Looking at an XRC-8, is it enough for a 3rd gen?

[mastacox]

I've gotten myself a winch bumper and am looking into winches. I don't really plan on needing to winch more than a couple of times a year, so I'm looking at the Smittybilt XRC winches. Being that the 4Runner probably weighs around 4500lbs loaded, applying the normal "double the weight rule" puts me at about 9k lbs... it seems most people use 8k winches on 3rd gens.

Call it good with 8k and have a snatch block at the ready, or suck it up and get 10k?

[troyboy162]

let money answer that question. larger then 8k is ideal, but a snatch block will handle most situations. When you come right down to it, the hi-lift and some hard work will fix anything. Winches are just quicker.

I have had good luck with a XRC-8. The line speed is slow and it grunts but I havnt been able to stall it yet on normal pulls. With a snatch block its not working hard at all.

[Seanz0rz]

i have mine and like it. its slow, but it gets the job done. i would recommend it, especially if you can get it cheap (which you can). the steel cable that comes with it kind of sucks, but you can get them with a smittybilt synthetic line, which i would opt for (it is cheaper to buy it this way than to upgrade later)


if you are a serious wheeler, and will use it often, and use it hard, buy a warn.

[corax]

An 8k winch should be fine - you can do a LOT with a snatch block and a bit of rigging. This 51,000 lb excavator was buried to the top of the treads & got pulled out using a 5500 lb winch on the back of a Landcruiser (red/yellow truck on the left) + a few heavy anchors

THREAD

[Robinhood4x4]

I'd say you'd be fine with 8000lbs, unless you're going to do a lot of mudding.

[Ric]

I have got to share this.....

[mastacox]

Cool the XRC-8 is ordered Should be in this week, here's the new bumper all mounted up:

[mastacox]

Alrighty got the winch all done It's a tight fit in there with the solenoid box, I mounted it on the "side" of the winch over the motor, if I put it over the spool it would have required modification of the grill. Overall I'm happy with the install:





There's about a 1/4" between the solenoid box and the grill, the winch itself actually sits under the grill so it's not a problem. I may try remote mounting the solenoid box under the hood later, but that would require lengthening the wires so it will wait for now.


I grounded the winch to the frame (ground down the coating so it was bare metal) and then also ran a 4-ga ground wire to the battery directly. Positive runs directly from the battery positive terminal to the motor. The ground acts as both winch ground and should help as another frame ground as well.

[4x4mike]

Cool. I'd look into remotely mounting the box for a couple of reasons. For one, on cheaper winches the electronics aren't the highest quality and aren't sealed. Moving the box in the engine compartment will keep it higher and dry. I had relays and solenoids go out in my Milemarker before relocating.

Another reason is vandalism. A lot of damage can be done with a winch. A large switch on the positive cable can solve this. Someone with a screwdriver or winch remote can jump the pins and use the winch. I forgot where it was where someone hooked the cable to the rear bumper, over the cab, and turned it on.

My winch made me a little nervous. Tack welds on the mounting bolts keep someone from walking away with it too.

[Seanz0rz]

I pulled out a very stuck Chevy 13 passenger van in very deep sand. It was the hardest pull I've done with the winch, but she pulled strong after dragging my truck 18 inches through the sand!

the remote sucks though. mine let me down when i needed it.