I snow wheel a lot so we do lots of winching. I have probably made well over 20 pulls in 2 years with other rigs buried up to there doors in deep snow. I initially was not happy when I got my VR as Warn was advertising they were assembled in Oregon. (I got one of the first vr series when they were first released) When I got it of course said assembled in china. I called Warn (they actually answer their phone and you can speak to actual person) and they told me that the VR series and the USA made winches share similar internal parts. ie US assembled winches can have imported parts.
when I did the Rubicon trail the end of August my vr10000s came had a fairly high speed impact against an immoveable object lol and cracked one of the support ends for the gear box. It was 100% my fault. Warn sent me a new end support. I disassembled the gearbox when I replaced the end support and the gears and case are high quality. I know at first it bothered me having a Chinese winch but after two years of use and actually seeing the gear set I no longer am concerned. They are also very well sealed so water is not a concern the grease on the gears looked brand new and no metal filings were present. I know I am not a hard core offroader like most but I do wheel almost every week.
