Winch Selection For Heavy Water Exposure

Muddy

Muddy

Dude with a Jeep
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Tennessee
I do a lot of single vehicle off-roading on mainly mild trails and mud, not a lot of rocks near me. I don’t want to be “that guy” that’s always calling someone to pull him out of a sticky situation, so I’m in the market for a winch.

After reading some of the threads on here and the sticky posted by Chris, it seems Warn M8000 is the best balance between performance and cost. I've read that the M8000 is not a sealed winch, so I’m concerned about moisture. In TN we get a lot of rain and high humidity. On top of that, much of my off-roading includes water crossings and plenty of mud.

Should I be looking for an IP67/68 sealed winch instead of M8000? I'm willing to pay for performance when it comes to winches, but I also don't want to overspend for things I don't need.
 
West TN Wheeler said:
I do a lot of single vehicle off-roading on mainly mild trails and mud, not a lot of rocks near me. I don’t want to be “that guy” that’s always calling someone to pull him out of a sticky situation, so I’m in the market for a winch.
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You answered your own question ^^^^

This means no compromises. FWIW, I started out looking at the M8000, which has a stellar reputation. However, because I'm also in water, my ultimate decision was to go with a Warn 9.5 XP. It's sealed, faster, and can pull more. I bought the steel cable version, then replaced that with a TRE line and safety thimble. The price was definitely more for the XP, but this was an area I wasn't willing to compromise on.
 
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Irun said:
You answered your own question ^^^^

This means no compromises. FWIW, I started out looking at the M8000, which has a stellar reputation. However, because I'm also in water, my ultimate decision was to go with a Warn 9.5 XP. It's sealed, faster, and can pull more. I bought the steel cable version, then replaced that with a TRE line and safety thimble. The price was definitely more for the XP, but this was an area I wasn't willing to compromise on.
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Do you happen to know what the weight of the winch with cable and then rope? I assume 100 ft of both. I have the same winch.
 
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Irun said:
You answered your own question ^^^^

This means no compromises. FWIW, I started out looking at the M8000, which has a stellar reputation. However, because I'm also in water, my ultimate decision was to go with a Warn 9.5 XP. It's sealed, faster, and can pull more. I bought the steel cable version, then replaced that with a TRE line and safety thimble. The price was definitely more for the XP, but this was an area I wasn't willing to compromise on.
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Thanks for the input, Irun. I’m seriously looking at going the same route buying a steel cable winch and swapping out for TRE line and safety thimble. Did you use a regular hawse fairlead or the one from TRE specifically designed for the safety thimble? And if you went with standard fairlead, have you seen any marring from the safety thimble?

The TRE fairlead seems like a good design, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it at 3x the price.
 
I run a basic fairlead on my TJ. It came from my LJ and had dozens of pulls on it, with synthetic line. I never had a problem with it. That said, my LJ was fitted with a TRE fairlead, to be different. I could have put one on the TJ, but didn't see the need to spend more money, when I had something that was proven. If you do go with a cheaper fairlead, just make sure it doesn't have sharp edges where the rope will contact it.

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@5632 I’ve heard great things about the HF Badlands Apex too. Specs say it’s sealed for water ingress too. I’ve had minimal experience with HF tools personally though (nearest one is almost 90 mins away) and every tool I have bought from them has broken. I love the symmetrical looks of the Zeon/Apex winches. Have you had good success with one yourself?

@Only TJ's I’m a sucker for the Zeon. Now I wonder about Zeon performance vs the XP series.
 
Well guys, thanks for all the responses. I pulled the trigger this week on a Warn Zeon 10. I went with the steel cable setup as it was readily available and cheaper to go that route and source aftermarket synthetic rope to switch to.

I’d ultimately like to end up with a TRE synthetic rope/safety thimble/fairlead setup, but I’m thinking about sticking with the steel through the winter so that Jeep funds can be put towards more pressing fixes at the moment.

Any risks I should be aware of running steel cable then switching to synthetic? Potential to cause burrs on the drum or anything like that?
 
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West TN Wheeler said:
Well guys, thanks for all the responses. I pulled the trigger this week on a Warn Zeon 10. I went with the steel cable setup as it was readily available and cheaper to go that route and source aftermarket synthetic rope to switch to.

