SmittyBilt XRC-9.5K WINCH GEN2 - SB97495

I am rating this Winch a 5 Star because it is a BEAST, and Does a WONDERFUL job. However there are several things that were not good and had to be overcome to get it to that point. This of course was annoying.The first issue was I got the Winch in and Mounted it to my 2500 Chevy Silverado Diesel. The Winch was SO big I had to make some modifications to the Winch Cradle I got from Tuff Stuff to make it fit the Curt 31042 Front trailer hitch.2nd after I did 5 pulls with the Winch it just completely quit and would never work again. Now I did do four of those five pulls back to back. However that should NOT have been enough to kill it, but it did. So I told Amazon and they promptly sent me a new one that arrived within 2 days, which was nice. No questions were asked. I have used the new one for 10 pulls and it is VERY strong and works Amazing!!3rd Alot of the fastener hardware is cheap Chinese screws that have the head strip out easily if you don't press it hard as an 800 lb. Gorilla can.I recommend replacing ALL fasteners with American made Stainless Steel equivalents.4th they sent the Wrong Mounting bracket so I could not Mount the Module on the left side of the unit like I had preferred to do. Going to call SmittyBilt and see if they will send me the correct bracket.5th So since the side mount Bracket did not have the correct fitment I had to use the center mount method. Well once installed the module, it would slide from side to side on the cross members. So I had to take it off and bend the Bracket so when mounted it would be tight and could not move.A hassle for sure but not that big of a deal.6th the second winch that came in had a remote that would randomly bump the line back out into Spool out mode. So While I would try to wind it up the line would just start coming back out. I corrected this by taking the first Winch'es Remote and sending back the second Winch'es remote with the defective Winch. The Winch has Not had that problem at all since trading out remotes.7th on both Units You have to bump the Remote in or out sometimes to get the clutch to engage or disengage. (Not to big of a deal just a little Quirky)8th Finally the Free Spool is a little difficult. I am 6'-4" and a pretty strong guy, However I have to really put the Muscle into it and really lean all my weight into pulling the line to get it off the drum.I know that was alot, but if you can get past these quirks as I did the Winch is actually quite Outstanding. The main thing is I think SmittyBilt REALLY needs to up their game on the Quality control department, as well as upgrading ALL fastener hardware.I have loaded vehicles onto trailers, pulled up stumps and destroyed a mobile home with this Winch. it is Very Stout.I will come back and give it a 6 month review when that time comes.IF this unit ends up dying in that time.... I will get it fixed, sell it, and buy the Most expensive Warn I can find.I hope it Will not come to that though..... and by all the other reviews I have seen.... I dont think it will.I say Give this Winch a try You Might end up liking it.

Installing it I got that feeling this is a high quality piece of gear. Right up until it's one black eye, more on that in a minute. It's heavy, well made, well thought out. I've already worked it way harder pulling up weed trees than most folks ever would, including me, unsticking vehicles. I've had to use a snatch block as I was over loading it and it handled this type of load in stride. As far as installation goes you have to understand one reason it's got such a low price is it's packaged so one size attempts to fit all. Some, like me, the cables will be too long... some too short. It's easy to customize or have a pro put it in. No way they can please everyone at this price.Pros:Shipped/delivered as promised. I can't say that often now daysInstallation was drama free with realistic expectationsInstructions were adequateEasy to operatePulls like a Clydesdale heading toward the feed bagExcellent attention to detail, magnet in remote is one quality exampleCables are copper welding quality, didn't expect thisCons... no Con there is only oneC'mon Smitty, that over the cable mounting of the control head is a joke and boder line dangerous. Your other mounting options are equally poor. You can do better than this with this great product. I'm going to extend my cables and mount mine in the engine compartment. No big deal.Would I buy it again? Heckin Yes! This might be my all time favorite Amazon value since 2006. Thank you Smitty

Awesome affordable winch, and cheap shipping to Hawaii! I installed this 9500lb winch onto my 2006 Nissan Xterra Offroad. The installation is very simple with the instructions given. Both the wiring and the clocking of the gear housing was simple as pie.The winch came boxed up really well to avoid damage during shipping. Utilizing both Styrofoam and multi-layer cardboard, the winch came undamaged all the way to Hawaii. The winch is very heavy, so be careful when moving the box around.I mounted the solenoid relay box inside of the bumper and relocated the remote connector onto the grille.The handheld remote has a magnet on the end, to just stick it onto a metal surface, like your fender or bumper. Would've been cool if the surface was rubberized, to prevent scrataching and marring of the surface you stick it onto. Not a deal breaker tho.The connector is not engineered right for the application. The source-side connector is composed of male pins. This is a no-no. Source side should always be female to prevent objects from going inside and shorting the circuitry out.

The winch itself is a monster on my little jeep. Plenty of pulling power and always comes through. Used this winch at least 100 times and it still functions as good as it did on day 1. The only cons I have are: The wires to the remote are starting to pull away from the wire shroud at the winch side connection. May need to be repaired soon. Also the rope that came with it worked great and help up well when winching just myself. I recently had to winch out a full size Dodge Crew Cab and broke the rope that came stock. I would say better care for the rope and better rigging may have prevented this since the rope had frays and looked rough from continuous usage. I was impressed when the rope snapped, there was no slingshot effect and it didn't pose any harm to the people or vehicles standing around. I will always use a synthetic rope for this reason alone Otherwise it's very power demanding (As with ANY Winch) if you are considering adding a winch, consider upgrading your power options. I have seen guys left hanging from chain store winches that cost just a fraction less than these. This is a good winch that I have put to the test before making this review.