Harbor freight 8K Electric Winch

[ollllllo]

A few years ago I planned a trip to rausch creek with 2 of my jeeps, and my uncle\'s mostly stock 97 TJ. I tought maybe a winch might be a good idea.
With no time and no money in the budget for a $1k (brand name) winch, I ran over to Harbor Freight and grabbed this one.

At the time I paid $399.00 for the winch, fairlead, solenoid, mounting plate, controller and 100ft 3/8\" cable with hook.
Today I see the price has been reduced to $299.00 and the cable is 5/16\" x 95ft.

This is in no way a fast winch.

The solenoid quit on the first one I bought, so HF exchanged it under warranty.
Note: $89.00 warranty is only good once.

This model winch has had mixed reviews from both magazine tests, and other club members. (I\'ll let them explain)
I have used it quite a bit, and have no major complaints other than line speed and it sounds like a dying animal. The replacement winch has been working fine for probably 3 years now.

I do plan to upgrade in the near future to a Warn, but for now it seems serve a purpose.

I recommend this winch for someone who is on a budget, and is willing to take the extra time to maintain it to prolong its life. In hind sight, I would save my money and do the research to purchase a brand / model that I know will last for a long time.

[color=00FF00]Rating: (1= dont waste the money, 10= Super deal)

I give this product a 5[/color]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40764

[smichaelR22]

good winch for the money.  i got the 10K for 379 out the door with a coupon. just dont dunk them under water- greatly shortens the life.  mine lasted about 2 years with a few revives of pulling magnet bits out of the housing.  

id also give it a 5  

[CoraC143]

mine lasted a year, maybe 8 uses, but I had the old style. the newer ones aren\'t as bad.

I give it a 3, probably because I owned a Warn before, much quicker and more reliable.

[smichaelR22]

waiting to see how my 39$ suck down 2K winch works out on the back of the buggy.  i really like the internals of the handhelds switch, and plan to mount it in the dash

[CoraC143]

Same winch as my suck downs? Camo green color? One of mine blew up, and the remote has a delay. Erik hard wired switches (which was not easy).

[smichaelR22]

na, id never by a remote device from HF :)   Ryan and i got the 2K ATV winches with 39$ coupons.  i think the camo ones run more like 79$ on sale and are 3K.  

[ollllllo]

yes they were 3k! and re-wiring the solenoids to work off manual switches and not suppled wireless remotes was tricky to say the least.

Hey im only a carpenter! :dunno:


also the winch motor didnt quit, it was the mounting. we had it in a really tight spot and the winch ripped itself off its factory mount. bolt holes were stripped out. Winch still works so I saved it for spare parts!

 

[MrMindless]

Warn has refirbs on their site for 50% of retail with full warranty.

http://www.warn.com/store/refurbs_all.shtml

[meangreen]

WOW those are still pretty expensive

I just bought a xd9000i for 700 brand new in box never opened
and then bought a spare parts one for 150 (I think it just need the motor cleaned up)

[ollllllo]

Yea
 the HF winches are actually more expensive than the same winch with mile markers sticker on it from quadratec.

It seems like winch prices in general have dropped. there are some new brands and some good deals to be had if someone is willing to do some research.

[rejeep]

im a superwinch dealer ;-)

[ollllllo]

hello!!!

lets talk!

i need two new winches!

[lisazhang]

yes,,some other brand winches are good too.
there are some new functions with xdyan winch,,such as,BE brake ,ATL protector,100%engaged clutch,two speed,twin motor and so on,from www.xdyna.com