What do you have?
Do you like it?
What's great or bad about it?

Ramsey Patriot 9500
It's awesome
Best feature is the auto engaging clutch - when you're done taking out slack, you just hit the button to spool it in and the clutch automatically engages - no going back to the winch to manually engage it.

What do you WISH you had? Warn

Would you like it? Yes, my buddy has one on his first gen, that he pulled it off the Pathy, but that's when a Pathy was an X.

What could be great or bad about it? Old school, yet still the gold standard. Made in Amurrika, and notably, in the best part of America, Portland. But, you don't get something for nothing.

Patrick

Smittybilt XRC-8

I like it so far. It was fairly inexpensive. Nothing special about it, but it does the job.

I have the Warn xp9.5.
I like it. It is powerful and easy to access through the Shrock bumper.
It is great to have peace of mind setting in that front bumper when wheeling.
I mounted the powerplant on the outside to have easy access with the rabbit control.
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff70/Fodda23/My%20Xterra/100_0586.jpg

I have the Mile Marker 12Se.

Nice controls, powerful, thermal shut-down and manual over ride, lower current draw then some, cheap, fits the ShrockWorks bumper well, remote mounted control jack.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/Winch/Winch01.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/Winch/NewHook.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/Winch/WinchPlug03.jpg

This has the beginnings of a really great Winch thread. Sticky?

Mile Marker 8000

Works well

I would change the way it locks as it tends to be a PITA to shift it from free to spool.

Ramsey 8500, works great even after a year of no action. Always pulled me out when i needed it. And it was fairly inexpensive, only 395.00.

Warn 9000Xi
I have two of them (on on the X, one on the Jeep).
I got mine for a steal, so it was the best winch my money could buy at the time.
Have had no problems with the one in the X.
Had to rebuild the one in the Jeep (older model, sat for a long time unused before I bought it). Cost $25 to fix.
Has yet to fail me when needed.

I will be doing inboard switches for both of them. No more wired remote.

Man I need to get a winch!

whats the best weight capacity for a winch?

overkill is the best thing for a winch get a 10K capacity or greater being stuck in thick deep mud adds a lot of resistance.
Posted via Mobile Device

yes, but you don't want to go any larger than your mount can safely hold.

I would not go larger than 10K (maybe 12K) and no smaller than 8K.
Posted via Mobile Device

The winch should be able to fit in the Shrock bumper no? Although, the powerplant and rabbit control might be mounted outside in a good spot... 9500 like the Warn XP9.5 fits in there. No way that the Xterra weighs 9500lbs...

The rule of thumb on a winch is 1 1/2 times the weight of the vehicle. This is because you are not pulling just the weight of the vehicle, but also what ever it is suck on or in.

The Shrock bumper is rated for 9.5K according to Jim. You can probably put a 10K winch in there without a problem. You might even be able to shove a 12K winch in there, but I would not use any snatch blocks and if you do, don't make any additional attachments to the bumper (out-back-out).

Jim or Nick could probably confirm this better than I can, but I would play it safe.

Recovery is dangerous in the best situations. No reason to risk making it more dangerous.

I assume what you are calling a powerplant and rabbit control is the Solenoid control box?

I assume what you are calling a powerplant and rabbit control is the Solenoid control box?

Ya, that's probably a more precise description. Thanks Musikman. The local 4x4 shop guy looked at the bumper and suggested the Warn because of shape. It's not easy to get all the goods from winch box hidden up in the bumper.
Solenoid control box on the outside.
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff70/Fodda23/My%20Xterra/100_0586.jpg

I have the exact same set-up as Farley19 except I use the synthetic steel rope (Dyneema) instead of the cable. That rope is good stuff. It took me about 20 minutes to install this on my X with the winch inside the bumper.
- Resists flex fatigue
- 6x lighter than a steel cable of the same thickness
- Higher breaking point of a steel cable of the same thickness
- Doesn't rust, doesn't kink, and spools easy
- Doesn't stretch like steel, so it won't snap back if it breaks
- Won't damage trees
- Comes in blue or red
A 3/8" x 100' rope runs about $80
http://www.shrockworks.com/files/products/t_16177.jpg


