Thread: ebay cheap winches?

A mate of mine just bought a 15000lb winch for $470.00 of ebay im fitting it today ill keep you informed looks good for the money

Originally posted by rangieman
A mate of mine just bought a 15000lb winch for $470.00 of ebay im fitting it today ill keep you informed looks good for the money

what are you fitting it to if i may ask?

I don't imagine that they are a whole lot different to the ones sold by Repco. I bought mine for $699 with a 3 year warranty. Its been used several times now and doesn't appear to have any defects. As you say, at the price you can buy 2. My view was that at half the price, I'm ok if it lasts half as long. Interesting though, a friend of mine has a Warne which played up after 10 months....... they pulled it apart, said it wasn't covered under their warranty because it had been in WATER!!!! Off Road equipment INDEED!!!!!!!!

Funny this topic should arise....

My neighbour and friend and I have been working on a definative test of these cheaper winches over the last few months
INCLUDING
- strip downs (lots of photos)
- analysis is internal components (finish, fit, quality etc)
- electrical analysis (by leading electrical engineer)
- engineering analysis

We have then fitted them to several vehicles and are in the destructive phase of using them :wink:

There are 4 manufacturers in China, quality depends on the factory.

Ebay winches are the lowest quality, end caps are sealed not removable, the terrain tamer/iron man/repco are a higher end model (bolts on ends of gearbox / motor) and have better gears/finish and slightly improved electrical insulation (but definately none have a 5.5hp motor)

We destroyed the ebay winch in 1 pull (controlled) and one other blew a solonoid in 3 runs.

Keep an eye out for the next edition of [b]<span style="color:blue">4wheelingsa</span> for our write-up and images.

Again, We have done serious testing in an effort to answer the questions...

Is an ebay ($400) winch good enough?
Is it any better/worse than a $600-800 winch?
Are any of them suitable for an occasional use device?

Keep an eye out for the report

We are lucky enough to have my never used Warn 9500XP as the "benchmark" tester..

One thing I WILL point out is this.

<span style="color:red">DO NOT USE THE WIRE OR HOOK WHICH COMES WITH THE EBAY WINCH - THEY ARE NOT RATED AND ARE DANGEROUS</span>

Nobles has destruction tested the ropes, shackles and tree trunk protector and they are dangerous.

Cheers
Mike

Originally posted by wardy!
they pulled it apart, said it wasn't covered under their warranty because it had been in WATER!!!! Off Road equipment INDEED!!!!!!!!

No winch is covered after immersion.

BTW, Warns water sealing is better than the Chinese ones, make sure you maintain excellent servicing habits (eg operation after water immersion).

Oh yeah....

We also measured motor temps and current draw during testing using the same load, same hill, same distance.

Cheers
Mike

OK have fitted winch and it works fine i fitted it to a gu patrol any more questions go for it , labour day weekend we will test it cause there is no way a nissan can keep up with a Defender

i don't know if this really applys to us

but when we were looking at the cheap ones in the uk a very good friend of ours told us to stay well clear of the winches made in china

as the motors burn out and can't hack excesive winching, especialy if you are using them for lowering..........
but like i say that was in the uk so i don't know if the same apply's

dullbird

What's the point of having a winch on the front of your beastie if you cant use it when it gets wet - I'd reckon that's the time you need it most - to pull yourelf out a a muddy sh***hole? Are there any true waterproof ones about?