Is it Okay to Use Winch with More Capacity than Front Hitch of Vehicle for Recovery

Published 07/13/2016

Products Featured in This Question

Draw-Tite Front Mount Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - 2"

(152)

$205.31

Bulldog Winch Receiver Mount Kit - 2" x 2"

(73)

$122.99

Question:

2015 Wrangler Unlimited - thinking of getting a 10,000 lb winch with a cradle like your part BDW 20155 so we can have winch on front or rear. But a rear hitch like 9883544 has only a 3500 pull rating, and a front receiver like 65069 only has a 9,000 line pull. Sounds like the hitches/receivers are not strong enough for the 10,000 lb winch and I will break things - is this correct?

asked by: Ray B

Expert Reply:

If you were to be in a situation that would put all of the winches strength to use (which would be unlikely) it would end up damaging either your vehicle or the hitch. Now the likelihood of you being in a situation where you would be pulling 10k worth of force-and your Wrangler not moving to offset it would be pretty unlikely.

The line pull of the part # 65069 is 9k which is pretty close to the capacity of a 10k winch and the winch mount part # BDW20155.

expert reply by: Jameson C