Help Buying a Winch and Mounting Questions

[kenmac]

Vehicle is a 98 4x4 Suburban with 4wd so we could see parts of the our great country that have been long forgottten or unexplored. Places and things you cant see in 2wd ....We will be everwhere from the pacific northwest logging roads, Muddy trails in Alalabma,sandy areas of florida, to the deserts of Utah and California. We will be traveling alone camping in secluded areas and tow trucks dont go to alot of bad spots if they might get stuck.

I want to use a winch recviever mounting plate and mount it to a 2" front and 2" rear receiver hitches, moving the winch from the front to back as the siutation dictates...

Have any of you guys here if this system is worth it or should I get it dedicated to the front of the truck..Like I see alot of people have..


Also does this work?
If you get stuck say in a muddy field and have nohting to attach the winch to what are your options..A guy told me to drive a t-post as far down s you can then use that as your attachment point.Does this really work, ive seen some anchor looking device but Ive already got a t-post driver and post..Saving money anyway I can and it will take up less space than those anchors.

I am loooking at the harborfreight tools 10,000 winch ($450) and Mile marker 9500lb $650) winch (both electric)..Any advice on these winches or reveiws would be greatly aprreciated.[]

I owned a mile marker winch once on a bronco .It was a very good winch. Most winches come with a small cable not even rated the same as the winch. The mile marker winch came with a cable rated the same or more than the winch. . You are talking about a 5000# -- 6000# + vehicle. If you get that thing stuck. you'll need something more solid than a T post to anchor to.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Being the proud owner of a fine assortment of Harbor Freight tools, I'd have to say don't buy one if you are going to have to depend on it to get home.

Probably the best evaluation of HF tools I ever heard

 

[BarryinMN]

Figure 3X vehicle weight on a dead pull thru mud. Use multiple pulleys to get winch capability & reduce amp demand & heat.

My 1 ton dump and a Gator has F&R 2" receivers & a winch on each powered by #4 dual welding cable. QT 175A & 120A are listed below. No interest in either but good pricing and shipping. The dump winch also has 12' leads for a 2" receiver on my trailer. Dump rear connector has a ground bolt on the back plate so I'm not dependent on the trailer ball for grounding.

http://smhco.com/images/pdf/featured_products/SML1205.20DLR.pdf

800-549-2257| Electrical Terminal Service, a stocking distributor of electrical terminals, shrink tubing, cable ties, truck lighting, Packard Electric, automotive circuit breakers and related products.

 

[CATMAN]

Tell us a little more about your 1998 Suburban. Do you have tire chains for all four tires? Do you have an air compressor to air back up your tires IF you had to lower the tire pressure down to get unstuck? Do you have locking differentials front or rear or BOTH? (Like ARB style or Detroit locker). Some people even carry an old snowmobile track(cut to lay flat) for traction under a sunken tire. I'm just curious to how aggressive you are going to get in your travels. Have Fun.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a link to Warn's whinching guide.

http://www.warn.com/corporate/images/90/UserManualSRC.US.readers.pdf

They show how to anchor with T posts, a buried spare tire, a log, etc...

 

[kenmac]

forgot to mention . Mile marker started out making hydraulic winches for the US Military. They also make hyd. winches for civilian vehicles . It works off the power steering pump

 

[goodoleboy]

Tell us a little more about your 1998 Suburban. Do you have tire chains for all four tires? Do you have an air compressor to air back up your tires IF you had to lower the tire pressure down to get unstuck? Do you have locking differentials front or rear or BOTH? (Like ARB style or Detroit locker). Some people even carry an old snowmobile track(cut to lay flat) for traction under a sunken tire. I'm just curious to how aggressive you are going to get in your travels. Have Fun.

I guess i should have explained better.It will be used mostly on unimproved roads(not paved) fire roads, logging roads, and trails if they are dry enough and I am confident of this.
No rock crawling, or mud holes.
Its all bone stock no mods except bigger tires and hi lift jack.

 

[dmccarty]

My dad had a couple Jeep Cherokees and Wagoneers when I was a kid. I'm talking the big full size Jeeps not these little itty bitty things that today have the same names. They are Suburban sized. Likely heavier. We went to alot of places in N. Georgia in the mountains back on old roads or what was left of roads. My guess is that those roads are all blocked off nowadays. We where on roads that had old cemetaries with the newest headstone from the 20's or 30's. Really cool places to see.

We also took those Jeeps on hunting/camping trips in AK and once out to CO via TX and NM. We did not do lots of mudding and rock crawling, well we had to a few times, but that was not the point of the trips. We just went to hunt, camp and see. The Jeeps never got stuck. I think we only used the chain to remove downed trees.

Anywho my real point was the setup we had in the back of the Jeeps. My dad made three boxes out of plywood. One box would fit across the Jeep and would fit behind the passenger seats. The other two boxes where each half the size of the big box and sat between the big box and the tailgate. On top of the three boxes we had a partial piece of a 4x8 sheet of plywood.

When we had to set up camp, we would fold down the passenger seat. We had a short set of cut down saw horses that would sit on the floor in front of the folded seat. The plywood sheet was cut so that it would fit from the saw horse back to the first long box. There were two holes drilled in the plywood at each corner that mated up with two holes in the sawhorses. We would put a bolt with the threads and head cut off in these holes so that the plywood sheet would not move.

This was our bed. We would fill the air mattresses manually. No little air compressors back then. Throw the sleeping bags on top and we were ready to sleep.

If we put the tail gate down. The two boxes opened not from the top but from the side facing the back of the Jeep. With the front of the box opened it made a nice work platform. Both boxes opened like this. One was partitianed to hold a two burner Coleman stove and cooking gear. The other box was for food.

It was a very nice setup. We could stop and setup up camp in 30 minutes or less. If we needed to heat up food maybe another 30 minutes. If it was just the two of us we could shut the tailgate, leave everything setup, and drive off in the morning to the next campsite.

This worked very well for us for years and years. My Dad hated it when he sold the last Jeep. He gave the setup to the guy that bought it.

Later,
Dan