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Harleybullet's avatar
Harleybullet
Explorer
Jun 27, 2016

Winches..110 or 12V ???

Has any one used a 110 V winch on there truck as opposed to the 12 V. The 110s are cheaper and more powerful and I use the truck (for getting into trouble) with my camper on it that has a generator, so I could just plug it in... just wondering..any comments. Dave
  • I was an avid Jeep'r for years, every rig I built had one or even two winches. I'm not aware of any 110v winch that would have the pulling power to pull out a truck hauling a TC.

    General rule of thumb is to have at least twice the rated pull power of the rig you're putting it on. My jeeps all had 8,000lb minimum, even the ones where I put one in the front, and one in the rear - and even at that me or my crew would snap cables.

    Remember - a winch is a piece of safety gear. If you're going to go someplace where you may ultimately need it, you need it because you're stuck and it's your last option to get you home. Cobbling something together because it's the cheapest option isn't likely to be your best option.

    Now, I will say this --
    If you need to save a buck, Smittybilt winches never once failed anyone in my crew. They're not as fast as a comparable Warn, but the big thing you need from a winch - we never had one fail.
  • I wouldn't do 110V for outside unless you have to, but I would wonder about the watts required and duty cycle. It seems you'd want less things to go wrong if you needed it, and adding a generator is one more thing that could go wrong.