Smittybilt Winches

[Vinnie]

Hi All,

Am looking at getting a winch fitted to my D2. I don't want top of the range winch, but was looking at the range of Smittybilt winches. They seem good value for money. Does anyone know of their performance? I'm pretty sure they're made in China, but I was previously looking at Runva winches (also Chinese built). I was also looking at Kings winches, but I'm not convinced. Any feedback on winches would be good.

Cheers,

Vinnie

[Bearman]

G'day Vinnie, the only advice I can give is that quality is directly related to price.

[Gav 110]

G'day Vinnie, the only advice I can give is that quality is directly related to price.

Price and quality don’t always correlate

I do see ARB selling them and they usually wouldn’t sell something not tried and tested [emoji1531][emoji1531]

[austastar]

Hi,
Happy with my Runva.
Cheers

[Tote]

Smittybuilt are a pretty big name in the Jeep community and I saw them in ARB the other day also. I've been using firstly an Aldi Winch on the D3 and a Rugged ridge from Supercheap in the Defender and neither has given me any trouble. Mine get used for farm work and the occasional recovery on a trip. Unless you are doing difficult isolated country on your own where the consequences of the winch not working are significant then I'd be tempted to go with a more economical purchase.
A Warn winch will be just as unreliable as a cheapie if its not looked after and used occasionally.

Regards,
Tote

[Bigbjorn]

Look for a good used Thomas/Shute-Upton PTO winch in preference to all others.

[W&KO]

Look for a good used Thomas/Shute-Upton PTO winch in preference to all others.

Mechanical or hydraulic?.....

Either way don’t think I’ve seen a PTO winch fitted to a D2 and good chance the D2 is auto which would also make it interesting to operate a mechanical PTO winch.

[Bigbjorn]

Mechanical or hydraulic?.....

Either way don’t think I’ve seen a PTO winch fitted to a D2 and good chance the D2 is auto which would also make it interesting to operate a mechanical PTO winch.

I was thinking you had a real Land Rover not a private school taxi.[bigwhistle]

[Saitch]

Smittybuilt are a pretty big name in the Jeep community and I saw them in ARB the other day also. I've been using firstly an Aldi Winch on the D3 and a Rugged ridge from Supercheap in the Defender and neither has given me any trouble. Mine get used for farm work and the occasional recovery on a trip. Unless you are doing difficult isolated country on your own where the consequences of the winch not working are significant then I'd be tempted to go with a more economical purchase.
A Warn winch will be just as unreliable as a cheapie if its not looked after and used occasionally.

Regards,
Tote
2nd the Aldi winch. I've had one on the 'tilly for 7 or 8 years and have had no issues. As Tote does, it's mainly used around the property but has extricated vehicle and driver a couple of times.

[wardy1]

My only recommendation re Chinese winches (had 2, Repco and Aldi) is to dismantle them and re-grease with something decent. For some reason, perhaps, REAL grease is exy in China???. They are also really stingy with it.
Having done this, I had no issues with either of mine, in fact, on one occasion my Repco one outperformed several other 'name brand' winches.
All that said, I now have a Warn..... it came on a vehicle I bought.

[Corgie Carrier]

I got a smittybuilt winch on the front of the Patrol.

I bought the Patrol off a mate who put the winch on and used to use it for recoveries, when other people got stuck. He was always the one people rang when they need real help, as he is an ex tow truck driver.

He loved the smittybuilt and it never gave him any trouble. He did some really hard winching, sometimes using three snatch blocks and the winch just kept pulling. It has the second lot of plasma rope on it and it is about nackered. I just bought another 30m of dyneema to fit when I get a chance.

I would say go for it, if it is what your interested in.