:angry: I purchased a snow plow kit that included everything needed to get started. The winch was a Viper and the plow a Cycle Country that is plastic but is very light but has worked wonderfully.The winch a 2500# and a POS. I used it about 10 times and it fell apart literally, spool twisted and destroyed the housing. The manufacture told me it was to light for a snow plow. No replacement but a 10% discount on a new one. Purchased the winch in Dec. 2009. Hope this warning may save other users from buying the Viper brand winch. My next one will have a better warenty and a better company that stands behind their product.
Warning about Viper winches
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23 Posts
ghulse, I'm not sure why they wouldn't make the situation right with you.
Just last month, I ordered a 2500lb. winch and mount kit for my 06 Foreman. Upon receiving the winch, I noticed I had been shipped a 3000lb. winch. The bill stated, "Temporarly out of stock of 2500lb. upgraded to 3000lb. at NO CHARGE." Now I think that is great customer service.
The winch mount plate, however was wrong for my application. I kindly emailed Kristy over at Motoalliance, and she responed the first thing the very next morning. She was very nice, and they agreed to send me the correct mounting plate, FREE OF CHARGE, and even enclosed a return label to return the wrong mount plate.
The winch itself is awesome man. My friend has a 2500lb. and it pulls like crazy and he hasn't had any trouble out of it, and my 3000lb is great too. Don't know what happened with yours.
Just last month, I ordered a 2500lb. winch and mount kit for my 06 Foreman. Upon receiving the winch, I noticed I had been shipped a 3000lb. winch. The bill stated, "Temporarly out of stock of 2500lb. upgraded to 3000lb. at NO CHARGE." Now I think that is great customer service.
The winch mount plate, however was wrong for my application. I kindly emailed Kristy over at Motoalliance, and she responed the first thing the very next morning. She was very nice, and they agreed to send me the correct mounting plate, FREE OF CHARGE, and even enclosed a return label to return the wrong mount plate.
The winch itself is awesome man. My friend has a 2500lb. and it pulls like crazy and he hasn't had any trouble out of it, and my 3000lb is great too. Don't know what happened with yours.
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3,664 Posts
I have a Cycle Country winch and it works great. If I need to replace it,I will go with the Warn.
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32 Posts
I have a Warn winch... Love it, never had a problem.
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13,197 Posts
I've been through many winches over the years. I speak of 2 because I've had the best luck with them. Spool jumping is not something that just one brand is going to do, they all will do it. Some are designed a little better to try to prevent it but it still can happen. Motoalliance came out with the bushings to try to prevent this and they work great, but with them all it can still happen. I still order the Viper Max series for my customers. The price is great, warranty is good and I have never had any problems with them. I got the upgraded bushings for a customer after his warranty and the free upgrade deal was off. They usually do everything they can to help you.
Spool jumping is another issue, kind of like mud riding. If you neglect your winch your going to have troubles. How many of you actually service your winch? At minimum it should be taken apart once a year and serviced, cleaned and re-greased. If you ride a lot of mud/water bump that to 2-3 times a year. If you neglect your machine and not service it your going to have problems, the winch is another machine that is just attached to your machine.l
Spool jumping is another issue, kind of like mud riding. If you neglect your winch your going to have troubles. How many of you actually service your winch? At minimum it should be taken apart once a year and serviced, cleaned and re-greased. If you ride a lot of mud/water bump that to 2-3 times a year. If you neglect your machine and not service it your going to have problems, the winch is another machine that is just attached to your machine.l
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525 Posts
I have had 2 problems with my winch set-up on my Viper Max 3500. No problems with the winch itself, that will pull anything out. My original handlebar switch went bad, causeing the relay respond when hitting in button, just herd a click noise. So I replaced the relay with a cheaper all plastic relay with a wireless controller. Wireless remote worked when I installed it, and quit working the first time I wanted winch someone out of a hole. So I replaced it with the orginal mechanical relay, and replaced the handlebar switch with a cycle country switch and it has worked perfect ever since.
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506 Posts
I have both Warn and Viper Max on my wheelers and SxS, the only one I had an issue with so far was one of the warns. The plastic gears inside of it stripped out, it was like a 50 cent fix I think, the viper max I have on two of them haven't let me down yet. I have the synthetic ropes on all of them and using the plow is hard on the rope. But if one of them break, I just tie it back together and keep going.
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3,664 Posts
You had me at hello....:lol:
Thanks for all of the replies. A friend loaned me his Warn winch to keep up with the snow. The Warn winch is a lot quieter than my Viper. So far have had no problems with this winch and my friend has used it several times to winch his machine. Reading the responses from some of you maybe I got one made on Friday. The input is great but the Viper I got was a POS.
I've had a Viper Max 3500# on my wheeler for 2 years now and have had zero problems. It's main use is pulling my buddies out of mud holes, but i've also used it to hoist game during hunting season. I've never taken it apart to service it, but I do clean my wheeler (including the winch) after every mud trip, and re-spool the synthetic rope.
I haven't looked in the manual, but are there directions for dis-assembly and maintenance?
I haven't looked in the manual, but are there directions for dis-assembly and maintenance?
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27 Posts
I see and hear a lot of talk about the Venom and Viper Winch. I am getting ready to buy one or the other for my Rancher I need a good 2000/2500 Winch so out of the to which one is better. Or is it like a Ford vs. Chevy thing.
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27 Posts
thanks toodeep
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Hey Guys,
Not sure I want to perpetuate "Warning about Viper Winch" by bumping it back up the board with that title.
Seriously, while I have to handle all the big picture things for our company like product development, supply chain management, trend prediction, etc., I find one of the most important parts of my job is to be on these boards and make sure I/we can help as necessary -- and to chart the experience of our product in the field.
While threads like these represent just a small slice of the 25+ winches we send out the door each day, I LOVE reading what people are saying. We get tons of good reports, and anything negative helps me determine what, if any, changes we need to make. So I appreciate the feedback.
I feel very confident in the winches we send to the field (I have to sleep at night, so I want to make sure they are high quality.) Some of our winches will fail, like any others, from time-to-time -- especially when you mix electronics with mud, sand, silt, etc. But we stand behind what we're doing.....I'll put our winches against anything else out there. Our VIPER ELITE series was just chosen for the Destination Polaris custom project build seen on television.....so we must be doing something right if Polaris is willing to associate with our winches with their custom vehicles. We were thrilled on that one.
At any rate....thanks for the good and informative thread. Have a great night.
Peter
President
Motoalliance
Not sure I want to perpetuate "Warning about Viper Winch" by bumping it back up the board with that title.
Seriously, while I have to handle all the big picture things for our company like product development, supply chain management, trend prediction, etc., I find one of the most important parts of my job is to be on these boards and make sure I/we can help as necessary -- and to chart the experience of our product in the field.
While threads like these represent just a small slice of the 25+ winches we send out the door each day, I LOVE reading what people are saying. We get tons of good reports, and anything negative helps me determine what, if any, changes we need to make. So I appreciate the feedback.
I feel very confident in the winches we send to the field (I have to sleep at night, so I want to make sure they are high quality.) Some of our winches will fail, like any others, from time-to-time -- especially when you mix electronics with mud, sand, silt, etc. But we stand behind what we're doing.....I'll put our winches against anything else out there. Our VIPER ELITE series was just chosen for the Destination Polaris custom project build seen on television.....so we must be doing something right if Polaris is willing to associate with our winches with their custom vehicles. We were thrilled on that one.
At any rate....thanks for the good and informative thread. Have a great night.
Peter
President
Motoalliance
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