Winch

Warn HS9500i

Warn Tow Hooks & Receiver Shackle

Holy Shit!!!
     I couldn't believe it, talk about getting hooked up by the parents!!! For Xmas I asked for the Teraflex 2" lift kit I thought was in their range ($500 w/shocks), so you can imagine how shocked I was that they dropped the cash for the winch AND winch plate. I guess it finally paid off having a mother that is totally paranoid and worries about me all the time.

Installation
     Mounting the winch was a snap except for the fact the damn thing is really fuckin heavy!!! All you do is mount the winch to the winch plate, attach the fairlead, remove the bolts that hold the bumper on, remove the frame cover, remove the forward bolt on each side that mounts the sway bar to the frame, slap on the winch, bolt it on, and hook it up to your battery. To keep fools from trying to steal my winch I had my buddie weld a steel plate across the tow hook bolts.

Now I Can Really Go Prepared
     I'm actually glad that I don't have to worry about getting stuck anymore. Not that I'm a mud bogger or that my Jeep gets stuck a lot. I've only had to be winched once when I lost traction going up a steep ass hill. This winch is really fast, almost double the no-load line speed compared to the XD9000. I like the winch plate since I can add a tubular grille guard and I can still use my tow hooks. I still need to pick up a few winch accessories such as a snatch block, tree strap, and a few extra shackles. Now I really need a lift (or at least spacers) since the winch made my front end sag almost 1"!!!

These very good things to have on your Jeep, they will definitely come in handy on the trail. They're good points for a buddy to hook a winch to pull you out, or pull himself out of a stuck. You can also hook a tow strap on the shackle to pull a broken Jeep off the trail (you're welcome Green Monster). The shackle is also great to use with a tow strap to anchor yourself to a tree or other Jeep to keep from pulling yourself towards the stuck Jeep. Rigging a snatch block to these points reduces the load on the winch, which works great when you have to pull a full sized rig.