Warn 9.5ti Multi-mount

[errett]

Anybody else running one of these? I called Warn today with some questions (mine was mounted by the dealer and came with the truck) and they told me something interesting. You are only supposed to mount the winch on the vehicle when you need to use it. Do not drive around with it on the front of the vehicle or you could break the welds and drop the winch! Not cool and almost pointless in my opinion. If I am stuck I am not real interested in trudging through the mud to get my winch out of the back of the truck and carry it around front and mount it.

Anyway, having said that, I am going to look at a new brush guard / winch mount for the 9.5ti. Anybody got any suggestions? Something that allows the hood to open is a good starting point.

E

[ROX]

I have never heard that. In fact, I just took my winch to Warn in Clackamas, Oregon and had it serviced 2 weeks ago. I have 9.5ti on a multi mount and they never once told me that. The only thing they said was, "you should bring it in more often if you submerge it or the gears will rust. One more year and you'd have had to buy a new winch." oops.

I always have it on the front of the rig on my long trips and haven't lost it yet.

The welds will break? Doubtful, but not impossible. Who did you talk to?

[errett]

Originally Posted by H2 Rocks

I have never heard that. In fact, I just took my winch to Warn in Clackamas, Oregon and had it serviced 2 weeks ago. I have 9.5ti on a multi mount and they never once told me that. The only thing they said was, "you should bring it in more often if you submerge it or the gears will rust. One more year and you'd have had to buy a new winch." oops.

I always have it on the front of the rig on my long trips and haven't lost it yet.

The welds will break? Doubtful, but not impossible. Who did you talk to?

It was customer service at Warn. I was asking some questions and pointed out that the hood not being able to open is a bit of a downer and that is when he launched into "The engineers never thought of that because the winch is not supposed to travel mounted on the vehicle." Then he told me they had dealt with an owner whose winch had fallen off while driving because the welds broke.

[nmu98]

Originally Posted by errett

It was customer service at Warn. I was asking some questions and pointed out that the hood not being able to open is a bit of a downer and that is when he launched into "The engineers never thought of that because the winch is not supposed to travel mounted on the vehicle." Then he told me they had dealt with an owner whose winch had fallen off while driving because the welds broke.

That makes very little sense. Those same welds need to withstand all the pressure of pulling an 8000 pound vehicle out of the mud..... But they will not hold a 100 pound winch on the front of the vehicle for long periods...

Our fire department had the 9.5i on the front of thier truck and it stays there all the time, and that truck is used hard. no issues....

I think that guy at warn.... well, its hard to find good help....

[ROX]

Originally Posted by errett

It was customer service at Warn. I was asking some questions and pointed out that the hood not being able to open is a bit of a downer and that is when he launched into "The engineers never thought of that because the winch is not supposed to travel mounted on the vehicle." Then he told me they had dealt with an owner whose winch had fallen off while driving because the welds broke.

Huh.
Call again and talk to Auggie, (sp). He's really knowledgable. So what if it hits the hood, you never have to open the hood, and if you do, just take it off and set it in the back or on the ground. Sounds like the guy you talked to tried to sell you something he thought you needed. Get the multimount if you want. It's a great setup, and doesn't affect the approach agle very much at all. They're very versatile too. Sorry to hear you had trouble.

If you put the synthetic line on, the weight of the multimount drops significantly, and it's not hard to lift at all. With cable, it's a drag, but still manageable. (it's about 30lbs heavier)

Good luck!

[Michael Baker]

I have been using the 9.5ti Multi-mount for a couple of years, and has saved my life once.

I believe that the logic behind not leaving it mounted on the front is that you may, unexpectedly, go through a puddle that turns out to be a lake. In this case you will want to winch the car out backwards, but the winch may be underwater at the front.

I have a third-row twin seat, and have adapted the mounting rails so that I can actually bolt down the winch on these railings when I am not using the third-row twin seat.

When I do use the third row seat, I mount the winch on the front. The first few times I did this I saw that (especially off-road) that the winch rattles a lot in the receiver (it is only held in place by the bolt). I tried some rubber tarps, but finally settled on some metal tensioners. These are screwed-tight between a hole I drilled in the winch frame and the rings on the front of the car. This is rock-solid, no rattle.

See attached picture.

[Adam in CO]

I have been driving around for almost 4 years with my 9000MM riding on the front and I have yet to break any welds or drop the winch. What a crock.

Fortunately, I wont have to worry about it anymore after tomorrow!

[cl998]

I have been drilling the vertical holes in my mount for a week now, I got the top one done but the bottom one is a pain in the A$$. It took about 30 minutes to do the top one.

[dochummer]

Originally Posted by Adam in CO

I have been driving around for almost 4 years with my 9000MM riding on the front and I have yet to break any welds or drop the winch. What a crock.

Fortunately, I wont have to worry about it anymore after tomorrow!

What are your plans for the old multi-mount?

[Adam in CO]

Originally Posted by dochummer

What are your plans for the old multi-mount?

Garbage. You want the basket, Doc? I'm keeping the winch as Neil designed the new bumper for it.