WARN VR EVO 8-S Electric 12V DC Winch – 8,000 lb Pulling Capacity, Synthetic Rope, IP68 Waterproof, High-Performance Off-Road Recovery Winch for Jeeps, SUVs, and Light Trucks

If you're in the market for a serious winch, this is it. The WARN VR EVO 8-S is built exactly the way you'd expect from WARN — solid, well-engineered, and ready to work. The 8,000 lb capacity handles everything I've thrown at it and the synthetic rope is a great touch over steel cable for both safety and weight. Yes, it's priced at a premium, but that's because it's a premium product. You're not just paying for the name — you're paying for reliability when you actually need it, and that's not the time to wish you'd spent a little more. Might be able to get a Bandlands version cheaper but if it fails when it counts, is it worth it? Worth every penny. Buy it once, buy it right.

I've never had a winch before and didn't want to spend big bucks for one when who knows how often I'll use it. I started going off-road by myself and a couple of times found myself wanting to play in some mud I found but didn't know how deep or full of ruts it was. So, I decided to get a winch to make it easier to decide how far I'll go by myself. I originally bought an off-brand 13k winch. I mounted it and went through hellacious hoops to try to get it wired correctly and finally ended up working backwards through everything and found out the winch was DOA. No problem, I bought it on Amazon and was within the return window and returned it for exact replacement. This time when the replacement arrived, I bench tested it before mounting and discovered it had bad wiring and was also DOA. That's when I decided to go with WARN, even though it is more than double the price. I discovered that not only did WARN have a 7 year electrical warranty AND a lifetime mechanical warranty, it was MUCH easier to wire. I bench tested before mounting, mounted it, and then wired to an external solenoid that I have connected to my Aux 4 switch on my Jeep so the winch only has power when I need it. I only had to run the positive red cable to the external solenoid and the negative black cable to my battery negative. I already had the external solenoid wired from trying to install the other cheap brand. I bought the 8k because I've got a 2-door Willys, so it's within the 1.5 times you GVW. It fit nicely on my Carnivore full-width steel bumper. Didn't require any cables to/from the winch other than power and ground. The remote is very solid and works both wired and wireless. I guess it's true, you get what you pay for. I'm looking forward to years and years of service from my WARN. Besides, everyone knows WARN is the best looking winch on the market.

Just as described

Installation difficulty depends on the bumper, and mine required taking the bumper off, installing the winch, making re-installation difficult because access was restricted by the size of the winch. In another case where the bumper has full access, it's just 4 bolts plus the rope guide. Wiring was easy.

I picked up a RR stubby and the winch fit perfect. Easy bolt on with just 2 wires to connect. Bought the correct cover from trailrecon and it fits perfectly and the box states it is for this model, EVO. About wasted my time with the incorrect cover offerings here on this site

This thing is POWERFUL. EASY INSTALL! I added a 100 amp breaker between the battery and winch. Probably doesn’t need it but I have seen winches overheat. Everything needed comes in the box. If you want a chafe guard buy one! I ordered the warm rescue kit for the winch and so far I haven’t found a place I can’t get out of. It’s on a 2011 Jeep Wrangler 2 door.

I already had one of these on our 2007 Jeep wrangler and wanted the newer model for our 2016 wrangler. Works well!

While the EVO winch is still capable of pulling 8000 lbs, its strength is significantly decreased. The EVO is faster pulling. Previous generations vr-8 could pull about 6200lbs with 4 cable layers on the drum. The EVO version is down to about 5100lbs, a drop of 1100lbs!