Well Eddie you were right

[JRied]

I hate to say it but you are. Today I went to use my Smittybilt (Shittybilt) winch and line and what I always heard about them happened. It failed. I swore I had the 1 in a hundred that wasn't a POS because it has always worked perfect and pulled my jeep, other jeeps, and big box trucks out of holes and mud etc etc.. Today I got stuck in a really deep hole trying to circle to my brother who was also stuck on a separate path. I wrapped a recovery strap around several trees and connected my 8k winch line to a DRing and that to the recovery strap. Started to pull myself out and I couldn't because the damn winch would pop out of engaged and go to free spool EVERY SINGLE TIME like 10 times before I gave up almost. So I had my brother manually hold the lever on engage so it wouldn't pop into free spool and finally it started working and then SNAP my shittybilt line snaps in half. Lmao it gets better. My brother then realizes he has to pull himself out on his own to then rescue me, he uses the recovery strap tree method and pulls down the trees, and now we're super F'd. Many hours later we leave the trail and our mud pits. Long story short is yes they suck and yes I'm looking into a new brand. Is Warn the forums top vote?

 

[wayoflife]

Oh man, honest to goodness, I never want to be right about stuff like this and I'm sorry that you had to deal with such an ordeal. As I always say, I just can't make this shit up and it's the only reason why I recommend the products that I do. Glad to hear you were able to get out safe and still be able to laugh about it.

 

[JRied]

Sitting in my jeep stuck in the hole I could place my arm out of the window and lay my palm flat on the solid ground while seated. My 35" tires and door sill area were below the flat ground to give an idea how deep the tracks were.

 

[JRied]

Oh man, honest to goodness, I never want to be right about stuff like this and I'm sorry that you had to deal with such an ordeal. As I always say, I just can't make this shit up and it's the only reason why I recommend the products that I do. Glad to hear you were able to get out safe and still be able to laugh about it.

Lmao yea it's pretty funny now to look back at it. And I always stood by there products because I have never had an issue. I was an idiot lol

 

[USMC Wrangler]

I've found more solid, real world experience advice here in the past few months than I did at other places.

JRied, sorry to hear :shock:...Eddie, thanks for the great place and to all the great info (and laughs) from all the contributors! :thumb:

 

[JRied]

Also imagine if I was alone on the trail I would've had no way to hold the winch lever in the engaged position, and the way the trail splits a hundred times nobody would've found me even if I tried to explain it perfectly

 

[Fir-na-tine]

Where exactly did you get stuck........I'm in Broward and know the area........glad to see you guys were able to get out :thumb:

~Woodrow~

 

[jman_12]

Wow that really sucks! Glad you got out okay!

 

[JRied]

Where exactly did you get stuck........I'm in Broward and know the area........glad to see you guys were able to get out :thumb:

~Woodrow~

We were exploring the back area of the woods off of Bird Rd and SW 157th Ave in Kendall. Yea we got out with some creativity and ghetto rigging my line together and hoping it doesn't snap again. MacGyver

 

[Kalums]

We had an "off brand" awhile back on one of our SUVs and it did the exact same thing while we were trying to pull someone out of a small ravine. Only difference is we tied a piece of twine/rope around the lever to the grill. I'm very glad we did because as we started winching him up and out the housing on that side sheared off and some piece went through the drivers side head light and off into the bushes. Ended up just wrapping the line around the tow hitch. But I'm very glad nothing like that happened to you guys and that is also why I advocate ALWAYS going wheeling/crawling /trail riding with others.

Ps we changed that one out for an M8000...no problems since.

 

[Fir-na-tine]

We were exploring the back area of the woods off of Bird Rd and SW 157th Ave in Kendall. Yea we got out with some creativity and ghetto rigging my line together and hoping it doesn't snap again. MacGyver

I've been back in there before.......back in the melaleucas......that muck gets just a little bit of water it becomes shitty quick.....that whole square out there has trails running all through it......we got in there off of Krome Ave.......lessons learned.....been there my friend......good luck winning the winch you definitely deserve/need it for sure!

~Woodrow~

 

[K.D.C.H]

Sorry this happened to you but glad to hear you got out.

So does this mean you'll be ditching your other Shittybuilt products and upgrading them to something else? (Like the bumper your winch was attached to )

 

[JRied]

I've been back in there before.......back in the melaleucas......that muck gets just a little bit of water it becomes shitty quick.....that whole square out there has trails running all through it......we got in there off of Krome Ave.......lessons learned.....been there my friend......good luck winning the winch you definitely deserve/need it for sure!

