NewHilux.net

Hi Guys, so I'm fed up with not having a winch and having to rely on my mates, so I want to get myself a decent winch, however I don't know what to get having never had to buy one, what size do I need 9500, 10000 or a 12000?, I know I want to have synthetic rope, and I do want a decent winch and not some cheap cra*p, I was originally looking at a Warn winch but they seem very expensive from ARB, but I know they fit in my ARB Deluxe Winch bar, so are Warn worth it over say a Smittybilt or Runva or something else? what do you guys suggest? I heard good things from the Smittybilt X20-10000 comp winch, as they come with a 5 year warranty, what do you guys think?
thanks

Hi
I run a 9000 premier winch
Have been so good i pulled it out of me last car to put it in the hilux it is about 16 years old now the only mod is a TJM wireless remote fitted don't have to worry about plugging it in.

There’s a good thread on here somewhere about winch warranties, great place to start. Came about because some more expensive brands have a ‘don’t get it wet’ clause, which kinda misses the point for some people. Something with good line speed and duty cycle is preferable. You can get away with smaller winch by using snatch blocks etc, but I reckon you can’t have too much power in something like this. The most powerful that will fit / can afford / your battery and electrical system can handle. Mine is a cheap 16k pound, and at an awkward angle, up hill and cross rutted I still needed a snatch block. Good to be prepared.


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I put a Smittybuilt on the front of my lux about 5 years ago. I can't tell you how good it is as I've never used it.

I've also never used my maxtrax but I use my diff locks and snatch strap often.

I know that doesn't answer your question, I only bought the smitty as it was on sale. I'm sure its a good winch

I stuck a cheaper winch on my 2011, it is a 4x4 Supacentre Grande 12000lb, looks like a Warn copy. I don't need it for recovery, mainly to be used for dragging cars up my driveway or logs into a better position for cutting for firewood. The only problem with it is there was no way to fit the controller behind the bar so right now it is sitting up behind the light bar. I plan to change to one of these bars later so hopefully there is more room for it down there:
https://www.traxindustries.com.au/rhino ... hilux-2005

anyone heard of these guys?
https://www.carbonwinches.com.au/carbon-12k-12000lb-electric-winch-with-synthetic-r
Warranty seems very good, with 5 year water, 5 year electrical and limited lifetime mechanical, and very light?

In terms of other good winches around the $1000 what do you guys suggest, the smittybilt seems good, but no one here seems to have used it, what about VRS, Sherpa, Warn?

Also how do I know if it'll fit in my ARB deluxe Winch bar?, will I need to remove the bar to fit the winch or will it go in from under the bar/ute?

I had a Warn on my 80 series and was pretty good tho I mostly used it to recover other people and pull trees away from houses when cutting them down. if I was to buy one for the Hilux I would buy another Warn. there is usually a reason products like the warn have lasted so long and are so highly regarded within the industry. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for and a winch is one of those things that when you need it, it could be the difference between getting home or not and the last thing I would want to do is put my life in the hands of some cheap untested piece of equipment that might fail at the worst possible moment.

just my two cents worth

I've also got a 4wd superstore cheapy -
12000 pound (grande mk 2) been flogged to shit and it still works fine. Serviced it once and apart from a tiny bit of dirt inside the seals it was fine. It's been buried in mud a fair few times. I even stalled out on a double line pull trying to unbog a removal body truck and it still works. I'd buy one again