovery of other vehicles…… so I’ve got the 1/2” steel cable…..no synthetic for me.
Made it quick connect so that it’s removable when I am running around town. The winch has wired and wireless remote and I also wired a plug into the winch controller and toggle switches on my dash so that I can easily control from the cab without holding a remote control in my hand.
The Warn 15K with 7/16" wire rope mounted in a Warn Semi-Hidden cradle made of High Strength Low Alloy steel has not presented any problems in 25 years of service.
I just used it to move a non running motorhome out of the way this past month.
It is nice that the winch is always there, always mounted, always ready to go... rather than having to be clairvoyant ahead of time to know to bring a receiver mounted winch along.
Because who can know the future, when the rest of today is still not known?
The winch always being there serves also serves as a counter ballast for those who use their truck to tow. Real tow trucks are built with counter ballast weights ahead of the front axle.
I would encourage a permanently mounted winch. If Warn still makes the Semi Hidden kit for the '99-'04 Super Duty, I would highly recommend it, as it also prevents the winch from being stolen.
Behind the scenes:
Warn original presentation photo:
Other details:
I have both a permanently mounted front winch, AND a front receiver hitch.
The permanent winch can operate at full rated value, rather than be restricted to the typical receiver mounted line pull limitations.
The receiver is useful for manipulating trailers in the yard while facing them, as well as for holding a working platform, or a bike rack, etc.
And since I stumbled across this pic while looking for winch pics...
New "holy" lower valance from 2003 model year installed, to admit more cooling air to heat exchangers.
Your putting a large winch on the front of an axle that is almost at it GAWR because of the 7.3 engine and 4 WD
This isn't a concern for me, as the front axle of my F-550, ordered with Snow Plow Prep Pkg along with the maximum front spring and axle GAWR available at the time, has never been overloaded.
The 2002 F-350 CC DRW 4WD 7.3L PSD has a front axle GAWR of 4,800 lbs (5,200 lbs with Snow Plow Prep), whereas the F-550 of that same year has a 6,000 lbs front GAWR.
Trailer tongue or pin weight is either at or aft of the rear axle, which unloads the front axle. (Unless using the front receiver to park a trailer, which is different.)
However, your point remains a valid one to consider by the OP, who has an F-250... and it is not known whether or not RigCity's truck has the Snow Plow Prep Pkg, which would enable between 100 to 125 lbs of permanently mounted equipment to be mounted up front without deleteriously altering ride and handling characteristics.
Y2KW57, good point…….i didn’t realize you were running the F550.
When I bought my truck in 2018 (new to me) I thought the F350 was a “big” truck. But after research and looking at the GVWR and the weights of slide in truck campers I discovered there isn’t much for margin if any at all and many people on RV forums are running way over, with attention to their GAWR’s and the tire load ratings.
Health issues happened and my plans for a 5ver dissolved away… so my F350 lives a pretty pampered life, farm, camping. and pulling a fishing boat🙂
