A winch is a bogged man best friend who is without a friend. Pushing the envelope of what your vehicle is capable of is what 4WDing is all about. Plus, trying to trek that road less traveled or sometimes untraveled in your vehicle you are bound to come unstuck or to put it more accurately stuck. Getting bogged and stuck is a huge part of 4WDing and half the fun, that is why some good recovery gear like a 4WD Winch is essential. Other recovery gear can be a simple shovel or a snatch strap or even a kinetic rope kit. A shovel is great for when you are mildly bogged, as digging in front of the vehicles 4 tyers will allow the car to gain enough momentum and speed to unstick itself. The beach is possibly the most common place that a shovel can really help you out but even then, if you are bogged enough a Car winch will be necessary.

Another recovery method is the use of snatch straps. These can be a great tool for recovering your rig, a snatch strap is used by connecting the stuck vehicle to a recovering vehicle via a thick strap. The recovery car will accelerate hopefully towing and pulling the bogged 4WD free. Although snap straps are quite effective, they have their limitations against a 4×4 winch the major one being you require another vehicle. This can be difficult when traveling in one vehicle in remote locations as you may not see another car or even person for miles, hours or even days.

A kinetic rope works quite similar to a snatch strap but has a few differences. Feel the power. Unlike traditional tow ropes or snatch straps a kinetic tow rope is designed to stretch up to a whopping 30%. Due to the high shock absorbing properties slack can be left in the rope before the tow vehicle begins to pull. This is ideal for loose terrain such as sand or mud as it allows the tow vehicle to gain momentum before underload. The rope will stretch under load transferring the kinetic energy from the recovering vehicle to the vehicle in need. Although clearly very effective kinetic ropes unlike Extreme winches also have the downside of needing another vehicle.

So although there are other quality options to un-bogging your stuck vehicle other than a shovel a Winch is the only true option that allows you to free your vehicle on your own or without another vehicle. The way you use a winch is to grab the wired or wireless remote that comes with it. Different models offer different options. Some brands don’t offer a remote I would steer clear of those as it makes winching quite difficult. So either go for a wire or a wireless, if you go for the wired option just makes sure it has sufficient cable to run from the 4WD winch to inside your car so if you are on your own you can winch and drive at the same time.  However if you do go for the wireless options well obviously cable range isn’t an issue but you do have to consider the range of the receiver. The receiver range is the distance you can stand from your Kings winch while your remote still works. This may seem pointless as you will always be relatively close to your Car winch. But a strong receiver signal is important once your vehicle comes submerged in mud or water. Which is actually when you need your 4×4 winch to work the most.

Some other things to consider when buying an Extreme winch are ensuring it is built and engineered strong. Winches are designed to pull a 4WD vehicle, that is a significant task on its own not to mention most rigs have added accessories making things harder for the winch. To top things off not only is the 4WD winch pulling your vehicle but it is pulling it out from a stuck position therefore it is significantly harder. That is why ensuring your Kings winch is built as the toughest of the tough is very important.
So look for a brand that offers a Car winch that is the result of years of research and development across every corner of Australia. A quality braking system is vital as it will make your 4×4 winch better, stronger and more efficient than other.

You should always look after your winch for safety and best longevity, but some more premium models are designed to look after themselves. Some brands have designed their Extreme winches with specially-designed patent-pending larger brake setups. This in turn relocates the brake away from the winch drum and into the motor, preventing the winch drum from excessively heating up and melting the winch rope under heavy use. A massive brake setup is also even better at stopping the winch under shock-load conditions like when you slip during a winch recovery and load the winch up suddenly. 4WD winches come in many shapes and sizes but also power. This power is measured in like a car motor horsepower. A good level to look for is 7.2hp coupled with a 12,000lb motor and an ultra-low 218:1 gearbox reduction ratio. This will give you extreme pulling power without being ridiculously oversized or extremely heavy. As Car winches are mounted at the very front of your vehicle weight is a large contributing factor.  

Although the 4×4 winch itself needs to be built tough, so do the additional components. So be sure the model you choose is a model that has 26 metres of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene silver synthetic rope, plus a tough new pivoting winch hook, along with all the parts you need to mount it to any standard winch bullbar, including a rotating clutch housing so you can always access the free spool / clutch selector.

Now you know the ins and outs of what makes a quality winch and why they are so incredibly useful.  Go out and grab yourself one today.