I’d ultimately like to end up with a TRE synthetic rope/safety thimble/fairlead setup, but I’m thinking about sticking with the steel through the winter so that Jeep funds can be put towards more pressing fixes at the moment.

Any risks I should be aware of running steel cable then switching to synthetic? Potential to cause burrs on the drum or anything like that?
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I think you'll like the Zeon, I personally haven't owned the XP series so I couldn't draw a actual use comparison for you. The published specs on them for first wrap pulls, the Zeon has a little lower amp draw but the XP pulls a little faster. My 97 had a smittybilt with steel cable that was pretty chewed up when I bought it, I swapped it to synthetic before I replaced it. I swapped the fairlead and inspected the drum really close, but I never found any issues with the drum.
 
The Zeon is about 11 lbs heavier than the XP. It also holds 80' of steel cable, vs 100' on the XP. However, the later doesn't really matter once you go to synthetic line. Both call for 85" there. The power is slightly more on the XP, but this results in more amps drawn.

Beyond the weight difference, the biggest draw for me to the XP is the ability to remove the contactor box from in front of the grill and relocate it under the hood. That said, you'll be very happy with the Zeon. As is the case with Warn winches in general, it has a solid reputation.
 
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Good decision going with Warn and not the Harbor Freight winches. I buy a lot of stuff from HFT (hand tools) but I wouldn't touch anything there that is electrical. Winches, bench grinders, welders, drill presses, etc.

For just one example why I hate their electrical products. I had a 30 year old Craftsman 2/3 HP bench grinder that finally gave up the ghost. Against my better judgement I went with a HFT 3/4 HP grinder thinking with its 3/4 HP vs. my previous 2/3 HP Craftsman motor it should be good enough. What a huge fucking disappointment it was when I first turned it on and it continues to be a big disappointment. It take 3-4X as long to come up to speed and even light pressure against its wire brush or grinding wheel and it pretty much nearly stops. 3/4 HP? Bullshit. The same plant that made my bench grinder makes the their winch. I'm about to pour salt water into it so it will burn up and I can show my wife the smoke so I can buy a good quality replacement lol.
 
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I’d get the Zeon 10s Platinum. No clutch lever to mess with and synthetic cable. Can’t think of a better one for water.

Very happy with mine.
 
Irun said:
The Zeon is about 11 lbs heavier than the XP. It also holds 80' of steel cable, vs 100' on the XP. However, the later doesn't really matter once you go to synthetic line. Both call for 85" there. The power is slightly more on the XP, but this results in more amps drawn.

Beyond the weight difference, the biggest draw for me to the XP is the ability to remove the contactor box from in front of the grill and relocate it under the hood. That said, you'll be very happy with the Zeon. As is the case with Warn winches in general, it has a solid reputation.
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The Zeon also has a relocatable control pack. Mine is now behind the headlight.

Innovative JK Products makes a nice plate that covers the Zeon hole. Keeps the sun off of the line and makes it look a bit cleaner.
 
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Steel City 06 said:
The Zeon also has a relocatable control pack. Mine is now behind the headlight.

Innovative JK Products makes a nice plate that covers the Zeon hole. Keeps the sun off of the line and makes it look a bit cleaner.
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Do you have a link for this Innovative JK Products
 
Plumber1 said:
Do you have a link for this Innovative JK Products
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Huh, I can't seem to find them anymore. Not sure if they went out of business or just rebranded.

I can't even find any competing products...

This is what it looks like:
20210809_201125.jpg

The part number is IJKP-13

Their website www.innovativejkproducts.com redirects to www.innovativeatproducts.com. I'm guessing they probably rebranded. But I can't find the plate for sale on the new website.

Might be worth calling the new site to see if they still offer it...
 
Apparition said:
I’d get the Zeon 10s Platinum. No clutch lever to mess with and synthetic cable. Can’t think of a better one for water.

Very happy with mine.
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A platinum Zeon was at the top of my wish list for sure, but ultimately I couldn’t justify the extra cost over regular Zeon. Too many other items demanding my attention and budget right now. Case in point, I’m replacing a leaky radiator right now.

I have to paint bumper before mounting it, but I think I will be happy with the regular Zeon 10 with aftermarket synthetic line.
 
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