WARN 26502 M8000 Series Electric 12V Winch with Steel Cable Wire Rope: 5/16" Diameter x 100' Length, 4 Ton (8,000 lb) Pulling Capacity

I've been buying and using Warn winches for a long time. Decades, actually. My history and experience with using Warn winches keeps me going back to them. I don't work for Warn. This is my honest review of Warn as a non professional, not in the winch business, off road guy.My M8000-S I bought here on Amazon is in reference to this review. And it has been perfect. And I've used it a few times for vehicle extraction. It's kind of an old school winch and that makes it shine the brightest. Simple, basic, capable.I currently have 4 Warn winches of various sizes on various vehicles thst I own. And I have used them all. And everytime, I've had zero failures.But you might need something less.Warn makes a quality winch. There are so many winch manufacturers these days it's hard to decide which one to buy based on your budget and how much you'll use it. If you think you may be in a life or death situation, you should buy as much quality as you can afford. That way one could then never say; That they didn't try their best to protect themselves or their family and get the best solution to being stuck in the middle of nowhere situation.However; if you're playing around at the local OHV park and AAA will pull you out in a pinch. Buy a cheap winch and count your savings.Bottom line: Warn is quality. If you or your loved one's life depends on it. You probably can't find anything better than Warn.If you're just playing around. Buy a playing around winch from those other guys.

Perfect for a Jeep Wrangler YJ, TJ, or two door JK and all CJs. If you have the old TJ Unlimited (LJ) or the JK Unlimited (both of which are heavier vehicles) I would bump up to a 9,000 or 10,000 winch.The VR series are the Chinese-made Warns we all knew would one day become a reality. The M series are currently still 100% made in the US, though. The main differences (to me) are the higher quality of the controller and the use of the contactor box over the solenoid of the VR series. The VR is a good enough winch for a low cost, foreign one. The M8000 is the real deal, though. It will work when you need it to. It will last. It pulls like a goat, too.Keep in mind that if you have never owned a winch - this one is about 85 pounds. You will need a winch bumper or a winch mounting plate. Your stock alternator and battery (minimum of 665 CCA) will work fine, but you can always upgrade the system as you learn what you need and want. Setup is pretty straightforward.I do not want synthetic line. I am not sold on it at all right now. And it adds like $300 to your expenses. The tried and true steel cable on this will suit my needs perfectly.The price of this when *I* bought is was only $110 more than the Chinese Warn VR8000. Just spend the extra hundred and get the real thing. This is some solid gear and a great upgrade for any open topped Jeep 4x4!

Couldn't be happier with the M8. The built quality is at a next level. Way better than all those Chinese winches out there. Only criticism is the installation manual. It's for multiple different Languages, Winch Models, and Mounting Plates, so its hard to find the correct instructions. There's only one small diagram showing how to install the winch, and it's not very helpful. Overall, it's not a huge problem. Just a lot of wasted time going back and fixing what was done wrong.

Arrived quickly and packaged good. Purchased a Harbor Freight winch plate to mount it on. Had to do a little drilling to line up holes on a Jeep TJ Wrangler. Only tried the winch once but the battery I was using at the time was 525 CCA. The manual calls for at least a 650 for this winch. Once the winch got under heavy load (all the Jeep weight and up a hill through the snow) everything died out and my "check guages" light came on till I let off the winch power in button. I have since then switched to a yellow top 750 CCA battery. Have not tried winching under load yet. Winch looks awesome and is very well built. Make sure you have at least a 650 CCA battery for this winch. I know it will do more than I need now. It's a Warn. :)

I saved my pennies and went with a Warn right from the start, and I'm glad I did. Not only is this the cheapest price, the FREE super saver shipping and $50 rebate from Warn made this an absolute no brainer! This is the strongest winch in this price range, and it will not fail you. I installed it on my 2004 Jeep Rubicon and it has no problem pulling me out of tight spots, I even used t to pull a few fence poles the other day without issue.Packaging is awesome, everything arrived safely in its intended place, I had no problems with unpacking and understanding the hook up instructions. I intended to mount my solenoid under the hood, but for the first night I used the supplied bracket. My only gripe is with this darn bracket. It was a real pain to jam all the wires where they needed to be and use this bracket. Needless to say, my 'box is now under the hood where it should be, and the bracket is in the trash like it should be!After installation I removed the supplied steel cable and spooled on 100" of synthetic AmSteel blue winch line. At only 8lbs and more durable than steel cable I felt it was a good upgrade. I still carry my steel cable on long wheeling trips as a spare (Just incase!) Although it was incredibly expensive, it is highly recommended. I have used this winch for about 5 pulls, and a few utility jobs and I must say I am very glad I held out for the best. Packaging, quality of materials, durability are all something we need when off road. Don't trust your family, or your rig to anything else. In this category reputation and experience is key. Warn delivers once again.