cool I've wondered about the smitty.  

If you are not planning on using the winch often the less expensive winches are fine. But they are in no way a good alternative to a high-quality winch such a a Warn or Ramsey. With winches, you get what you pay for.

Having said that, I've been impressed with the Superwinch EP9.0 and EPi9.0 winches.  

I've got a milemarker hydraulic that I'm real happy with . It uses the power steering pump for its power source . I pulled a full sized school bus out of field once . Thought I was going to pull my jeep in half. They use about 2 amps of electrical power . I had an upright Warn on my old Scout and it was a good unit also . Go with what you like more than anything . Make sure its a quality unit , cause when you need it , you need it .  

ya i am lookin at the mile marker cuz they are in my price range u just want to know that they are reliable and will be able to pull me out when i need it. Also what type of towing strength would i need if i have the jeep unlimited wrangler 4 door.  

If I remember right the formula is to double the weight of your vehicle and thats the starting point for what size winch you should get . Also be advised that for every layer of cable that comes off the drum , pulling power is diminshed . Its a leverage thing . One of the other things I like about my milemarker hydraulic is thats its a 2 speed .  

thanks also what are some good lights to mount.  

I have Hella headlight replacements in my Wrangler . I cant believe the difference they made . I would start with that and if you need more lights find the right model for you application . I have used Hella products for years and have never been disappointed .  

Typical Drum Layered Power Loss
12,000 lbs. Winch
Example

Layers Of Cable Remaining on 3" Drum

Available Pull Power
(Bare) 1  12,000 lbs.
      2     9,480 lbs.
      3     7,800 lbs.
      4     6,720 lbs.
      5     5,760 lbs.
(Full) 6     5,160 lbs.


Got this info from

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/winches/Winch-Components.htm

The more cable you have out, the more your pulling power increases, not decreases. I use Hella also. I have used them for a while and have had no problems.  

I also have the smitty 8000lbs and I have pulled alot with it.  Once I pulled a tundra out of a 5 foot bar ditch sideways from under the passenger door it bent the fram a bit on the tundra but the smitty pulled hard.  

yea i pulled the carcass of a 86 fullsize blazer out of a ditch uphill and i was impressed.i dont use one very often and with kids and little money,you get what you can,besides the wife bought it for me  

Thanks for posting that ! Thats what I was trying to say . It is a common misconception that a which pulls a its full rating all the time .  

I see people I wheel with sometimes that will pull 15ft of cable out and wonder why a 8000lb winch wont pull out a Jeep or truck out of a hole. Its surprising the people who think that its pulling its rate all the time. I pull enough out to block it or as much as I can. Thats just me.  

I have had other winches in the past. Warn ,
Mile Marker all superb winches.
But I have to tell you this winch meets there standards any day.
Now don't get me wrong if I where to be rock climbing five days a week a Warn would be on my jeep.
But for every day mudding and hunting that I do this winch is for me.


I have been stuck up to my doors in ud and this winch pulled me out with no ..problems at all.
I also pulled out four of my friends the same day and had no problems.


Fact is all winches are made by two major companys and there names are put on them.
sure some componants are alittle different but basic stuff is the same as quality go's.
For the price difference I'll go with the Smittybuilt.
Unless like I said you are one of those guys who are real rock crawlers.
Not the wanna bes. who want to look like one.  

mile marker makes the XRC8..
One simply cant go wrong with this winch for periodic use..  

I'm a little shocked by some of the Milemarker comments. In my experience they are VERY slow and not all that great a quality. If you have used a high quality winch I don't think you would ever consider the Milemarker.

Yeah sure, speed is not everything. But when you have pulling power and speed you are looking at a quality motor, which is the backbone of any winch. Most Milemarker winches are pulling at like half the speed of some of the others.

And as far as the hydro winches that run off the power steering pump...not a good option. There just is not enough fluid to keep the system cool. But I think it might be a good idea if you ran a secondary pump (not a power steering pump), a cooler, and a large (maybe five-gallon) tank of hydro fluid. Really not possible on a small Jeep. It works much better on a tow truck. They have the space.