Repco Winch
Submitted: Friday, Oct 21, 2005 at 12:43
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Member - Norm C (QLD)
Been a bit of discussion on these. Thought I'd share my experience so far:
Bought one yesterday for $699 on special. Plan to install it on by ARB bullbar on the '05 'Lux. Confirmed with the store manager first that if it didn't fit in easily, I could return it for a refund. No problem, provided it is complete and still in new condition.
The bad news. It won't go straight on without some work.
New holes will need to be drilled in the fairlead. Also I don't think the control box will fit where they have provided for. Don't think there is enough room and the plug for the remote cable will be difficult to get to.
Other than that I don't see any problems (so far).
The new holes won't be a problem. I'll drill them so that I can use two of the mounting bolts for the winch for the fairlead. May have to buy longer bolts, but only a few $.
I'd probably mount the control box in a different place anyway to get it up higher away from water. Don't know where yet as it is pretty crowded in the engine bay. I'll also have to extend the leads from the control box to the winch.
Other than that is looks pretty simple, although I haven't installed it yet. I'll do that in the next week or so when I can arrange some help. It is a bit heavy to do on my own.
Spoke to the owner of a small local 4WD
shop. He confirms that they are the same winch as many of the 'name brands' which are imported from China. Says only a few months ago he was paying $650 for them wholesale. He now pays $599, but says while they are $699 at Repco, he will recommend that his customers buy from Repco to get the extended warranty and 'comfort' of buying from a big company. He will just make his money on the installation.
He recommended that I don't strip it down to grease and waterproof it. Reckons that I might void the warranty; and a 3 year (even conditional) is worth more than any work I can do myself. Reasonable advice I think.
Hopefully I'll get it in OK. I'll
check it all out fully before drilling any holes so I can get my money back if necessary.
Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Friday, Oct 21, 2005 at 21:37
Friday, Oct 21, 2005 at 21:37
OK, I've got the warranty conditions (slightly abbreviated by me):
Must be used with min 650 CCA battery
Keep at least 5 wraps on the drum. Red mark identifies this on the cable
Must be mounted on a suitable winch bar
Must be used as per instruction manual
Not for commercial or industrial use
Do not use to lift
Do not hook the cable onto itself
Do not use in snatch recovery
Do not use in conjunction with snatch strap
Do not exceed winch pulling limits
Do not shock load the winch
Do not use when submersed in water or mud
Do not overwork the winch. Recommended duty cycle is 2 minutes on, 1 minute off.
Read and follow instruction manual and above carefully. Failure to do so may result in injury, damage to vehicle and void warranty.
All sensible and pretty obvious. Apart from duty cycle, I would have done all this without reading the conditions.
AnswerID:
135671
Follow Up By: Member - Brian (Gold Coast) - Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 at 06:29
Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 at 06:29
Norm, when you have it fitted, grab one of the guys in the club who have a winch and
test it out. Andrew fitted a (Not Repco) winch to his and did a
test out at
Canungra and found that the cable wasn't attached to anything and not wound on the drum properly. That was a little something I learned from watching Andrew!!!
FollowupID:
389597
Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 at 12:32
Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 at 12:32
Well, I'm just about stumped.
I've taken the front protector plate off from under the bull bar to gain access to the winch mounting area.
Although the winch will fit once I get it in, the opening under the bull bar is too narrow to get it in.
I can not see a way to get it in without taking the bar off the vehicle, and I don't really want to do that.
Anyone familiar with the ARB bar on the '05 'Lux with any ideas?
Nothing is ever as easy as it first seems.
AnswerID:
135731