Winch Recommendations

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
What's the verdict on the VR Evo winches from Warn, I'm researching for a future purchase for the Gladiator and I'm still on the fence between the VR EVO and the Zeons just on price alone.
I would not buy anything but a high end warn if I wanted a reliable winch in a wet climate. I had a VR on my two door but we see 1/2 an inch of rain out here. After my bad engo experience, I wouldn’t want that again. I did buy the VR though since my Jeep was garaged and hardly ever say water.
 

Jimmyboy

Member
I’ve had a Warn M12 for years. It hasn’t been babied. It’s had a lot of long heavy full length pulls. All I can say is, it works.

My 2c.
 
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Would love to see it if you can find it (y)
Not the greatest pics but you can see where the mount completely broke/ripped off and did so on all four corners. The winch plate and all 4 bolts were still secure. Luckily this one was mounted recessed in the bumper keeping it secure when it broke.

This is an older Smittybilt so they may have updated this part and made these better...maybe.

Photo Mar 31, 7 03 39 AM.jpg

Photo Mar 31, 7 03 28 AM.jpg
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Not the greatest pics but you can see where the mount completely broke/ripped off and did so on all four corners. The winch plate and all 4 bolts were still secure. Luckily this one was mounted recessed in the bumper keeping it secure when it broke.

This is an older Smittybilt so they may have updated this part and made these better...maybe.

View attachment 373798

View attachment 373799
Yeah, that's a BIG NO for me! Thanks for posting this up... wow.
 

Sharkey

Word Ninja
It will be nice when Warn’s higher end winches can actually be easily purchased again. I’m getting really sick of the supply chain issues.
 
It will be nice when Warn’s higher end winches can actually be easily purchased again. I’m getting really sick of the supply chain issues.
The ZEONs were finally back in stock for like 2.5 seconds about two weeks ago. VR’s are available of course. But I totally hear ya on the supply chains.
 

TrailReady

Caught the Bug
I would not buy anything but a high end warn if I wanted a reliable winch in a wet climate. I had a VR on my two door but we see 1/2 an inch of rain out here. After my bad engo experience, I wouldn’t want that again. I did buy the VR though since my Jeep was garaged and hardly ever say water.
Is the Warn M8000 considered to be a high quality? Was looking into selecting this one..
 

TrailReady

Caught the Bug
If you don’t mind the looks it’s a good winch. Not that “finished” look like the other models out there. I believe Eddie runs the M10000 or 12k.
Agreed; Zeon looks the best by far - but, like the low profile look in the EVO bumper of the M line, just wasn't sure on it's performance as you rarely see them compared to Zeon's and/or VR's.
 

black pearl

Hooked
I've seen a Smittybilt literally get ripped off a bumper during a pull from the cast just breaking apart. WARN's aren't cheap by any means but for me, recovery and safety are something not to save an extra buck on.
I find this funny, because I’ve seen it as well. Talked a buddy into trying something I knew he’d have to winch out of. Was making the first pull and boom… luckily the bull bar caught it from going to far.
 

PoorDad

Member
Late to the party, but I will second checking out Craigslist for winches. I got my first winch, a Warn XD9000, used and it lived on the front of my JK for 9 years, working whenever called on. It was sold with the JK, and I would guess is still working. My latest winch, a Warn 9.5cti-s, I bought a few weeks ago off of Craigslist. The seller happens to be a shop owner in Los Angeles, and had the winch sitting in his shop, NIB, since 2017. He wanted it gone from his storeroom, so he put it up for sale for $1000.00. I looked at the add for about a week, and saw it was still there, so I called and the seller described it to me. I agreed to buy it and, since we found out he lives close to me, he brought it up to Santa Clarita for me. As an added bonus, the winch also had a wireless remote in addition to the corded one in the box. So keep checking Craigslist for those deals....they are out there!
 

Breer

Caught the Bug
I also agree with most that the Warn is worth the money. I have really enjoyed my Zeon 10s that I have on my JKU. It did fail on the trail for me but things happen. Warn has great customer service and backs up their products with a good warranty. As other mentioned, the Zeon pulls much faster and has always outperformed other winches from my observations. If I were in the market for a winch, I'd buy another warn without hesitation.
 
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