Thread: Is 9500lbs big enough for a winch or should I go 12000lbs?

Originally Posted by Young Angus

I know, do some searching, well I tried and didn't come up with much but I know you guys are the best and I've found a good deal on a 9500lb winch but I was originally going to get a 12000lb...I have my D1 and it's got a TJM bar on it from a while ago, I know it's a winch bar but not sure about the bar specs themselves.

Is 12000 just overkill and will it pull my bar off?

Before we had 12000lb winches, 9000 were seen as fine. A winch will do damage if the two things it is connected to, the bar and a tree for example, don't move and the winch doesn't cut out.

Thing is, on a D1 you need to check if your bar has 'crush cans'. If it does, and I'm betting it does, you will need to mount your winch on a cradle bolted directly to the chassis.

Originally Posted by johntins

Before we had 12000lb winches, 9000 were seen as fine. A winch will do damage if the two things it is connected to, the bar and a tree for example, don't move and the winch doesn't cut out.

Thing is, on a D1 you need to check if your bar has 'crush cans'. If it does, and I'm betting it does, you will need to mount your winch on a cradle bolted directly to the chassis.

Okay that's the first I've heard of crush cans...hmm I will investigate cheers

The TJM winch bars for a non-airbag disco 1 i am pretty sure are rated to a 9500lb winch bolted straight to the bar without a cradle.
I have a TJM bar and it had the old tattered original sticker on it that confirmed it and all the factory holes for a winch without a cradle.

'Johntins' is right about the airbag compatible bar. In that case you may have to make a cradle as it may be hard to find a TJM one.

Originally Posted by Finnius

The TJM winch bars for a non-airbag disco 1 i am pretty sure are rated to a 9500lb winch bolted straight to the bar without a cradle.
I have a TJM bar and it had the old tattered original sticker on it that confirmed it and all the factory holes for a winch without a cradle.

'Johntins' is right about the airbag compatible bar. In that case you may have to make a cradle as it may be hard to find a TJM one.

Hmm well I have an airbag fitted Disco and it's a TJM bar, so I have no idea what it's specs are but from memory I think there's some kind of sticker on it that should still be legible. I wonder if the bar is even air bag compliant, guess it would be completely illegal if it wasn't. Got put on there a looooooooong time ago.

Take a look at the brackets where the bar bolts to the chassis. If they are 'crinkley' with sections that crush under impact then i presume it will be an airbag bar
Does your bar have holes for the winch bolts drilled in the front plate around the fairlead hole?

The main difference between a 9,000 & 12,000 will be duty cycle ( and obviously weight limit )

The 12000lb wont get as hot under lighter loads such as general winching ( ie not trying to winch your Disco vertically which only weights 4500lb ) so you can run it for longer.....

Duty cycle is EVERYTHING when it comes to high current things like starter motors and winch motors. Some winches can do 1min of work and need over 10mins to cool down

If your doing fairly heavy duty winching often then go the bigger winch. Bigger is always better

BUT if a 9000lb winch has a better duty cycle that the 12000lb it might be better to get the 9000.

Then there is price

Originally Posted by Morry948

The main difference between a 9,000 & 12,000 will be duty cycle ( and obviously weight limit )

The 12000lb wont get as hot under lighter loads such as general winching ( ie not trying to winch your Disco vertically which only weights 4500lb ) so you can run it for longer.....

Duty cycle is EVERYTHING when it comes to high current things like starter motors and winch motors. Some winches can do 1min of work and need over 10mins to cool down

If your doing fairly heavy duty winching often then go the bigger winch. Bigger is always better

BUT if a 9000lb winch has a better duty cycle that the 12000lb it might be better to get the 9000.

Then there is price

There is definitely price, I didn't want to spend over $1000 and that was for a good one like a Runva but I read they have high current draws, but heaps of horsepower.

Then TJM is bringing out some new black winch (seriously it's just a different colour) and offering a 9500lb model for a few hundred less than it's standard colour one as a December promotion, who knows why, but that's a very reputable winch and a decent price for something at that end of things.

Then there is the Domin8or for about $350 haha which would probably do the job anyway, who knows, but I'm not spending over $1000 on some crazy expensive winch when I don't need to. Think I've at least decided that a 9500lb is enough, I'm not going to be winching out trailers too.

Originally Posted by Young Angus

There is definitely price, I didn't want to spend over $1000 and that was for a good one like a Runva but I read they have high current draws, but heaps of horsepower.

Then TJM is bringing out some new black winch (seriously it's just a different colour) and offering a 9500lb model for a few hundred less than it's standard colour one as a December promotion, who knows why, but that's a very reputable winch and a decent price for something at that end of things.

Then there is the Domin8or for about $350 haha which would probably do the job anyway, who knows, but I'm not spending over $1000 on some crazy expensive winch when I don't need to. Think I've at least decided that a 9500lb is enough, I'm not going to be winching out trailers too.

I have a Domin8tor fitted to my ARB bar and have used it on a few occasions over the last few months an it has worked flawlessly, Don't dismiss them just because they are cheap to buy.
12,000lb IS better than a 9,500lb winch because you only get the maximum pull from the last wrap of rope on the drum and most times I haven't had to pull out more than 15m of rope for a recovery.