Time to add a winch — which one?

[Jerry Bransford]

No you are wrong, this WAS not a discussion about American jobs, you made it that.

I care deeply about keeping American jobs in America, simple as that. That is why my sig says buy American made when you have a choice. It's clear you don't care as much about American jobs as I do or you wouldn't have started the argument, it's as simple as that. If you want to be an apologist for how American jobs have been going to China due to our balance of trade with them, that's your problem.

For everyone else who cares, why shouldn't we buy American when we have a choice?

So when someone is presented with a choice between buying an American made winch and a Chinese made winch, you're damned right I will ALWAYS point out why we should buy American. It's my right to stick up for American made products, period. Too many manufacturing areas in cities around America have turned into ghettos and abandoned factories from jobs leaving America. How could anyone not want to fight something like that as hard and as consistently as possible?

I'm effing proud of our American manufacturers and keeping their employees employed, it's too bad more aren't of the same opinion. Come back at me and I'll do the same, I will never quit trying to keep as many jobs in America as possible.

 

[CodaMan]

... It's clear you don't care as much about American jobs as I do or you wouldn't have started the argument, it's as simple as that. If you want to be an apologist for how American jobs have been going to China due to our balance of trade with them, that's your problem.

See, again you are wrong. Maybe you should reread my posts ... and to say that it is "clear" that I don't care about American jobs is just an ignorant statement. Again, reread my posts. You know nothing about me just like I knew nothing about the VR series of winches, hence the question. Your response could have been as simple as "It's a Chinese made winch and I don't support the purchase of Chinese products", but NOOOO, you had to question my pride of country and start name calling. Get over yourself already.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Nevermind Codaman, it's not worth my time to discuss this further with you. You don't agree with my feelings American jobs are at stake so that's that. It's time I invoked the Ignore function, something I never felt the need for here before.

 

[CodaMan]

Nevermind Codaman, it's not worth my time to discuss this further with you. You don't agree with my feelings American jobs are at stake so that's that. It's time I invoked the Ignore function, something I never felt the need for here before.

Hahaha

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[Serbonze]

I'm going to purchase a winch and I decided that it will be a Warn and w/synthetic rope. What does everyone think about the VR8-S?

I have one. I've only had to use it a handful of times over the last three years, but it worked fine.

 

[jeepXcore]

I recently had a Rough Country RS9500 w/wire cable installed; so far it's gotten me out of a dicey situation(basically nose dived into a deep puddle) and pulled my gfs car out of the snow. Hasn't done me wrong so far.

 

[RangerRick]

The VR8-S may be okay in quality however it does not have a track record measured in decades like their US built winches do. I vote for a new Warn M8000 with steel line for $180 less than that VR8-S if you are on a limited budget. Upgrade to synthetic rope in the future when your budget allows. You won't be sorry 30 years from now when the winch is still going and it's been on several Jeeps already. Ask me how I know this to be true with 30+ years of Warn ownership experience .

Gotta love that Warn!

 

[bobthetj03]

^^^ Like he said, don't be hating the steel cable. At the end of the day, it'll get you home. Just take the proper precautions when utilizing it. It's and extra 25lbs. My tool bag that I keep in the jeep weighs more than that.

 

[CounterEMF]

Ok, I ordered my M8000-s with synthetic rope. Now for the long 5 to 8 days wait.

 

[JP13]

 

[CodaMan]

The VR8-S may be okay in quality however it does not have a track record measured in decades like their US built winches do. I vote for a new Warn M8000 with steel line for $180 less than that VR8-S if you are on a limited budget. Upgrade to synthetic rope in the future when your budget allows. You won't be sorry 30 years from now when the winch is still going and it's been on several Jeeps already. Ask me how I know this to be true with 30+ years of Warn ownership experience .

Gotta love that Warn!

Where do you see the M8000 (steel) for $180 less than the VR8-S? I can find the VR8-S for $669.99 and the M8000 for $579.99

 

[Ahoragi]

I'll speak from experience. I've had two types of winches to date: Milemarket 9k and Smitty XRC8.

Both winches were made in China and both winches gave me a shitload of issues over the years I've owned them. My next winch will be an American made quality winch.

If you can afford a cheap Chinese winch then you can afford to save up a little longer to double your budget and get a quality one.

 

[CodaMan]

...If you can afford a cheap Chinese winch then you can afford to save up a little longer to double your budget and get a quality one.

Well, this has nothing to do with being able to afford it, just because you can afford something doesn't mean you should just throw money at it. I can afford anything I want. It was only a quality question of a Warn product.

