When shopping around for your new 4WD winch it’s almost tempting to jump on your preferred auction site and search for the cheapest winch you can find – Don’t be fooled, by getting your 4WDing lifeline from a cheap online auction site you could risk it burning out, breaking, internally corroding, or simply destroying itself when you hit the tracks!

We bought one of these cheap winches to compare it with the Domin8r X 12,000lb Winch so you don’t have to work out the hard way why you don’t see poor quality gear on the front of the 4WD Action trucks!

1.Clevis hook

No matter what brand of winch you grab for the front of your vehicle, the final point of contact that makes it work is the clevis hook. Whilst this seems obvious the similarly priced winch we got from a competitor came with only a 3/8” hook, this is tiny when compared to the massive ½” hook included with the Domin8r X Winch. Not only is the hook smaller, the pin to secure it on the hook is almost half the diameter, making it much more likely to fail in a recovery!

Having a much beefier hook allows the Domin8r X to not just connect to more recovery setups, but the additional strength is optimal for double line pull recoveries, perfect for when you are buried to the chassis rails!

2.Control boxes

At first glance, when you are looking at a winch, a control box is a simple piece of equipment, a small black box mounted on the bull bar.

Not all that glitters is gold, when opened it is clear that the cheaper brand uses a non-sealed plastic box with a bit of a rats nest of wires inside and cut costs by using an an inferior old technology solenoid to switch the winch on and off.

When we opened the Domin8r X control box, it’s easy to see the difference, the Domin8r X control box is neat and tidy, with a purpose made ‘Thompson solenoid’ which can handle much higher current without failure.

The Thompson solenoid is also waterproof to prevent internal corrosion and keep your winch working no matter where you get stuck!

3.Wiring

Whilst ultra-thick wiring is not absolutely necessary, wiring that can handle the massive loads applied when winching at full capacity are certainly a MUST!

This is why the Domin8r X winch uses 2 AWG wire, which can cope with the 430 AMPS of peak power experienced when winching a full 12,000lb of force!

On top of the heavy gauge wiring, the Domin8r X winches take advantage of plenty of additional surface area at the contacts by using durable crimped connectors on the ends.

The additional in line power isolator means that even when you aren’t using your winch you prevent any possible parasitic power leaching which can occur even on industry leading winches!

4.Frame fasteners

When assessing the strength of a winches design you should look for adequate fasteners on the motor casing, these hold the motor in direct contact with the gearbox, the Domin8r X uses 4 heavy duty fasteners to ensure no warping occurs, along with adequate durability for long trips on the tracks!

When looking at the inferior winch we found it used half as many fasteners which opens it up to catastrophic failure on the tracks.

The toughest design ensures that there are enough fasteners to secure the winch no matter how harsh the climate or intense the recovery operation is!

5.Weather Seals

With some of the harshest weather conditions in the world, from corrosive mud, tough bull dust, 40°C+ temperatures in the baking sun, torrential downpours, flooding rains and so much more encountered on the tracks, the Domin8r X is truly a tough winch.

There are several seals, that easily keep the dust mud and dirt out of the internal workings of the Domin8r X winch, unlike the basically non existent seals found on the cheap competitors winch.

These seals prevent any ingress of water or dust from corroding the internal components, or getting into the internal gearing braking mechanism or the primary windings of the winch motor!

6.Motor windings

The motor is where your horsepower comes from, without the right technology, you will find your winch seriously lacking in performance when It counts.

The Domin8r X uses what is called a series wound motor this means the motor uses coil magnets instead of permanent magnets in the housing, this means you get more efficiency and less overheating which results in absolutely more power, with the Domin8r X outputting around 7.2hp.

Whilst the cheaper motor uses a less efficient permanent magnet solution which is not only bulkier and heavier, but also much less efficient and prone to decreased performance over time, with an advertised 6 hp.

7.Housing thickness

When inspecting a new winch for its durability, one of the most obvious factors to consider is the thickness of the metal housings that the gearbox and the electric motor are located. The Domin8r X uses extremely thick and heavy-duty casings which can cope with all of the torque output by the workhorse 7.2hp motor and 218:1 gearbox.

The competitors casing uses less metal to save on manufacturing costs, and improve profit margins, but when you are up “Ship creek” we know which one we’d prefer on the bull bar!

8.Remote Control
Regardless of brand, size or power output, or type of winch cable, you need to have some way of controlling both the spool in and out of your winch remotely. A winch gives you the ability recover yourself, so having some sort of wireless functionality definitely makes sense, this is why many winches now days have the option to go wireless with the controller.

Whilst older fashioned systems use a completely separate “remote” for wired and wireless control, they often also require you to connect, disconnect and plug and swap all manner of connections adapters to work wirelessly, the Domin8r X uses a simple wireless sender, then all you need to do is remove the cable and switch your controller on.

Once you are on the winch is in your absolute control, and will even have enough range to reach the end of your winch rope so you can control the spool in and out with absolute control no matter what kind of winch recovery you are undertaking.

When using the wireless function of cheaper winches, you will have to find the wireless remote and completely remove your standard remote control.

These are words that we have learned by experience, and when shopping for your next solo recovery lifeline, you must use absolute caution when selecting a winch from an online auction site!.