The right winch?

[jw1322]

I found a Smittybilt XRC-8 winch rated at 8,000 lbs for $299 at quadratec.com. I don't know very much about winches, is this something I can use as a recovery winch for my 80 CJ-5?
http://www.quadratec.com/products/92122_1000_07.htm

[ColoFreeJeeper]

The general rule is that you want a winch rated at twice your vehicle weight as they are for self recovery. The XRC-8 is plenty enough for you.

[irish1371]

I have the synth line of it, works great

[XtrmTJ]

I am sure the Smittybuilt is a good winch and will work great for you. I prefer to use a company that started off only making winches, WARN. Personally I only ever use WARN winches, I have never in over 30 years of wheeling/winching ever had or seen a WARN break, malfunction or not pull out what it was attached to. Kind of like Detroit Lockers, just plain tuff! My .02

[irish1371]

Agreed about warn but, as the song goes the times are a changin. not everyone goes out planning on using the winch 8-15 times a run, for those of us who need it when we go ah crap I knew I shouldn't of tried that, then there are options that don't require a second morage now.

The XRC is a series wound motor now not PM style- it is worth a look and as long as you maintain it it will work just dandy

[XtrmTJ]

Agreed, I am sure it is a fine winch and will serve you well, I'm just a died in the wool Warn fan is all.

[91YEEPER]

I am sure the Smittybuilt is a good winch and will work great for you. I prefer to use a company that started off only making winches, WARN. Personally I only ever use WARN winches, I have never in over 30 years of wheeling/winching ever had or seen a WARN break, malfunction or not pull out what it was attached to. Kind of like Detroit Lockers, just plain tuff! My .02

ive seen numerous WARN's fail, granted it was after about 14 150' full pulls, or dragging a F350 on 40's stuck to the doors out, or trying to drag a skid steer out of a creek, trying to winch a chevy 1 ton fullsize up backdoor, and a couple other instances. BUT a xrc winch prolly would have ran and hid under the back seat with those kind of loads or horrid use. after the night of draggin 5 jeeps out of proctor valley (night of 150' pulls) i melted a odessy dry cell and it broke in half, so to have to replace the brushes in the motor was a small price to pay. all of the winching above was with a 8274 with synthetic line. that same winch is 20 years old, been abused, froze, over heated, rebuilt, submerged for 16 days or so straight, and still going strong on a buddy's suburban now. not many stories like this for superwinch, ramsey, or the XRC line. i have a recon 12k for my fullsize dodge as a "plan b" but its prolly gonna get severely abused as well, i hope it holds up.

[twshutika]

i know a couple guys who run the xrc 10 comp winch, and they have yet to have problems. i am actually planning on getting the xrc 8 comp winch in the near future. . .

[XtrmTJ]

Cease Fire, ... All I am saying is IMHO, Warn is the best bang for the buck. I have never winched as hard as all that, but I have yet to see one fail either. Just my .02 (taking cover) All ready on the Right, All ready on the Left, ... All ready on the Firing Line, ... You may commence firing.....

[jeepdreamer]

I'm a Warn fan as well. But that is just me. One thing I have learned is that the winch you can afford and mounted on your Jeep is far better than the one you need right now but didn't buy due to brand loyalty or wanting better in the future. I'd suggest run it. If you like it and it does what you, personally, require then Fantastic! If you think that it is not up to your goals in the future then use it for now and save for a better one. Heck, the Warn 8274s show up on CL for 350.00 from time to time used. Invest in that, spend some time cleaning and rebuilding it to like new...and then sell your old SB?
Also, try and be honest with how often you will need or how hard you can reaslistically expect to use your winch. I've flogged the one on my F/S Jeep Cherokee repeatedly due to trying to go where the Jeep wasn't built for. But I also have one on my Built Commando that only has a couple of pulls on it, and those were helping others...