ROCKCRAWLER.com - Ramsey REP8000e Winch

Ramsey REP 8000e
By Shawn Pagan

Ramsey 8000e
Ramsey REP 8000e Winch

As the pastime of four-wheeling gets larger and larger, more and more people are finding themselves in a situation where they need a good solid winch on their vehicle. Winches provide everything from occasional recovery to pure safety - whether you or a friend is teetering over the edge of a cliff or stuck in the mud. In many cases, a winch may simply provide peace of mind, knowing that you can get out of a situation under you own power if the need arises.

A few years ago only about half or less of trail rigs had winches and very few people knew how to properly use one. Today even entry-level and new vehicles are sporting winchs of all types.

One drawback to putting a winch on for many people is simply the price. A good-quality winch from any of the major manufactures could run well over $600 and may even be as high as $1,000 depending on the pull rating, the model, and of course, how popular that winch is. And the money doesn't really stop there, as most rigs also require a good solid mounting plate that will work with that winch.

A number of manufacturers (including a flood of knock-off's from overseas) have begun manufacturing entry-level winches aimed specifically at the four-wheeling crowd. These winches are typically about a third of the price of the major brands/models or substantially discounted, compared to buying a traditional 8000 lb winch.

To compete with and perhaps "one up" their competition, Ramsey has introduced a new line in their popular REP series called the REP 8000e (12V Part# 111062). According to Ramsey, this "hard working and dependable winch is made in the USA and features a faster line speed and lower AMP draw at full load than the competitions' entry level designs."

Ramsey REP 8000e Feature list:

Proven 3-stage planetary gear system design for fast line speed
Motor and solenoids are grounded directly to battery
Strong automatic load-holding brake for strength
Cam action clutch disengages planetary gear system for free spooling
Weather-resistant solenoid assembly
12 ft. wire pendant remote
6 ft. (1,83 M) 2 gauge battery cables with connectors
Hawse fairlead
Limited lifetime warranty
Made in the USA

Specifications:

Rated line pull (single line) 8,000 lbs. (3,620 kgs)
Gear reduction ratio 294:1
Motor Permanent magnet (12V)
Overall dimensions (LxWxH) 20.86" x 6.00" x 6.38" (530 mm x 152 mm x 162 mm)
Drum size Diameter 2.5" (63 mm) Length 9" (228 mm)
Weight 75 lbs. (34 kgs)
Cable supplied 95 ft. (29 m) of 5/16" (8 mm) galvanized aircraft cable with replaceable clevis hook
Mounting bolt pattern 10.00± .015 IN X 4.50± .015 IN (254,0 MM x 114,3 MM)

Line Speed & Amp Draw - First Layer
Line Pull	lbs.	No Load	1,000	3,000	5,000	6,000	8,000
Line Pull	kgs	No Load	450	1,350	2,260	2,710	3,620
Line Speed	fpm	15	13	11	9	8	6
Line Speed	mpm	4.5	4.0	3.4	2.7	2.4	1.8
Motor Current	amps	40	80	140	200	230	310

Line Pull & Cable Capacity
Layer Of Cable		1	2	3	4
Rated Line Pull Per Layer	lbs.	8,000	6,500	5,500	4,800
Rated Line Pull Per Layer	kgs	3,620	2,940	2,490	2,170
Cable Capacity Per Layer	ft.	15	40	70	95
Cable Capacity Per Layer	m	4	12	21	28

All these specifications don't really help you out too much in the real world. I mean, after all, a hand winch looks good on paper but might require more muscle than you can put out if the rig is stuck in deep mud or at an extreme incline. Having said that, let's get on to the what the Ramsey REP 8000e can do; outside; on the trail; in the real world. First, we have to get it out of the box.

Ramsey REP 8000e As it's packaged.

I won't attempt to try and explain how a winch should or should not be installed. Bumper-mounted installation of a winch is fairly straight forward and requires no special tools. Every manufacturer that I have seen has decent instructions on how to hook up your winch. Essentially,it is as simple as supplying a good mounting plate and running two cables to your battery.

Of course, installation can become much more integrated if you wish to run in-cab controls or removable winches. For normal installation, everything but the winch mounting plate is included with the REP 8000e. They even toss in a Hawse fairlead. In our case, we actually installed this winch on the back of our test Jeep, which required us to use 12 foot leads and much heavier cable then would normally be used and included for a typical 4 or 6 foot cable run.

You can see the thickness of the cables we used

Note the copper ends on our new cable.

The important part after hooking up a winch regardless of front, rear or removable is to make sure that there are no places where the wires can be chaffed or cut. A winch that's not working when you need it is probably worse then having no winch at all. Now then let's get on to the testing...

Testing...Testing...1...2...3... --->>>

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