chinese winches verdict please

[muskie]

thinking of buying one as i cant afford an expensive good quality one..... i am a firm believer in you get what you pay for so it is with reluctance i am looking at them, and so, i know alot of you guys have them so what do you think?? many problems and do they get you out the pooh when you are in it??? i am not into comps, just want to use for self recovery should i get stuck... i am looking at a 10,000 24v model for my swb safari. what do you think

[gimmemud]

i have a 9000lb on my truck and the guy i bought it off said it went real well. am upgrading to the 12000lb one i bought off here in a couple of days.
i know a few guys that have replaced their burnt out warn, superwinch etc motors with cheap Asian ones and haven't noticed any difference.
go for it

[nstg8a]

at the end of the day if you get one and decide its not what you wanted you wuld probably be able to recoup your costs on trademe...

[Red90]

I've used my 12000lb on for a couple of simple recoverys and am very happy with it. Last used on a riverbed where pulling the other person was just digging me in. Really pleased to have it.

[STUKLUX]

I was very close to buying a chinese winch but desided to wait for little longer and get a good one.Trade me is a good place to watch for them,I ended up getting a brand new Warn 9000 for $1200,only about $400 more than a chinese one.My opinion is when it comes to winches you do get what you pay for.

[tallsam66]

I was very close to buying a chinese winch but desided to wait for little longer and get a good one.Trade me is a good place to watch for them,I ended up getting a brand new Warn 9000 for $1200,only about $400 more than a chinese one.My opinion is when it comes to winches you do get what you pay for.

I wouldnt be surprised if the Warn etc are made in China...so much stuff is now days

[gimmemud]

used my 12000lb winch yesterday by pulling a lwb safari about 20m on its belly through thick mud. very impressed by it and the wireless function is useful

[kiwipete]

I have a post here on my Runva winch. http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10441

[rowinz]

Spoke to a person on weekend who has had same 90000lb one that I bought (and have yet to mount) on their truck since 2002. Its gone pretty well and not had much attention. They did say the recovery wire wasn't correctly connected to the drum - found out the hard way. This was supplied and installed by local workshop.
R

[wisard2]

Am running a Runva new 12000 lb 24v on my Safari. The other weekend at the NZQA course run by Mike at Rallywoods, I pulled myself, a 60 series wagon and a 70 series wagon all hooked up together, about 25 metres up a 45 degree wet, greasy clay track without any problem.

[skid]

Am running a Runva 12000 lb 24v on my Safari. The other weekend at the NZQA course run by Mike at Rallywoods, I pulled myself, a 60 series wagon and a 70 series wagon all hooked up together, about 25 metres up a 45 degree wet, greasy clay track without any problem.

not forgetting the next one, when you winched the dead sixty up the 60 degree slope

[furnace]

I was very close to buying a chinese winch but desided to wait for little longer and get a good one.Trade me is a good place to watch for them,I ended up getting a brand new Warn 9000 for $1200,only about $400 more than a chinese one.My opinion is when it comes to winches you do get what you pay for.

I have got both,a Warn and Runva,the Runva is a 10000lb one,i have so far had no trouble with it what so ever [ touch wood ] in fact very happy with it,i does the job very well for what i want,i have probably used it about 20 times in some very tuff conditions
As with any winch they have to be looked after [which i'm not that good at ] i have probably reckoned my warn 3 or 4 times over the years..the only thing with the Runva is it is a bit slow,which doesn't worry me but i think the new ones are heaps faster...the conclusion i would definitely buy another in a flash,i think some times buying the big flash expensive winch's is a bit of a fashion statement...my opinion only that may get me in trouble

[DieselBoy]

In Contrast, i have had no end of problems with my GEW10,000 Runva.

When it was mounted to the 80 series:

First the clutch packed up and it would release the drum when under tention leading to serval birds nests on the drum.

^The the motor burnt out under a modest pull.

Then the drum brake packed up due to water ingress.

Infact, a big problem with them is an accute lack of water tighness. Every time i strip it down for repairs, its full of water. And the most water it ever see's is when i wash the vehicle.

Now its mounted on the front of Thunderguts, as i tracked down a factory 80 series winch which is 100 times more reliable.

