Is winch required on a Bronco Badlands when off-roading alone?

[aniljavali]

Is winch required? if not, how confident are you exploring the back country alone? are you afraid of getting stuck? what do you think?

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[Bodge Garage]

A winch is not a cure all end all for getting stuck. I have been stuck in the middle of the forest and the nearest tree/anchor was 300'+. You need to not over drive your skill level more than your vehicle.

 

[projectbadlands]

No recovery tool is going to be a guarantee to get you unstuck but a winch is a very good tool to help out in a situation where you do get stuck. But if you are on a trail where this is a potential, the best tool is going with a group and not wheel alone.

 

[BlueBronco]

Always best to wheel with another vehicle. If that is not possible then be sure to have a winch and other basic recovery gear onboard. If wheeling alone (without another vehcile) it is good practice to let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return. Also carry the number of a friend willing to come bail you out or the phone number of a local recovery company.

 

[RagnarKon]

If you are going off-road into situations where you may get stuck... you should really be traveling with a partner in a separate vehicle.

A winch is a valuable tool, but it doesn't replacing having an off-road buddy.

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Is winch required? if not, how confident are you exploring the back country alone? are you afraid of getting stuck? what do you think?

It doesn't matter how good or how confident you are, extra safety equipment never should be overlooked. It depends how hard you off road, if you off road hard I definitely would get it.

 

[Tech Tim]

The wife and I have spent a ton of time out solo on trails and snow covered backroads that we probably shouldn't have been on without a winch or another vehicle.

BUT and it's a big BUT.... We did carry a Hi-Lift jack, shovel, axe, recovery boards, straps etc. And have the know-how to use that equipment to recover vehicles. We knew the risks and had extra gear with us, not only the recovery gear, but also food, water, sleeping bags etc. to help mitigate those risks if the good times turned to bad.

***Edit*** We also knew when to turn around...

Luckily, the only time we needed to use the gear was to help others get unstuck when we found them stuck.

All that said, it really comes down to have the skills needed to do what you plan on doing and to use the gear you do have. Driving skills, recovery skills, emergency management skills, contingency back up plans.

We've now had a winch on the Bronco for a couple months and feel much more prepared on those outings. But that probably means we'll just push it a little further, LoL!

 

[mrjking2000]

90% of the calls I've ran with Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery could have got out of their situation themselves with a winch. so... i'd highly recommend it.

my winch is sitting on my kitchen table waiting for a bronco, and a bumper.

 

[swooshdave]

We've now had a winch on the Bronco for a couple months and feel much more prepared on those outings. But that probably means we'll just push it a little further, LoL! will never have to use it.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I ran a winch on my 87 Bronco for years, I never used it offroad. I was mostly on the rocks in AZ and wheeling with other people, so the strap of shame was the usual recovery tool. I’ve also used a hi lift jack, the most dangerous recovery tool, more times than I can count. If I were wheeling in mud and lots of trees the winch makes more sense. Now that I’m in MA and likely to do any wheeling in NH or VT, a winch is a bigger consideration. In reality I might make it up there once or twice a year to wheel, so it’s hard to justify the winch. I do carry a strap and some other basic recovery gear. I also own a multi mount winch, so a good compromise might be a front receiver of some sort for those trips.

 

[Rivers90]

If it's being on a budget you can get a low-cost decent winch from harbor freight. They had a 12k winch on sale a few weeks ago.

I have gone off roading with winches and with out. Also as a group and just with one truck.
Alone I stick to easier trails.

The times I have been stuck it was due to failing to air down my tires. Running the right tire pressure is most important.

Airing down your tires does
1 gives you more traction.
2 a softer less bouncy and jarring ride.
3 keeps you from sinking in soft sand or mud.
4 less flat tires

A winch is good to help others get unstuck too.

Most important is knowledge.
You learn how to get unstuck by getting stuck and unstuck many times.

Some times you can use a hi-lift in place of a winch. Or there is nothing to winch too.

One time with my brother in his jeep we got stuck. We did not air down because it was a short dirt road with one small river crossing. We are going to be driving off the pavement for 15 minutes maybe. We made the mistake of thinking it was not worth airing down. I have a lot of stories that start like this. We sink in the sand in the middle of the river. We used the spare tire under the high lift jack to jack up the jeep getting one end out of the sand and water. We use the danger of a vehicle falling off a high lift jack to our advantage. We push the side of the vehicle causing it to fall off the high lift jack. When it fell off the high lift jack it moved over about a foot. We repeated this again and again. First on one end to turn the vehicle sideways and then alternating front to back to slowly move it along until we were out of the river ford. It took hours. But we were out. He had already bought a winch but it was sitting at home waiting to be installed. if we had had a winch or a second vehicle we would have been out in 5 minutes.

Most of the time we had more than one vehicle so it was just a tow strap pulling the other vehicle out.

Most of the time we were stuck in soft sand (dry or wet) or mud. A few times high centered on a rock but not as often as you could tell the rock was too big to clear so you would take a different route.

Sand to harder to judge. You might be on some sand gravel that's as hard as pavement but 100 ft away from it is sand soft as powder that you sink to your axles in.

Back in college days I guess we saw getting stuck as fun and we would seak out the hard trails or places. But we always had a bunch of trucks with at least a few with winches and a few hi-lifts plenty of straps. And a portable BBQ. We were poor college students so the vehicles were all kind of old there was a danger of them just breaking down. I do remember a few drive shaft u-joints breaking. Then limping a vehicle off the trail in two-wheel drive.
I think u-joints are much stronger today. But I don't know if The fancy electronic four-wheel drive systems of today would let you drive on the front axle if the rear drive shaft was missing.
I think a Sasquatch bronco would be more capable than any of our vehicles from back then. Our advantage was we had a lot of time on our hands. The good old days.

Start on the easier trails build up your skill you will be fine.

 

[seanoj]

https://www.harborfreight.com/8000-lb-cable-winch-puller-69855.html

 

[Tech Tim]

Too late!

OK, I'll admit, we did purposely belly it up for that gratuitous winch shot.

 

[PWillette]

I'm from the school of "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it". I've probably used my winches more for moving trail obstacles (large trees) than I have to pull myself or someone else out. Sucks to get an hour or two down a trail only to find an impassible obstacle and have to turn back.

 

[ATLBronco75]

I've soloed off road up to intermediate trails without any recovery equipment at all. Drive carefully and be willing to back up.

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