~Woodrow~

Thanks man that would be an awesome outcome to this ordeal. Yea it's pretty big area when viewed on the gps.

 

[JRied]

Sorry this happened to you but glad to hear you got out.

So does this mean you'll be ditching your other Shittybuilt products and upgrading them to something else? (Like the bumper your winch was attached to )

My bumper idk. It hasn't caused any issues and not much can go wrong other then bad welds or bad powder coat and its holding up. My brother did get the Evo 1/4 w/stinger and that thing is nice so for now I'm happy. My armor? I'm not changing it, I smack trees and hills/ledges rocks and it holds up strong while my friends have scratches and dents on there jks. It works extremely well and fits the aggressive look that I like. So bumper is a yes maybe in the future and armor is a no. I'll vouch for the non mechanical moving parts lol the ones that don't move and are bolted in place

 

[K.D.C.H]

My bumper idk. It hasn't caused any issues and not much can go wrong other then bad welds or bad powder coat and its holding up. My brother did get the Evo 1/4 w/stinger and that thing is nice so for now I'm happy. My armor? I'm not changing it, I smack trees and hills/ledges rocks and it holds up strong while my friends have scratches and dents on there jks. It works extremely well and fits the aggressive look that I like. So bumper is a yes maybe in the future and armor is a no. I'll vouch for the non mechanical moving parts lol the ones that don't move and are bolted in place

When you say things like "Not much can go wrong", these are the words you'll always think of after something goes wrong.

I'm sure this guy never thought his bumper would go bad but it did (Picture posted previously from another WAL member)





All I'm saying is it would suck to find out on the trail that another one of your Smittybuilt products that you've never previously had an issue with fails. Just my 2 cents

 

[JRied]

When you say things like "Not much can go wrong", these are the words you'll always think of after something goes wrong.

I'm sure this guy never thought his bumper would go bad but it did (Picture posted previously from another WAL member)

View attachment 135503



All I'm saying is it would suck to find out on the trail that another one of your Smittybuilt products that you've never previously had an issue with fails. Just my 2 cents

Yea I saw that. What I don't see in that picture is the reinforced bracket I have welded on my stinger bar and bumper. And I was just generally saying not much can go wrong but I do know what can happen. I was referring to a solid state item vs one that has many moving Chinese parts.

 

[K.D.C.H]

Yea I saw that. What I don't see in that picture is the reinforced bracket I have welded on my stinger bar and bumper. View attachment 135510And I was just generally saying not much can go wrong but I do know what can happen. I was referring to a solid state item vs one that has many moving Chinese parts.

It's your Jeep so it's your call, just giving you my 2 cents like I said. I've learned a lot from everyone on here and especially from Eddie. So many people around here steer away from certain brands and there's usual a reason why. When a company (and this goes for any company really) has issues with many of their products, I'm personally not the kind of guy who's going to keep any of those brand of parts and just cross my fingers that I have that 1 in 100 chance it's good.

Again I hope nothing ever happens but again I'm just giving you my thoughts based on what I've learned and seen on here.

 

[Speeddmn]

ShittyBuilt is what it is, so here is an odd ball question. Would the line even be worth saving? Hook? Anything or shall we just toss this crap in the dumpster and then light it on fire? Im wondering if there is anything salvageable off a broken pos winch... Part of me (most of me) is hoping to win the Zeon from NR4x4, if not I think it's the winch ill buy anyways!

 

[JRied]

View attachment 135526

ShittyBuilt is what it is, so here is an odd ball question. Would the line even be worth saving? Hook? Anything or shall we just toss this crap in the dumpster and then light it on fire? Im wondering if there is anything salvageable off a broken pos winch... Part of me (most of me) is hoping to win the Zeon from NR4x4, if not I think it's the winch ill buy anyways!

If it were me I'd scrap it all or sell the left over parts and start new. I also want to win the Warn but my review hasn't posted yet

 

[evilmurph123]

As many bad things as I've heard about smittybuilt products, it doesn't mean all cheaper products are bad. In my opinion, the best thing you can do before buying a product is to read reviews from actual customers that have and use them. As many times as I've received crap for having a harbor freight winch, I've only ever had one problem with it and it was my own doing(left it submerged for over an hour and never cleaned it out) and that caused the brushes in the motor to get hung up. Now I won't go saying I trust everything from harbor freight. But it really does pay to have first hand experience of whatever you choose to buy.