Aldi 4WD gear any good?

[DiscoMick]

Down at my local Aldi tonight saving a few bucks and I notice their catalogue is advertising the following:

$399 Heavy duty 4WD winch 12v or 24v with wireless remote, single line pull ratingh 4300kg (9500lb). 5.5 hp/4kw series wound motor. Three stage planetary gear train with 195.4:1 ratio. Four way roller fairlead. 28m of 8.3mm diameter cable. Comes with leather gloves and line dampener.

$99 air compressor in a heavy duty plastic carry case. 12v. 150psi. pressure guage. Automatic thermal off switcvh. Includes spare fuses, 7m air hose. 150lpm.

$14.99 Ratchet tie down.

$49.99 4WD Recovery kit. 1 x 8000kg snatch strap with reinforced loop ends. 2 x 3.25t bow shackles. a x folding shovel. 1 x pair of gloves. 1 x heavy duty carry bag.

Plus other car stuff.

These are obviously very cheap prices compared with 4WD stores, so my question is, is this good stuff for the money or cheap rubbish?

[awabbit6]

I noticed their $399 winch too. I'm tempted to try one at that price.

I would prefer one of the better Chinese ones like the Tigerz but they are almost twice the price (depending on the model). I figure that the change I would have from the Aldi winch could buy alot of extra recovery gear (snatch blocks, winch extension strap etc) that will enhance the winch's performance.

My only concern is that while a winch may not be used often but it has to work 100% when it is needed.
I figure that for $399 it is worth buying one to pull apart, looking for points of failure and modifying where necessary.

Still not committed to buy one yet though ...

[kaa45]

There was a lot of discussion on cheap winches (including Aldi) about 2 years ago. Try a search.

[stig0000]

il be buying one, i guess for 400 bucks you cant go wrong, if it breaks it under warranty adn its not a 4wd shop,, so they wont no what to look for they will just replace witch they have done before,

i will be mounting the solenoid under the bonnet tho, till that goes and just buy a good one off the net and fit that

[Mick_Marsh]

The only good things I have bought from Aldi have been fresh fruit and veg and three pyrex dishes. All the rest has been crap. I still have an unused Terfer style winch that no-one knows how to use.

[Ausfree]

Has anybody any thoughts on the $99 Air Compressor and the $49.99 4WD recovery Kit for very occasional use!!!

[akelly]

I have the winch and compressor. Let me say up front that I'm normally the type to buy the best quality I can afford, but I was curious about the Aldi stuff and thought "why not"?

I'm yet to mount the winch, but I bought one for my Dad at the same time (18 months ago?) and he is stoked with his - he had it apart when fitting and said it looks quite solid. He did say it draws a massive amount of current though.

The compressor is excellent - I've used it pretty regularly to inflate motorbike tyres and also an inflatable boat, works a treat.

I think if you understand that there is a big difference between a $300 compressor and a $100 compressor and dont expect them to be the same then you'll be fine. Same goes for the winch - its not going to be as good as a Warn, but if you accept that then you'll be happy.

Cheers,

Adam

[redrover3]

From what I recall, the Aldi winch was a re-badged cheaper (but ok) winch. Maybe Ironman. In the review, they pulled it apart to see what the quality was like. I think it was pretty good for the money, suitable for occasional recreational use if maintained well. Try and find the thread before buying.
Tony

[zuno555]

il be buying one, i guess for 400 bucks you cant go wrong

Sorry, but lol. A cheap winch "going wrong" could be a fatal disaster at worst, gears shredding, cable snapping "rated" points failing, with 2.5tonne of car hanging off it, where is car going to roll/fall/land??

Not knocking aldis stuff or your comment, just saying with a winch you would want some sort of reassurance and trust in the product.

I bought an ironman winch (cheap winch yes, but with supposed hardened gear sets and at least a name to stand behind), and I know for a fact that the FIRST time aldis had 4wd winches, they were re-boxed ironmans. I am spewing I had just got my ironman a few months earlier, however I needed the winch on my first outing The second time they had winches, they were sourced from somewhere else. I remember taking photos of the boxes in store to do some follow up research. However, this is pretty hard to do on weird boxed chinese stuff.....

That said, I have bought other aldis stuff (tools) and they have all been reasonable quality.

The first thing I would do is strip it down and put some quality grease in there, and maybe attempt to seal the solenoid box a bit better or just check it all out. Also, you MUST install a cut off switch on the power to the winch. I have seen a solenoid fused on and the winch just kept spooling! Luckily the clutch was engaged, but it was a mad rush to get spanners out to disconnect the battery lead

If I were to buy a winch today I would probably look at the tigerz or another ironman. Warn are just too much $$$.

[p38arover]

I noticed my local Aldi still has some camping portable hot water systems reduced to $190.