I'm also considering a warn winch for the ARB bumper whenever I get it, but I was looking at the sites, and seems like Warn is the way to go since they have an excellent record and dependabilty, and I know couple people who have one also. Which do you think would be better, Warn M8000 or Warn XD9000? The M8000 is cheaper, about 250 bucks cheaper than XD9000 but it seems like XD9000 would do a hell of a job pulling on a steep hill or pulling a down log than M8000? Or are they capable of just about anything, even pulling an X?

well look at it this way the X is what 4k lbs... then you add mud and gear.... so lets say 5 or 6k you could go with a 8k or the 9k but the main thing you have to look at is which one will fit in the ARB or shrock whichever you decide... also if you decide to do a BL arb wont sell you a bumper that will match up to a BL... just giving you some heads up....

Two words, Mile Marker

Two words, Mile Marker

Why Mile Marker?

it is another known to be good brand... i know a few friends of mine went and bought either 8 or 9k winches from harbor freight.. now i havent seen them in action yet but when i do i will let you know if they are a good buy....

Anybody have any objections to Warn? or Mile Marker? I'm still unsure of Mile Marker though since I havent heard much about it and that its hydraulic.

not all MM are hydraulic... they have electrical ones to....

I've been researching this for Warn vs MM and it seems that MM electric is really slow and has magnets that would fry if it was overloaded and is toast while Warn is easy to replace with universal parts.

And I'm guessing by the lack of responses on here, not many have winches? Lol.

lookin into winches also and someone said to stay away from MM. Dont know exactly why though.

it was drake and he was talking about the xterra from TNO that blew out 2 MM hubs and a stock hub all on the same trail... i forgot his name but he drives a blue 1st gen X....

I know 3 people with MM and when we go wheeling we have no problems. Out of all the times used which has been quite a few. We had a problem once and that was that the line got tangled. But the driver was at fault for that. And it took a minute to fix it.

i have a warn M8000. it works great. warn has the best reputation for winches. you can't go wrong.

Sorry to bring this thread back up, but how are you supposed to know if a winch will fit in a Shrock or ARB bumper?

as long as it has a seperate solenoid it should work no problem. I'd go with a 9k cause the GVWR on 00 to 01's is like 5299 stock I think for the 02 to 04's it 5999 and with mods you'l definetly gain close to another 800 or maybe even 1000 with passangersso you might want that extra pulling power incase your stuck bad. 9k is what I have. not warn though, but probably gonna switch. My case broke on my winch.

Never a problem to bring back old threads....especially when its mine :D haha jk.

Yeah, I figure that 9k was the best option for a winch pulling power and Warn is definitely the best from what I've heard. Thats going to be one of my mods once I get my front shrocked down the road

What do you guys think about "off brand" winches? (not Warn, MM, Ramsey,Superwinch, etc.) Are winches one of those things that you need to get something that is known to be reliable or is it alright to buy something a little cheaper?

I've always heard you want a minimum of twice the vehicle weight for your rated winch. While the 8 or 9k would get you out of a rut, it probably wouldn't have the duty cycle to winch up 4 trucks on a rough spot, or winch a crazy angle, like vehicle rolled upside down, winching it up a ravine.

me personally, I don't want to buy a winch until I deem my X no longer the daily driver. As soon as I install a winch, I'll convince myself to get into a predicament to need it. That's the position you tend to break important things in... :lol:

I'm still not sure how to know if it will fit in a bumper, will this MMfit in an ARB?

http://www.roughcountry.com/Graphics/LargePics/Mile-Marker_PE8000.jpg

Yeah it will as long as its a seperate solenoid. I have a TMAX. its made in austraila but I dont think its much of an off brand because I see them on alot of rigs and thier stickers on alot of crawlers now a days. they are cheaper than warn though, but my case did break but its probably my fault for letting the wire spool too high in one spot and it broke a tab that the wire reatining bar mounts to. Nothing major. I'm thinking of switcching to warn though cause i get a decent discount through work.

Where do you work?

Edit: Anyone ever hear of a company called Vortex? They have good prices on their winches, but I don't want somethiing that will crap out on me in a few months.

A&A auto parts store. I'm a mechanic in the garage attached onto thier biggest store.

I was thinking about a hand winch just to have for safety however even their cost is pretty high for something I don't plan on using much, if at all.
I've used a heavy duty come-along a couple of times to get my old 2 wheel drive truck backed out of a ditch and while not ideal or the safest way, it was cheap, portable & worked.
Anyone used a come-along on an X or have any thoughts about it?

keep checking 4wheelparts.com

every now and then they run a sale on smittybilt winches and free shipping and all that crap

i snagged a smittybilt(rebadged mile marker winch) 8K over the summer for $260 shipped...good stuff

Hey, a Hi-Lift works for winching too, and is less than a Pull Pal/come along.

Now, granted it takes a hell of a lot of grunt work to winch with a Hi-Lift...but if you're talking about just backing it up a few feet, then it works.

Hey, a Hi-Lift works for winching too, and is less than a Pull Pal/come along.

Now, granted it takes a hell of a lot of grunt work to winch with a Hi-Lift...but if you're talking about just backing it up a few feet, then it works.

Ya know, that would actually work plus it's a two-fer. Rep for pointing me in the right direction and saving me some $$.

Not a problem man...I figured it's better to spend about $70 or so for a good Hi-Lift than twice that or more for a Pull Pal. I got my Hi-Lift at Northern Tool for $72...so it's not a bad deal.

I have heard nothing but good things about smittybuilts new xrc-8 and 10! the guy would installed my lift swears by them! I am not too huge of a fan of smittybuilt I bought some deflators and they sucked but I hear these are worth it and are super cheaper.

i have used a chain fall one time out on the beach.... by the time i got the truck out i had cut almost a foot into the sand with the chain.. LOL

I have a 9000# Warn but haven't had to use it yet (good thing). The gen 2 weighs a little more. Haven't heard any bad about this set-up, my only suggestion is get a synthetic rope to save some wt. with a bumper and winch it is a lot of wt. to deal with up front make sure you've got the suspension to handle it. I will be upgrading to a coilover set up to upgrade the calmini spacer like La Rana's. Somebody posted that costco had a deal not sure the brand or if interested an AZXC bud has a compete warn set-up with syn rope, quick connect etc and I believe it was from his gen 1 that was totaled.


http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4158/x8mx1.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=x8mx1.jpg)