Smitty Built X2O winch issues

[Chippy]

First off I’m posting this outside of the Vice mount thread but they do sell these winches. My 12000 stoped working in wireless however would work with the cable. A quick internet search revealed others experiences with this issue and it being the switch provided with the control box, I bypassed the switch and wireless worked fine.
further review of the internals of the control box revealed the contactor being hermetically sealed as well as the simple wireless receiver there really is NO water protection with the provided assembled control box I would say at best it provided splash and covering for connections.
The one thing that really bothered me in addition to the super cheap switch they used was how they assembled the wireless receiver connections with the plug for the cable and how it interfaces with the controller!! They used tin steel clips to daisy chain leads onto the contactor, most were loose and one had been hanging on by a thread as the tin connector had stressed and was very weak. THIS ASSEMBLY METHOD IS VERY SUB PAR FOR A DEVICE YOUR USING TO SAVE YOUR BUT OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE OR IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.
I dis assembled the wires connecting them together with solder and a new spade connector to the contactor I did not re use the supplied box as the area I wanted to fit the contactor in basically stays completely dry and is up high. it’s harder to tuck the provided box as well if there ever is a further problem with the small wires or the cheap wireless receiver I can change it out easily now as it’s very accessible under the radiator cover.
I went ahead and mounted a new switch inside the truck which is illuminated so it’s easy to tell when it’s on and I don’t need to open the hood to access. I also ran extra lines through the provided grommet which another member posted which was a great help much appreciated for any Future needs.
I do not know if Warn does a better job for the money they up charge but the very cheap assembly method Smitty is providing in the control box can definitely be A Failure point for reference.

 

[Nukegm426]

It’s known as ****tybilt for a reason.... when I worked for 4wp we had a big pile of them that were warranty returns, but never had a warn failure. You’ll see people claim they’re great and sometimes you get lucky and they work fine. But there are way to many failures from them. I’ve literally had half a dozen or more that were DOA straight out of the box.

 

[Chippy]

Well that’s great as that’s were I purchased it from and they said can’t tell them apart now made in same factory. I don’t need to use it much hopefully some of the stuff I outlined here gives me some life out of it.

 

[Nukegm426]

Lol yea you can tell them apart. Most witches are made in the same plant in China, regardless of brand... the difference is the “better” name brands have they’re own QC people there to make sure they get good product. The 4wp people will upsell the crap out of smittybilt because they own the company. The parent company for them actually owns quite a few well known brands.

Well that’s great as that’s were I purchased it from and they said can’t tell them apart now made in same factory. I don’t need to use it much hopefully some of the stuff I outlined here gives me some life out of it.

 

[Chippy]

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