I picked up a Warn VR8-S for dirt cheap and mounted it in the steel Rubicon front bumper using a mounting plate from Artec. I’m very happy with the mounting plate after watching install videos from some of the other manufacturers.
The fairlead backer plate is aluminum and meant to be an accent. I was originally going to paint it black but it’s growing on me now so we will leave it as is for awhile.
I’m happy with the winch. The black-oxide bolts/hardware are something you would expect from an entry level winch so I put an extra coat of paint on those before they were installed to delay any rust. The control pack is very nice and something that I would expect from Warn. So it is what it is, an entry level winch with a couple of nice Warn touches and a good warranty. I was very surprised with how fast it is. Even under load and tensioning the cable it was quite quick. I will probably end up replacing the cast iron fairlead with an aluminum one.
Here’s some pics.
The fairlead backer plate is aluminum and meant to be an accent. I was originally going to paint it black but it’s growing on me now so we will leave it as is for awhile.
I’m happy with the winch. The black-oxide bolts/hardware are something you would expect from an entry level winch so I put an extra coat of paint on those before they were installed to delay any rust. The control pack is very nice and something that I would expect from Warn. So it is what it is, an entry level winch with a couple of nice Warn touches and a good warranty. I was very surprised with how fast it is. Even under load and tensioning the cable it was quite quick. I will probably end up replacing the cast iron fairlead with an aluminum one.
Here’s some pics.