Hidden Winch

[DA BIG ONE]

I am thinking of going for the milemarker hydrolic 12,000 lb hidden winch on my burb.

Any of you have a hidden winch on your burb or pickup? If so, any pros or cons are welcome!

[BrentN]

Just a concern with the Hydraulic winch on your truck...Your power steering pump will be used as the source and it is already taking care of your brake assist.

Does Milemarker have a true hidden winch for your truck. I know Warn makes some for yours...
http://www.warn.com/truck/mounting-systems/hidden_kit_app.shtml

I am actually going to go with a multi mount kit and a 9000lb winch. Unless you are doing serious pulling all of the time, the 9000 is ample for the truck.
My wife doesnt really appreciate the added length for parking all the time, plus I couldnt get it into my garage..too long. (When I had a standard brush guard mounted unit on my 93 gas burb) The multimount is nice in that I can mount on the front or rear of my burb and take it off when I am just hanging around town...Dont want to help some poor youth go bad.

For whatever its worth.

Brent

[sidedump]

Here is my favorite bumper for your burb.
http://www.trailready.com/gm_88-99.html
As for a 12,000lb unit that seems way too over kill. A 9,000lb unit used properly will work great. By properly I mean the use of snatch blocks, tree savers, synthetic rope and the list goes on.
Sorry, but you will have to upgrade your pump and cooler. The stock pump will work but you will be disapointed at your winches performance.
What's wrong with an electric winch?
Going electric could save you a whole lot of trouble.

[cruzer]

Years ago a friend had a Milemarker Winch. He now has a Warn. The milemarker is very taxing on the power steering sys. When in use it was difficult to steer the vehicle and the line speed when pulling and not was slow. They are supposed to be a little better now.

I've been trail riding for 25yrs or more and from what I've seen nothing performs better than a Warn. The have fast line speed when pulling and for wind up and are very reliable. I know people that have Ramseys and Super Winch, they do OK, but the cheaper models will have slow line speed too. You would have to buy the more expensive models to get close to the Warns operation.

1 Major consideration in purchasing a winch is the amount of cable it holds. 90ft sounds long ,but in reality you may need more especially if you have to use the snatch blk.

Be sure to get the accessory kit and read the manuals if you are not familiar w/the dangers involved w/winching. You can lose body parts if not careful.

Just my 2cts.

[BrentN]

On the subject of line capacity:
Warn 12,000-15,000lb units use 7/16" line @ 90 ft length.
The XD9i and 9.5Ti are both 5/16" @ 125 feet.

The M8000 family of winches are mainly @ 100 ft, you can get some with even less.

If you want a really good looking winch with a little more capacity and performance, I would go with the 9.5Ti (it has thermo monitoring...basically will shut down briefly to allow the motor to cool in extreme winching applications) The XD 9i is also a very tried and true winch...it is what I have put on about 3 different vehicles over the years.

With the diesel, you are already set up as an electric winch owners dream...a second battery and a really good alternator. I think the electrics provide a much cleaner installation.

I am partial to the Warn Product, but you are the master of your checkbook smile.gif

[DA BIG ONE]

Thanks for the input everyone.

A salesman at a local aftermarket goodies outlet stated that the hidden type winch can be damaged if the cable does not spool right, bunching up in one area causing the winch to push apart. Any of you ever hear of this, or?

I am now considering the electric type winch, and the WARN classic front bumper. The WARN classic bumper has the air intake "cooling" mods for the diesel too. I need to dig in deep and learn more about em, and like the ones with the thermal monitor.

On the subject of bigger than needed winch, would not a 12,000 cap winch have to work less pullin a burb, or?

[cruzer]

Yes, with all winches you have to watch how the line is spooling. If you are pulling and it bunches to 1 side it is OK until the cable
starts interfering w/some external part. Then you stop winching, pull out the buched up section and re-spool the line so that it flat and orderly.
Now you are ready to continue winching. When you are done you will need to pull out line and respool. The cable needs to be kept orderly and neat when done. It will extend the life of the cable and make the winch user friendly. It's always nice to see the drum when respooling.

If you get a snatch block(pulley)& run the line to what you are pulling and back to the truck,
this will double the pulling power of the winch. A 9000lbs winch can pull up to 18,000lbs, but it will take twice as much cable. A 9000lbs winch has 9000lbs pulling power when you are on the last layer of the spool. I believe they generally layer the cable 4 or 5 times. The top layer may only have 5-6000lbs pulling power. Warn breaks these # down in there catlogue. Hope this helps.