Hello all,

So I am currently debating on installing a winch in my '08 1500. I am thinking of doing the hidden mount, and I am looking for opinions.

 

I think you'd have to fab the mount up yourself, I know the Warn doesn't fit the '06+ front ends and if one exists for the newer 3rd Gens, I'm not aware of it.

But I'd NEVER discourage anyone from getting a winch, I've had at least one most of my adult life and have three Warns at the moment...

 

On Warn's website they have a part number listed. Do you really feel that a Warn is the way to go? Or are you paying more for the name? Are there any draw backs from going with a hidden system, v.s. a traditional mount?

thanks

 

The only Warn mount that I'm aware of for 3rd Gen 1500s is the 63670 and it will only fit '02-'05 front ends. Again, might be one I'm just not aware of, but I did research this for a friend who had an '07 Ram maybe two years ago. If Warn makes one, it's a recent addition.

I buy Warn mainly because my old man has had the same Warn 8274 he bought USED in 1982 when I was in junior high school and he's still using it! Lives in upstate NY and up until maybe the last five or six years he cut his own winter firewood, used the hell out of that winch felling trees, get his truck out of muddy woods in addition to pulling the occasional vehicle out of a ditch in winter.
It's on the fourth truck of his. You don't see that kinda longevity out of any other winch.

Ramsey's are up there, then I'd say the next tier would be Superwinch and Milemarker. After that comes all the Chinese winches that have flooded the market over the last few years.

That said, if you are on a budget or just don't want to spend the $ because it's just gonna be an "insurance policy" in case you ever get stuck, then a Chinese winch (Smittybuilt, Harbor Freight, etc, etc, etc) beats NO winch. Don't rule out a used Warn or Ramsey either, I know a lot of guys saved hundreds on used quality winches and still have them after years of use.

As a rule, the Chinese winches are slower, have cheaper electronics, run hotter, don't withstand corrosives and have much lower duty cycles than their American made counterparts.

There aren't many "winchers" here, but if you check out a lot of the Jeep forums, you'll see most guys who have had winches or go off-road with others and see the differences echo what I have said.

Again, a Chinese made winch beats no winch.

As far as the hidden mount, you pay a small price for it being placed behind the grill with only the fairlead sticking out. First, you have to pop the hood to use it (even with a wireless remote) and more importantly it cuts down the angle of the pull, which could be a big deal if you have nothing in front of you to anchor to.

But aside from the angle of pull, which may never come up, there is no real negative to having it "hidden". A plus is it stays out of the elements and if getting some of the Chinese ones, this could be huge. I have a friend who had a Smittybuilt on the front of his Wrangler that basically rusted to crap in three years.

Another thought would be a front receiver and a portable cradle mount. The receiver is completely hidden when nothing is in it and it again lets you keep the winch out of the elements until you slip it in the receiver. The other plus to this is you basically have a "swiss army knife" because anything that comes on a receiver or you can weld a piece of 2" square tube to and drill a hole in can be mounted up front.

I did this on my Jeep and made my own light bar that stays on the front. But I can slap in my winch in minutes as well as a fishing rod holder I have.

Just some food for thought...

 

Thanks,

I will be thinking about this. I will first look for a used one, then go from there. I will diffidently will not be getting a Chinese one at all, I buy American made products whenever I have a choice, and this is choice. I like the Mile Marker winches and have used them in the past when I was in the Army but, those were hydrolic and not electric.

 

Hydraulic winches are NICE if you have an over-built power steering system to handle them and can afford them. Used to was Ramsey had the military contract for years and Warn seemed to be in all the civilian fire/rescue and massive civil engineering vehicles. I think since the early 90s Mile Marker took over the military contracts. It's my understanding that Mile Marker hydraulic winches are US designed and assembled in Mexico.

You gotta watch the Mile Marker electrics, they've started out-sourcing the smaller < 10,000# winches from China in an effort to compete on price maybe five or six years ago. Superwinch now imports their smaller (ATV size) winches. Far as I know all Ramsey is still made here.

You may also want to look into the Warn VR-series winches. They are classified as "occasional use" or entry level winches by Warn, again in an attempt to compete on price with all the cheap import winches. HOWEVER, these VR series winches are backed by the same limited lifetime warranty they have on all of their other 12V winches and are currently on their assembly lines in Oregon. As per Warn they're all designed, engineered, tested, and assembled in Clackamas, Oregon.

I have a friend who burnt up his Warn by operating it partially submerged, a long discontinued model that he bought used and had for about eight years. Figured we were gonna have to re-build it (that's another plus with a Warn - parts are readily available and you can basically rebuild the things from the motor on up). He contacted Warn about the availability of parts and was told to send it in, it had a Lifetime Warranty. He didn't volunteer that he was not the original owner but did tell them that due to the age of the winch, he didn't have any proof of purchase. He was told "didn't matter, the winch has a lifetime warranty". So he paid shipping to them, Warn repaired it and paid shipping back. The winch continues to operate on the front of his F250 today...

 

Thanks