Warn VR 10,000

[stan98tj]

Ok, i forgot there was a product review page. I posted this stuff in my winch throwdown thread, but i'd like to do this right and set this in the product review section for the benefit of future members searching for info relating to this winch. SO, if you've already read this, i appologize

A few months ago myself and Outlawed member Sean (Rockthe40oz) both purchased Warn VR10000s for our jeeps. I finally was able to use it twice this past week. While on the trail Tuesday, I broke out the winch for a 30ft or so uphill pull. I noticed the winch drew a bit hard on the battery. Later on the trail I had to pull myself and my buddy out of a nasty uphill muddy rut. My buddy's jeep at the beginning of the pull was situated in such a way that I had to drag him slightly sideways and uphill. The winch performed flawlessly. On Saturday we returned to the trail and found it to be a bit more difficult. Sean and I used our winches for much of the end of the trail. One pull ended up at around 80ft. Prior to that section, I found myself in a near impassable section of uphill, deeply rutted muddy trail. The winch pulled my jeep up and out without any issues. I would feel the winch after each pull and the winch never got anything more than warm. I'm completely satisfied with the VR series. It was priced cheaper than their other winches and at the time featured an $80 rebate. Unless you compete in time trial runs where winch speed is a big factor, this series is good for any off roader.

I spent a lot of time considering which winch to purchase and one of the things i spent a considerable amount of time researching was whether to purchase an 8000lb winch or a 10000lb. Off roading on any good, challenging trail can present you with situations where even the classic, reliable Warn M8000 can find itself pulling near capacity especially if you find yourself unable to pull straight on, if you are pulling uphill or if you happen to be dragging the vehicle where it may not be able to help out a bit. Considering all of the above, i decided i would want a winch that had some pulling power to spare and had enough of it that i wouldn't be coming close to the limits of its capacity.
Before I returned to the trail on Saturday, i decided to ditch the old battery that i had in the jeep and swap in a battery that could handle the rigors of the trail and the strain from the winch. Sean and i did a bunch of research and to my surprise it turned up a lot of negative remarks from Optima owners. My first choice would have been an yellow top battery, but given the negative reviews i decided to go with Diehard platinum which features better specs than the optima battery and good customer reviews. I noticed the difference on the trail as the battery recharged far quicker and handled the strain better than the older battery.

Below i've provided videos and pics of the winch in use.



Click here to view the original image of 768x1024px and 587KB.


Click here to view the original image of 800x600px and 389KB.


Video

[Goonies.nsd]

Great review. Brought over some of the video you made as well.

Warn VR10000 Jeep long pull - YouTube

Warn VR10000 pulls jeep - YouTube

[stan98tj]

oh, forgot those, thanks!

[stan98tj]

oh, forgot those, thanks! wonder why they don't show up as icons anymore....

[Bandit1]

Great review. Brought over some of the video you made as well.

Fixed them so they show as icons.

Also added them to the origional post...

[stan98tj]

sweet! thanks!

[stan98tj]

XJ Rescue:


I forgot to bring a heavy mat to act as a safety damper...fixed that, i now carry one in the back of the jeep.

[stan98tj]

A quick revision to make: After the last rescue I've now for the most part solidified my opinion as far as MINIMUM winch capacity goes in relation to vehicle size.
For a 2 door wrangler: 9500lb minimum capactity
For an XJ: 10k minimum, though I would be more comfortable with 12k when you XJ guys start fitting +33" tires and heavy bumpers etc.
For a JK: 10k minimum, but again I would be more comfortable with 12k.
Anything larger than the vehicles mentioned: 12k minimum.
I know a lot of you guys and gals get away with the venerable M8000 and lifted XJs (or bigger), but some of the wheeling conditions we encounter, and the conditions that wind up stopping us can easily have that M8000 pulling very close to capacity. While that M8000 is a very reliable piece of machinery and could very well be designed to pull at that capacity time and time again, I'm left with two thoughts: why wouldn't you want the comfort of knowing you got extra pulling power and you aren't getting close to the limits. Secondly, with the M8000 being out of many wheeler's price range (700 bucks i think i saw at Quadratec), this tempts many to go for lesser brands (and please don't start a war over this if you run the following products) such as Rugged Ridge, Rough Country, Chicago, Smitty etc. This is where that limit/vehicle size+weight comes in. While the M8000 could possibly pull all day at near 8000lbs, I wouldn't want to bet on lesser brands being able to do so, at least not over long periods of time. I say all this, while my ass has been saved by a smitty 10k winch, BUT it did overheat trying to pull me out AND it had a tough time. If Warn wasn't offering the VR line, i would have probably gone with a 10k Smitty or Milemarker or maybe a Superwinch 9500lb (I KNOW, there is some SUPERWINCH hate on this board) and kept to the pull capacity to vehicle size/weight suggestions I mentioned above.
Now if you happen to practice competition wheeling/crawling I would say (and even Warn suggests) the VR line isn't for you, but then again niether is the Smitty, RR, Rough Country or even (in some cases) the M8000. That type of wheeling requires very fast line speed, a ton of thermal protection for the winches and renders the price above $1000 easily. In these applications, Warn and Superwinch are really your only options. An M8000 could work in some of these applications because these guys run rigs that are pretty chopped up and don't weigh much, but i think the higher Warn models offer better line speed. If I was going to prep my jeep for one of those around the world off road expeditions, i probably wouldn't go with the VR line either, but would cough up the extra cash and go with the Dual Power HD Warn 9500 or for 100 bucks more even the 12000lb model as im sure those vehicles are quite a bit heavy with all the gear.
For the average wheeler though, the VR series is great. And with the last few pulls I've done with it, I really think for a 2dr Wrangler on anything 33" and over, 10k is plenty to be comfortable with. Opinions may vary and I'd love to hear what you guys think about these thoughts presented.