Recommend me a winch

wrote:

I have a 4,500lb Warrior Ninja winch setup on a towball bracket. I built a removable fromt towbar so I can use it at either end of the car (or on any other car with a towball). Strength wise it is plenty for dragging a Jimny around in any normal recovery situation. But by far the best thing about it is it lives in a tool bag in my shed. No risk of theft, no problems with corrosion in the winter and no unecessary weight on the car for the 99% of the time when I know I won't need it.

I like the look of the Warn AXON winches and I'm sure they would be much better built and nicer to use than my cheapo Warrior one. They promise quite high line speeds, which is the main thing you want besides pulling power. 5,500lb would be plenty. The rule for winch sizing always was to have a winch rated at twice the vehicle weight, so 5,500 matches up perfectly with a 2,700lb Jimny. A smaller winch works with a smaller battery, so less hassle and expense there. Loads of people fit 13,500lb winches to Jimnys because they are cheap and "bigger = better" but I doubt any of them get even close to the winches full pulling capacity. it's a lot of extra weight sticking out the front of a relatively light, short wheelbase car and a lot more stress on the electrical system, or hassle with dual batteries etc.Busta