I haven't had any problems with the Runva since it has been on Thunderguts, mainly because i haven't had to use it in anger yet.

[Cloggy_NZ]

I've got a 12000lbs 12 volt one on the front of my Disco and I am very pleased with it. Like some of the other replies, I am only relying on it for the occasional recovery. When I have used it, it has done very well. Have done some prolonged heavy winching with it and only got hot after 20 or 30 minutes of continuous use but this to be expected. The winch developed a high pitched noise when this was happening so that now serves as an audible warning that it is getting hot. Haven't had it make this noise since or got it this hot again. A recovery which takes 5 or 10 minutes will hardly make it warm. Awesome toy for removing the occasional tree stump at a relative's or friends house.
Like the remote controls which came with the winch. These allow you to stand a safe distance away. May look at replacing the fairlead as this is pretty cheap and nasty and not quite wide enough for the winch drum.
Overall I think you can not go wrong for the money you pay if you are just looking for the occasional self recovery and the like.

[furnace]

In Contrast, i have had no end of problems with my GEW10,000 Runva.

When it was mounted to the 80 series:

First the clutch packed up and it would release the drum when under tention leading to serval birds nests on the drum.

^The the motor burnt out under a modest pull.

Then the drum brake packed up due to water ingress.

Infact, a big problem with them is an accute lack of water tighness. Every time i strip it down for repairs, its full of water. And the most water it ever see's is when i wash the vehicle.

Now its mounted on the front of Thunderguts, as i tracked down a factory 80 series winch which is 100 times more reliable.

I haven't had any problems with the Runva since it has been on Thunderguts, mainly because i haven't had to use it in anger yet.

Sounds like some of the problems a have had with my Warn..mine is on a 80 series also..i'm not saying they are the best winch in the world but they are not to bad,i do laugh when i hear people say because they are cheap they are shit..as i have said befre i have a Warn and a Runva..i have had the Warn stripped down many times

[wisard2]

I also have a Runva gew 9000 lb 12v on my twincab Hilux, which I have had on there for 3 years, and has been used extensively without any problem what-so-ever.

[abbo]

I also have a Runva gew 9000 lb 12v on my twincab Hilux, which I have had on there for 3 years, and has been used extensively without any problem what-so-ever.

Thats good to hear i have just gone and myself is the 1000 lb 12v to put on my hilux

[Andrew1706]

I've heard from friends who have seen the chinese winches in action and aren't happy with their speed.. At the end of the day you have a winch at least even considering its slow.

Looking up the Runva winch specs they are pretty damn slow with no load, they do have a 'fast' model which has similar capabilities as the Warn 9.5ti - of course the capabilities are only on paper - real world most likely will be different.

Your personal opinions?

[skid]

I also have a Runva gew 9000 lb 12v on my twincab Hilux, which I have had on there for 3 years, and has been used extensively without any problem what-so-ever.

Thats good to hear i have just gone and myself is the 1000 lb 12v to put on my hilux

are you gonna winch quads on the flat or something abbo

[abbo]

I also have a Runva gew 9000 lb 12v on my twincab Hilux, which I have had on there for 3 years, and has been used extensively without any problem what-so-ever.

Thats good to hear i have just gone and myself is the 1000 lb 12v to put on my hilux

are you gonna winch quads on the flat or something abbo

[new2zukes]

the only thing that i have to say is i have a kew 6500 and it is a perminant magnet motor i have used it 2 times and has had about 1 hours work maximum and it has not been a problem untill it started smoking on the positive lead after 2 seconds of winching i have got a thread on tool shed and have a had very good feedback of what might be wrong with it but if i ever get a winch again id go with a series wound chinese winch NOT a perminant magnet winch, i have also heard alot about the magnet winch motor being too weak for the winch but i know nothing about winches so just think of it as im putting my thoughts into words.

[wisard2]

I also have a Runva gew 9000 lb 12v on my twincab Hilux, which I have had on there for 3 years, and has been used extensively without any problem what-so-ever.

Thats good to hear i have just gone and myself is the 1000 lb 12v to put on my hilux

are you gonna winch quads on the flat or something abbo

Yeah, cos the winch on MY QUAD is a 2000 lb one!!