I'm not sure why a quality question of a Warn product went so crazy and with people trashing all Chinese products as bad. There are plenty of bad American products and many good Chinese products, it all has to do with the quality controls set up by the company. IIRC, Apple products are built in China and are some of the best quality products around.

 

[PStov98TJ]

Well if you hang around any Jeep forum long enough, you'll realize that talking about winches is like bringing up religion or politics at Thanksgiving dinner. Somebody is gonna start a fight regardless of what you say. So don't take any of it to heart.

One thing I'll say is that I couldn't justify the price of a brand new Warn either, but I knew I wanted a winch I could really depend upon. So, I started searching craigslist for used warn's. Took me about two weeks, and I came across a used xd9000i and picked it up for $300. It needed paint and some new line. I wanted synthetic line anyway, so that wasn't a deal breaker for me. So with that said, as long as you don't need it in the mail tomorrow, just look for a used one and be happy.

 

[PCO6]

Well, this has nothing to do with being able to afford it, just because you can afford something doesn't mean you should just throw money at it. I can afford anything I want. It was only a quality question of a Warn product.

I'm not sure why a quality question of a Warn product went so crazy and with people trashing all Chinese products as bad. There are plenty of bad American products and many good Chinese products, it all has to do with the quality controls set up by the company. IIRC, Apple products are built in China and are some of the best quality products around.

I agree with this. In my case, money certainly wasn't the issue. What I didn't spend on a better quality Warn winch will most likely go into something else for my other Jeeps ... probably more$. I think the VR line has been around since about 2010/11 (I could be wrong) and Warn provides a decent warranty. The vast majority of reviews I read were positive but in fairness, who really knows how the reviewers used their winches ... it could be occasionally and light duty or misuse and abuse.

In my case, as far as I know no Canadian companies make winches of this type. I bought a winch from our second largest trading partner that was made in the country of our third largest trading partner. I read somewhere that the VR winches are made to Warn's specs in a factory dedicated to only making their winches. I read it on the internet so it must be true.

 

[PCO6]

Well if you hang around any Jeep forum long enough, you'll realize that talking about winches is like bringing up religion or politics at Thanksgiving dinner. Somebody is gonna start a fight regardless of what you say. So don't take any of it to heart.

One thing I'll say is that I couldn't justify the price of a brand new Warn either, but I knew I wanted a winch I could really depend upon. So, I started searching craigslist for used warn's. Took me about two weeks, and I came across a used xd9000i and picked it up for $300. It needed paint and some new line. I wanted synthetic line anyway, so that wasn't a deal breaker for me. So with that said, as long as you don't need it in the mail tomorrow, just look for a used one and be happy.

That's a good way to go. I've never rebuilt one but I'm told that the parts are available and it's pretty straight forward. A friend of mine has rebuilt a few Warn 8274's that turned out great. He picked up one recently just to rebuild and to see that it goes to a good home.

 

[PStov98TJ]

Luckily, the one I bought had just been rebuilt and the owner was selling it for Christmas present money for his kids. I had him run the line in and out a couple of times, and then pop the top off so I could take a look at the solenoids. After it all seemed decent, I handed him the cash and wished him a Merry Christmas. Does it sound brand new? Nope. But I've used it once or twice already and it's done the job just fine. And paired with the synthetic line from @4LowParts it works great.

Oh, and when I repainted it, obviously I had to remove the decals. But after a quick call to Warn, I had a set of decals for my winch free of charge by the end of the week.

 

[Ahoragi]

Well, this has nothing to do with being able to afford it, just because you can afford something doesn't mean you should just throw money at it. I can afford anything I want. It was only a quality question of a Warn product.

I'm not sure why a quality question of a Warn product went so crazy and with people trashing all Chinese products as bad. There are plenty of bad American products and many good Chinese products, it all has to do with the quality controls set up by the company. IIRC, Apple products are built in China and are some of the best quality products around.

Well if you can afford it then buy the real deal and be done with it. Why take chances with a lesser model?

I disagree with your statement about Apple products. Seen enough to think otherwise.

 

[Rob80x]

I bought cheap last October. Had to buy again 3 months later. Learned a valuable lesson. Now the TJ sports a XD9000i with synthetic rope.

 

[CodaMan]

Well if you can afford it then buy the real deal and be done with it. Why take chances with a lesser model?

Bad argument. Using that mentality, why not just buy the Zeon over the M8000? Why over buy?

And on a side note, maybe Warn isn't all everyone says it is if they would sell an inferior product to their loyal customer base.

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