The Warn 9.5 is a beast. It uses a manual clutch, wich I like because you can disengage the clutch and pull the line out freely without waiting on the motor to wind it out. This is also one of the fastest pulling (if not the fastest) winches of its size. It comes with a 5/16 x 100' steel cable and a lifetime waranty. The Warn 9.5 runs for about $950.
- Remote switch has a flashlight on it for night use
- Remote switch has a 12' cable (long enough to operate from inside the Xterra)
http://www.shrockworks.com/files/products/t_16219.jpg


An upgrade to the Warn winch is the wireless controller
Its about the size of a keychain and turns itself off when you're done and has a range of 100'. The remote and the kit (antenna and remote) cost about $130.
http://www.shrockworks.com/files/cache/df077b1fe28bee7c998d8cd364c3fdce.jpg

2 words....Integrated Solenoid

I have also never seen a winch that could not free spool. It's really bad to use the motor to spool out the line for any real distance.

A 3/8" x 100' rope runs about $80

Before I call BS, can you please provide a link to a supplier that sells synthetic winch rope for this ridiculously low price?

excellent thread btw! will definitely be using this as a reference point for choosing a winch.

does anyone have experience with the wireless remotes? for some reason I'm skeptical...

A 3/8" x 100' rope runs about $80

Before I call BS, can you please provide a link to a supplier that sells synthetic winch rope for this ridiculously low price?
I was trying to find that out also.

excellent thread btw! will definitely be using this as a reference point for choosing a winch.

does anyone have experience with the wireless remotes? for some reason I'm skeptical...

When it comes to recovery I try to be as safe as possible. For some reason I just don't like the idea. I am sure it's convenient, but I want to make sure when I tell the line to stop that it does.

The rule of thumb on a winch is 1 1/2 times the weight of the vehicle. This is because you are not pulling just the weight of the vehicle, but also what ever it is suck on or in.

The Shrock bumper is rated for 9.5K according to Jim. You can probably put a 10K winch in there without a problem. You might even be able to shove a 12K winch in there, but I would not use any snatch blocks and if you do, don't make any additional attachments to the bumper (out-back-out).

Jim or Nick could probably confirm this better than I can, but I would play it safe.

Recovery is dangerous in the best situations. No reason to risk making it more dangerous.

I assume what you are calling a powerplant and rabbit control is the Solenoid control box?

I absolutely agree with the overkill philosophy. The first pic is Steve hooking me up to one winch. The second is a pic of me being dual winched after the single winch attempt failed. Brock's Truggy has a huge winch, but it alone couldn't handle the resistance of my rig being dragged through many tons of mud, it over heated and we had to wait a 1/2 hour for it to cool off. Then Dave jumped into the mix and together they winched my @ss out of this mess. However, I still blew my front dif out that day...hard lesson learned. Be sure to get yourself a tree-saver and snatch block to go with your new winch, and download winching techniques from the Warn website.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn86/XTERRADACTYL/DSC02126.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn86/XTERRADACTYL/dualwinching-1.jpg

I absolutely agree with the overkill philosophy. The first pic is Steve hooking me up to one winch. The second is a pic of me being dual winched after the single winch attempt failed. Brock's Truggy has a huge winch, but it alone couldn't handle the resistance of my rig being dragged through many tons of mud, it over heated and we had to wait a 1/2 hour for it to cool off. Then Dave jumped into the mix and together they winched my @ss out of this mess.

First, the 1st photo you posted clearly shows me hooking up the 2nd winch line to your bumper. And, the 2nd photo you posted shows Larry helping to pull out, not Dave.

Check your facts sir.

First, the 1st photo you posted clearly shows me hooking up the 2nd winch line to your bumper. And, the 2nd photo you posted shows Larry helping to pull out, not Dave.

Check your facts sir.

You are correct my good man, thanks for the corrections.

I absolutely agree with the overkill philosophy. The first pic is Steve hooking me up to one winch. The second is a pic of me being dual winched after the single winch attempt failed. Brock's Truggy has a huge winch, but it alone couldn't handle the resistance of my rig being dragged through many tons of mud, it over heated and we had to wait a 1/2 hour for it to cool off. Then Dave jumped into the mix and together they winched my @ss out of this mess. However, I still blew my front dif out that day...hard lesson learned. Be sure to get yourself a tree-saver and snatch block to go with your new winch, and download winching techniques from the Warn website.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn86/XTERRADACTYL/DSC02126.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn86/XTERRADACTYL/dualwinching-1.jpg

Ugh! That looks like the bottomless pit at GWF. I think that sink hole is impassable. I know it ate me up. Cured what little interest I had in mud.