rough country vs smittybilt Gen 3 winch - what's best for the money

mtudb24

mtudb24

Member
I ran nothing but warn winches on My K5 blazer and my S10 ZR2 back in the day

My last 2 winches have been Rough Country Pro series 9500 (Jeep JKUR) and a Rough Country Pro series 1200 (Ram 1500), but this Smittybilt is catching my eye due to the 7.0hp motor vs 5.5 in the Rough country
I never had a issue with either of the Rough Country winches EVER.
The Rough Country is $399 for the 9500 and 4$99 for the 12000 (all winches are synthetic rope)
The Smitty is $579

The Rough country is 85 feet rope and 64lbs
The Smitty is 98 feet of rope and 67lbs

I like the fact you get additional lighting under the spool and a 12V post to run air compressor right from the winch

Te optional "colored" armor panels is cool too.

Is the $200 difference worth it? My only fear is from of my smittylbilt products in the past (body armor etc) the fit and finish sucked. This winch comes with a lifetime mechanical and 5 year electrical warranty. The RC has 2 year mechanical and 1 year electrical.

As I write this, I think I'm leaning to the Smittybilt, but still have some hesitation due to past products that didn't quite fit well and the quality wasn't that great

I'm never going bigger then 35's and my 2" mopar lift. Will actually put a 3/4" spacer up front when i mount my Qudratec QRC bumper and whatever winch to keep my vehicle level

Anybody have experience of each?
Thanks
Todd
 
Honestly, they’re all pretty much made in the same China factory.


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I would not go with anything from either of these brands actually. Had a Tire Carrier incident with Smittybilt and I have knowingly steered clear of RC. For me and winches, its Warn or nothing. Worth the extra mulah because during the less common cases where you need a winch, it wont let you down. In my experience anyway. [emoji106]

2018 JK 2-Door Auto
1997 TJ 4.0 5 Speed
 
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If you’re gonna buy a cheap one get a harbor freight badlands apex or the regular 12k and swap the rope to synthetic. If you’re planning on dangling off cliffs, maybe don’t cheap out.


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I appreciate the info. I never had 1 issue with my Rough Country winch pulling heavy loads on my JKU. I guess each to their own.
Tough to spend 2x+ the amount on a Warn when I've never had an issue on a lesser brand.
But again, I thank you all for the input
Todd
 
mtudb24 said:
I appreciate the info. I never had 1 issue with my Rough Country winch pulling heavy loads on my JKU. I guess each to their own.
Tough to spend 2x+ the amount on a Warn when I've never had an issue on a lesser brand.
But again, I thank you all for the input
Todd
Click to expand...

Mel Wade said it best... “when you’re using a winch it’s always worse case scenario” tough to be cheap when potentially your life or someone else’s is on the line.
 
When I bought my first hand gun, I was on a budget and kept looking at the cheaper ones. The salesman told me, "Buying a gun is a life insurance policy. When you need to use it, it needs to work." I left that day with no gun, and saved up to buy a quality one. I applied the same logic when I bought my winch, a Warn.
 
mtudb24 said:
I appreciate the info. I never had 1 issue with my Rough Country winch pulling heavy loads on my JKU. I guess each to their own.
Tough to spend 2x+ the amount on a Warn when I've never had an issue on a lesser brand.
But again, I thank you all for the input
Todd
Click to expand...

I hope you don't take this the wrong way but it's more like we all have our own I idea of what "pulling a heavy load" is or maybe more importantly, what constitutes hard use. It's great that you never had a problem with your china winch. Me, I've seen plenty of them fail and right when they were needed most. If you're the type that would never need yours in a critical situation, you'll probably be fine. Certainly, I'd be the first to say that not every single china winch will fail. More rather, it's a quality control issue and even if one in 100 has a problem, I'd hate to have that 1.
 
wayoflife said:
I hope you don't take this the wrong way but it's more like we all have our own I idea of what "pulling a heavy load" is or maybe more importantly, what constitutes hard use. It's great that you never had a problem with your china winch. Me, I've seen plenty of them fail and right when they were needed most. If you're the type that would never need yours in a critical situation, you'll probably be fine. Certainly, I'd be the first to say that not every single china winch will fail. More rather, it's a quality control issue and even if one in 100 has a problem, I'd hate to have that 1.
Click to expand...

I think I remember you saying that you wondered if we’d have a conversation like this, if we were speaking of parachutes.


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notnalc68 said:
I think I remember you saying that you wondered if we’d have a conversation like this, if we were speaking of parachutes.
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LOL - exactly!

Thing is, most people who buy winches will never ever use them. For those that do, they never use them as often as they believe they do or for anything as hard as they imagine. And for that, I get why they think on the cheap and try to justify it to everyone else. I can only go off my limited experience, how I've had to use my winch and what I have personally seen work time and time again and what hasn't.
 
I’ve had both rough country and smitty built never an issue . on a tight budget not everyone can afford to spend the money for warn. It’s better to least have one than not.
 
JT@623 said:
I’ve had both rough country and smitty built never an issue . on a tight budget not everyone can afford to spend the money for warn. It’s better to least have one than not.
Click to expand...

Or buy their VR series. It’s budget friendly and still a warn product and while it’s not a zeon... it will get the job done.
 
JT@623 said:
I’ve had both rough country and smitty built never an issue . on a tight budget not everyone can afford to spend the money for warn. It’s better to least have one than not.
Click to expand...

You mean, so long as it actually works.

To me, it's better to go wheeling with buddies that can help you out of a jam and save up until you can afford to buy the right equipment. But then, that's just me.
 
I have to say, conversations like this crack me up. I'm sure it's just because I'm old but you know, there was a time when a lot of us used to go wheeling with just tow points and recovery straps.
 
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