zkerkXJ

Im looking to buy a winch and im not sure how many pounds to get. My xj weighs about 3000 pounds and I was looking at a 5000 pound winch would it work? I dont wanna spend a lot on this so will it do?

Atmos

I think it's supposed to be like 3x the weight of the vehicle. And your jeep rolled off the lot weighing more than 3k unless its a 2wd. So you would need a 10k-12k. I will never own a winch, but if I ever was I would definitely have to go with the one from seriousoffroad. That was always my plan.

But on the down low, I've never seen a single problem with the harbor freight 12k winches. All my buddies use them because they're super cheap and hold up pretty damn well. Just keep in mind, 8000lb winch is the bare minimum you'll be able to use

andrewmp6

Honestly i wouldn't use anything under 8k just to have a buffer.And a winch is only as good as what its attached to so having a good off road bumper fully tied in is a must.If not fully tied in you can try to pull yourself out and end pulling the bumper right off the jeep.

Rockhead

I agree with the previous posts. The first winch that I put on my Cherokee was the Harbor Freight 9000, the gears went bad. I took the winch back to Harbor Freight and the manager exchanged the 9,000 for their 12,000, no charge. The 12,000 has had no problems with winching operations. One issue that I do have with the winch is the chrome work. If you look closely in the pic you can see the chipping and rust. Some kind of added protection is needed on the chrome parts.

Fred/N0AZZ

At least a 10k and I wouldn't bet my life or someone else's on a cheap azz winch either, but just my opinion.

Atmos

Even if a winch does break or a cheap winch cable, it's pretty hard to lose your life (or even get hurt) and actually have it be the winches fault if you know how to somewhat safely operate a winch.

I'm rarely ever the guy to go the cheap route. But I've seen more aftermarket winches shut down and stop pulling than I have the HF12k's. if you wheel with full size buddies and you're on a budget, I've always known it to be a decent winch that hasn't left us stranded

salad

i think he's talking about being stranded more than nailed in the head by a snapped cable.

Don't wheel alone!

Mister OP, more information on why you need extra capacity is here, among other info: http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/

macgyver35

I have a Smittybily XRC 8000 Comp with synthetic line. I've seen tons of Jeeps, from TJ's to Cherokees to Grand Cherokees get along just fine with an 8000 pound winch. In fact, I've seen a number of recommendations to NOT use a 10K or 12K winch on an XJ because they can easily twist and warp the uni-body like a pretzel if you're not careful.

No matter how strong and heavy your bumper is, and no matter how far back into the rails it goes, and no matter how many bolts it has...
It's still attached to a uni-body vehicle. And without much options for triangulation of bracing, too much force applied and you'll have an XJ that will never be able to be properly aligned or drive right again.

This is not a "bigger is better" issue. The way I see it, if an 8000 pound winch won't get me out, especially if the vehicle can still turn the wheels under its own power, I need to back off and rethink my recovery approach. Maybe I need to do a little digging. Maybe I need rocks/ramps/tree limbs/etc. under a couple of the wheels. Taking the "more power" approach is often as harmful as indiscriminately using your BFH to fix things.

Again, just my opinion, but it's worked for me so far.

scottmphoto

An 8,000 pound winch is all you really need on an XJ. Granted, I currently have an 11,000 on mine, only because my 8,000 broke and I haven't had time or money to fix it yet, so I took the winch off my P/U since I drive my XJ a lot more.

rompnXJ

I put my XJ on the scales and with 35's, offroad bumpers, a 9k winch with synthetic line, full gear/tools and it came in at 3750 lbs.
Everywhere I've read they say 1.5x vehicle weight is the generally accepted rule of thumb for choosing a winch.


I've heard good things about the HF winches. I wouldn't run lower than an 8k, but 8k and above should do the job just fine.

RRXJeeper71

I bought the Smittybilt XRC 9.5 with synthetic line for my JCR winch bumper
I got a great deal from 4Wheel Parts

andrewmp6

And do all the research you can on any winch before you buy it.Nothing worse then being stuck and to find out your winch isn't working and your really stuck now.

xjmarc

I have an 8k Warn and it's works great, even when I snapped my rear drive shaft and had a broken front hub all while high centered on a rock where only the front touched. The HF winches get great reviews in magazines and it's been rumored they are made on the same line as MileMarker, Smittybuilt and Rugged Ridge with different badgeing. Only problem I have with all of those is the line speed. They are slow but will get the job done. Research and check what you get often because finding out something doesn't work on the trail sucks. I check mine before every ride.