Smittybilt Gen 3 Winch 12k synthetic

[AKID_RBM]

Smittybilt Gen 3 Winch 12k synthetic
Done my research, leaning towards this particular winch. Read a lot of great reviews and really like the lighting and 12V port.

1) Where is the best place to buy one of these?
2) How hard are these to install? Is the difficulty bumper specific? I'm leaning towards a @Lod Offroad Signature Series bumper for my yet to arrive Mojave.
3) will the combo of this winch and bumper require some suspension tweaks?


Thanks!

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[brianinca]

I bought mine at a local 4 Wheel Parts. $699 with a freebie house brand hook. I scoured eBay and Amazon, that made it seem like they were in short supply. In stock and in hand in 10 minutes at the store.

Edit to add: I have a 3/4" Daystar kit (front & rear) on the shelf but I don't feel the need for it. I am adding Sumosprings today for towing, not applicable to the Mojave so I can't really address beyond that.

 

[AKID_RBM]

I bought mine at a local 4 Wheel Parts. $699 with a freebie house brand hook. I scoured eBay and Amazon, that made it seem like they were in short supply. In stock and in hand in 10 minutes at the store.

Edit to add: I have a 3/4" Daystar kit (front & rear) on the shelf but I don't feel the need for it. I am adding Sumosprings today for towing, not applicable to the Mojave so I can't really address beyond that.

Did you install yourself? what bumper are you using?

 

[brianinca]

My buddy with an XRC Gen2 on his WJ came over and supervised, and I have the eBay knockoff steel Rubicon bumper with the included winch tray. Straightforward process.

Did you install yourself? what bumper are you using?

 

[CJ5w4wdSmokyOnMyTail]

Smittybilt Gen 3 Winch 12k synthetic
Done my research, leaning towards this particular winch. Read a lot of great reviews and really like the lighting and 12V port.

1) Where is the best place to buy one of these?
2) How hard are these to install? Is the difficulty bumper specific? I'm leaning towards a @Lod Offroad Signature Series bumper for my yet to arrive Mojave.
3) will the combo of this winch and bumper require some suspension tweaks?


Thanks!

Bought one in March. Kinda hard to install in my Rugged Ridge Arcus bumper. Finally installed, turned it on, and smoke started coming out of the solenoid box. Called Smittybilt, and they quickly sent me a new solenoid box.

FINALLY got around to installing the new solenoid box today. After installation, I turned it on to test it and it worked fine - until I went to remove the hand held controller cable from where it plugs into the solenoid box. It would. Not. Pull. Out! I pushed the release tab as the instructions say to do. That didn't work. Nothing worked. That dang cable is stuck plugged into the port and absolutely will not release. Very frustrating. Sent email to Smittybilt and I'll see how they respond after this Memorial Day weekend.

It is pretty concerning that two winches (well, two solenoid boxes) both have different malfunctions. I really want this winch to work, but now I'm worried that, even if Smittybilt continues their great customer service, the winch may fail me in the field some day. But this could just be really bad luck.

 

[yoda13]

I had a Smitty winch on my JK. It served me well for 9 years. I haven’t decided if I’m going back to a Warn this time or not...

 

[Ted Striker]

I have the 9.5K Gen 3 XRC. I bought it two years ago from 4 Wheel Parts and have not had any issues with the winch itself. The winch controller is great, built in flashlight, magnet, easy to read LEDs. I'm kind of a nerd in that I like the light up XRC logo; but wiring it in was a PITA having to tap into the headlights.

As far as install, I have a little story about that. My Fishbone Off-road bumper that was supposed to be able to fit a JT, is the same one that fits a JK. When I installed it without the winch, it was fine but when I went to install the winch, it wouldn't fit in the mounting holes that were drilled in the winch plate by Fishbone. In order to make it fit and not crease my front grille, I had to re-drill four new mounting holes and move the winch forward to make everything clear and even then, it was still a tight fit. So, basically just make sure your bumper is for a JT/JL and has the proper clearances or buy a JK to JT/JL bumper bracket spacer kit.

Also, the detachable body armor is supposed to come in different colors and can be changed out. Smittybilit doesn't list them on their site at all so that you can buy them and I've never seen them out in the wild either. I'm not sure if they didn't get enough interest in this and just decided not to make them or what but the other day, I found a crack on one of mine. I sent them an email about it and they asked for pictures, serial numbers and receipt and they are sending me out a replacement piece free of charge.

As far as suspension, I did end up putting a .75" Daystar spacer up front because with the winch, bumper, lights, shackles, it was weighing down the front end. Even with the spacer, there was still rake in my Mopar 2" lift.

 

[LOGS]

I have the 9.5K Gen 3 XRC. I bought it two years ago from 4 Wheel Parts and have not had any issues with the winch itself. The winch controller is great, built in flashlight, magnet, easy to read LEDs. I'm kind of a nerd in that I like the light up XRC logo; but wiring it in was a PITA having to tap into the headlights.

As far as install, I have a little story about that. My Fishbone Off-road bumper that was supposed to be able to fit a JT, is the same one that fits a JK. When I installed it without the winch, it was fine but when I went to install the winch, it wouldn't fit in the mounting holes that were drilled in the winch plate by Fishbone. In order to make it fit and not crease my front grille, I had to re-drill four new mounting holes and move the winch forward to make everything clear and even then, it was still a tight fit. So, basically just make sure your bumper is for a JT/JL and has the proper clearances or buy a JK to JT/JL bumper bracket spacer kit.

Also, the detachable body armor is supposed to come in different colors and can be changed out. Smittybilit doesn't list them on their site at all so that you can buy them and I've never seen them out in the wild either. I'm not sure if they didn't get enough interest in this and just decided not to make them or what but the other day, I found a crack on one of mine. I sent them an email about it and they asked for pictures, serial numbers and receipt and they are sending me out a replacement piece free of charge.

As far as suspension, I did end up putting a .75" Daystar spacer up front because with the winch, bumper, lights, shackles, it was weighing down the front end. Even with the spacer, there was still rake in my Mopar 2" lift.

Bumping this thread up because I'm looking at the same winch. Has 9.5k been powerful enough for you? I don't want to go 12k because I'm sure it's larger and will be difficult fitting in my Arcus bumper. I like this winch because of the ability to relocate the solenoid box which is great because I need all the airflow I can get with the diesel. How much slack do they give you to move that box? Does it look like it would be easy to add longer wires if I want to say put under the hood? Still liking the winch? Thanks

 

[polarisTXguy]

Ok

Question where did you run the Blue key hot wire? Trying to decide what to tap into

Thanks

 

[Ted Striker]

Ok

Question where did you run the Blue key hot wire? Trying to decide what to tap into

Thanks

On my white Rubicon, I tapped into the headlight harness and wired it with the low beams. Ended up cutting off too short on the headlight pigtail and had to wire another one in.

On my new green Texas Trail, I am going to tap into the the DRL harness. I believe it is located inside the fender. I am waiting until my new fender liners from JCR come in so that I only have to remove them once and do this all at the same time.

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