Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a great winch. No need to break the bank with name recognition. Installed this on an 08 JKU Wrangler and is great. The build quality is excellent, very simple to install and the wireless function is a must. There are 2 criticisms that stopped it.originally from being 5 stars. One is nit picky, the range of the wireless. The manual states max of 50meters, even after replacing with a brand new quality battery the max distance clear line of sight is only 50 to 60 feet. Not a show stopper by any means but since the manual stated value and it only comes in at a third. Also when alone would be handy to have the remote resch the entire length of line. The real reason for the lack of 5 stars is the solenoid mounting. It comes with the brackets which look great to mount over the spool. Didnt want that so mounted in the alternate location over the motor. A redesign is needed here as there are only 2 screws holding it on and are both on the side of the spool. This means other side of the box flops up n down. Very disappointed in this design as everything else is well thought out. I ended up using adhesive spacers in-between the motor housing and bottom of solenoid to make level and reduce movement. Shouldn't need to on a brand new product. The winch is strong, cut down a tree using the winch to pull a tree - a widowmaker that was left behind after a storm and used it to drag it up a hill Only one finger is needed to hold onto the cable to walk it out in free spool, was as a nice surprise. Remote feels great in hand and has a soft rubber texture. Update 12/17/2015 Have used this winch now extensively every weekend since I installed it. Have done 10 very heavy pulls , near stall of single line capacity with no issues. Unit does get quite warm but stopped short of any thermal cutoff. Free spool is almost too smooth as there is no apparent resistance which allows birdcaging if tightly spooled cable is hand pulled without the drum braking Update 7/23/15 This winch has proved itself and earned the 5th star. 17 heavy pulls with half of the nearing stall point but never did. 5 pulls using double line and 20k snatch block to skid a 60 foot long maple yree about 15 inch diameter while dighing in the ground a bit. Winch has oerformed eveytime. The safety catch latch on the originally supplied hook busted but that is due to its design and would happen no matter what brand. Going to be upgrading to a much better hook with a different locking design. 2/7/16 update Excellent winch , love it completely. Did replace the hook with a heavy TMJ self locking hook which was a great addition. Nothing wrong with the crossbar support on this winch, need to take care to not abuse it allowing cable to pile up in one area that will exceed the clearances. Any damage is a usage problem not a product problem, even though Smittybilt is kind enough to replace.added photo with upgraded hook. 3/18/16 final update. Unreal winch, has pulled some intense loads without fail. Even tested after freezing rain and a foot of snow the night before. Brushed just enough snow off to turn on the wireless switch. I thought this would be the ultimate test of CA winch left uncovered. The steel cable was frozen hard in ice but this winch worked great. If I ever needed another I would buy again 2/27/17 update after the wireless function stopped working. Smittybilt customer service was great, found the on off switch in solenoid failed. They were quick to replace but I chose a real waterproof boot sealed switch from Amazon myself, added phoyos. Plug in the part number on the package and use that instead if the current factory replacement. Provided their engineers with that info and they will look at it. Hopefully offer this surfy as a warranted replacement and even come with it instead. Still loving the winch have pulled countless trees felling and oncedown dragging around. 10/9/2018 update, some folks messaged asking about the winch now. I month shy of 3 years in the unit is going strong. Pulled countless trees sround, used it to hoist lumber with snatch block overhead and even self recovered up a steep mountsinside road after sliding off in deep snow. Pulled loads so heavy i had to anchor the back of the jeep to a large tree to kerp the 4door jku from sliding on pavement with brakes locked. Just ordered a replacement cable this one has about had it with all the use having a small fray and a couple small kinks. . Added photo of unit currently going strong. Use it now at least once a month to ensure it stays in good operating condition. Only real sign of wear spart from steel cable is the uv lightened case from direvct exposure as i do not cover it all year round.