what is a good ,cheap winch to put on my 2- wd rancher. dont have alot of money though. are thes things difficult to install some said yes, some said no. i thought the holes would match up with factory specs? im descent when it comes to fixing/installing things.can any one give me any info?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

When it comes to a cheap winch, they are probably all similar, not one being better than the other. A few members said they buy their winches from Harbor freight for less than 50 bucks. You will still need a model specific mount unless you wish to custom make your own mount. Ebay offers several brands of economy winches, some look like Warn or Ramsey copies (probably the ones I would go with as they would most likely fit a winch mount that will no doubt be drilled to adapt to a Warn or Ramsey winch). That is something to consider perhaps if you go with a harbor freight winch, i.e. wether or not it will bolt up on a mount that is drilled for the likes of a Warn or Ramsey.

Installation isn't a problem. Most come with instructions telling you were to wire what to, same goes for the mounts.

 

the mounting plate is the hardest part to put in on the new ranchers. You have to mount the winch to the plate first, then put the whole mess up inside the front bumper. My superwinch setup i think was close to 250 bucks. It might be hard to find a cheaper winch that would mount up to the mount plate though. and you usually have to buy the plate separate.

 

I have two SUPERWINCH T1500s. The one on my 2005 is mounted with a Warn winch mount. The one on my 2001 is mounted with a different kind. I found out that the Warn winch plates place the winch higher up under the atv. That little more height helps me feel better about water. Warn holes are different from SUPERWINCH. Fairly easy to fix this problem though. Drill another hole.