Champion winches + Other winches

I have a champion D10000 one of their early ones had it for years on a cherokee and a wrangler with an albright solinoid on it, not the fastest winch but winches the wrangler 180 dgrees out of this



also the cherokee out of this


It has been used a lot more than I originally intended it to, and still pulled slowly but surely out of every situation I've managed to get stuck in.

On my wrangler I was getting more serious and did some punch events it was not any good for this far too slow

but as a winch on the front of your truck to get you out of trouble they are great

I also have a warn on my grand cherokee that is also their M range or budget option also low geared and slow but does the job not used that in anger yet, its important to attatch it properly to the truck with good electrical connections and a solid mount.

I am going to try the warn out but not needed it so far as the grand cherokee more for green laning not pay and play or extreme off road that the champion got used for, I did have a plan to replace the champion with a Warn XP when it broke but it never broke, and is sitting in the garage at the moment may go on the front of the xj or on the back of the grand
but I think thats heavy enough already

Dazzle:

You have done two things which seriously influence a winches ability, you have a heavily rated winch on a fairly light vehicle, this means it is not going to be overloaded and working anywhere as hard as it could potentially do, and your choice, and type of use means they will last as you appear to use it correctly.

I hear what some people say about 2nd hand winches on the fleabay but you can get a good deal. I have in the past bought second hand warn winches with broken brakes and the such like. Whilst parts in this country can be ridiculous you can get them direct from the states for much much less. For example brake mech in this country circa £190 in the states £50-60. I have always bought several parts more than i need as the postage is often not more and then sell the new parts i dont need on fleabay and easily cover all the parts i bought, thus free parts to fix my winch You need to take into account exchange rates and import duty but it does work out much cheaper. I'd much prefer a 2nd hand good quality winch than some cheapo winch made from cheese. Sure its not new and shiny, but new and shiny doesn't mean anything when its the last thing you are relying on. Seen far too many cheap winches broken to bits as the gears in them self destruct. As my dad always told me you get what you pay for.

The Militant's got a centrally mounted 30 tonne hydraulic unit which can be used front, rear, or either side, so no problems with mine.

Didn't know you had a Milly? Nice one!

Yes, another one to add to the collection, got two last week at a knock down price of course, a Militant and a Matador. In the run up to Christmas one of our low loaders was running back empty so it diverted about 5 miles and picked the Militant up, the Matador is still waiting collection.

Its radiator was split and obviously leaking, and i was quoted £1500 + VAT for one to be made which made me swear a little, four hours work, some copper heating pipe and brass shimstock soon saw a new one made and installed and the truck runs fantastically well. It still has a few minor jobs that want doing and i will do them over time, the main thing is it runs well and is back on the road.

Assassin wrote:

Yes, another one to add to the collection, got two last week at a knock down price of course, a Militant and a Matador. In the run up to Christmas one of our low loaders was running back empty so it diverted about 5 miles and picked the Militant up, the Matador is still waiting collection.

Its radiator was split and obviously leaking, and i was quoted £1500 + VAT for one to be made which made me swear a little, four hours work, some copper heating pipe and brass shimstock soon saw a new one made and installed and the truck runs fantastically well. It still has a few minor jobs that want doing and i will do them over time, the main thing is it runs well and is back on the road.

Good to hear you got it now. When you have time, post up some pics!

Jas

An AEC brace, even better.

Winches being where they are can tend for them to become a dozer blade in circumstances of steep entry. Whilst they may stand up to the impact one must never forget to ensure they get a good clean once you get home.

I only have a Tirfor and of course the Hi lift jack ( as a back up ) for winching purposes. Both are slow movers of course. A good number of the guys in our club have winches fitted, a few using synthetic rope. Never forget that particles of grit getting inside the weave of these ropes can act like minute knives. This can result in an unseen failure in waiting.

At least winches fitted above the bumper draw attention to themselves and are easy to check and keep clean. Would imagine, though being neat and tidy, those installed under and behind the bumper could readily become out of sight out of mind, and a bugger to fix or maintain.

No doubt should funds become available I will be tempted to fit a winch to the 90. Fitting one to the Disco 2 has crossed my mind but the cost of that plus an ARB bumper is a tad beyond me at the moment.

Vicar

Vicar wrote:

but the cost of that plus an ARB bumper is a tad beyond me at the moment.

Vicar

You can mount the winch on a steel plate/box welded in between the chassis. It is very cost effective. Its more of a low level winch but when I made mine for the old Landcruiser I took off the front bumper, did various measurements, constructed a front open box, welded the base where the winch was bolted to the chassis rails, then cut the various shaped hole out of the bumper for the farelead and another opening for the clutch lever access. I found a 1000x1000mm 8mm thick scrap peice of metal at work, scavenged that so the only real cost was from the winch its self. Which was a 9,500 Superwinch es, a good sized winch that worked well on a LWB LandCruiser II.

TJ

Jason, i would never mount a winch on a welded plate between the chassis rails as this can make it difficult to work on, particularly if it has to be removed. I always preferred to make the plate which bolted to sturdy mountings welded to the chassis, this way you can drop the lot out, and if you have an accident it makes repairs much easier and cheaper.

Ill keep that in mind. It does make scene...

TJ

Jason,

From my own experiences of such actions i have found many flaws, where a thin plate of around 5/6mm is welded directly to a chassis it generates many problems as the plate does not spread the load across a large enough area to make it a sound installation, often it distorts or bends the specific weld line along the welded point of the chassis. This can distort the chassis at the welded points and pull them out of shape, therefore weakening it and creating cracks in the chassis if the winch is subjected to high loadings on a regular basis.
My preferred method us to use an angle iron which is as wide as the chassis to disperse the load across the entire height of the chassis rail, and not just across a thin line along the chassis. This can then be fully welded and will spread the load over a much greater area and the chassis will cope much better with it, particularly with higher powered winches, or regularly used winches.

From what i have seen of these types of installation i have regularly seen a chassis with a slot torn out, and even seen these plates come out due to thin weld lines when winches have been used, not something anyone wants if their vehicle is hanging on a winch.

Many people are not competant welders, this is not a criticism, merely an observation of many years working on vehicles. Cheap welders are readily available and many people think they can weld properly and the reality is they cannot, their individual skills many vary as will the ability if their equipment, and from my own testing i have found many cheaper welders do not give the penetration their instruction books suggest. While most people with cheap welding equipment may be fine welding in floor panels, doing body repairs, or working on non structural elements of a vehicle; i think care needs exercising when working on structural items. Many do not take the opportunity to better their skills or equipment, yet a simple night school course at the local college will teach such skills to the inexperienced and cost virtually nothing for such a life skill.