Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Mile Marker Winches

Mile Marker is a world renowned Jeep parts manufacturer of electric and hydraulic winches for both OEM, aftermarket and military applications. They have been manufacturing winches for almost 30 years. Not only do they provide winches for 4x4 vehicles, they also provide applications for ATV/UTS's. Mile Marker has two locations. Their main distribution center and Jeep parts production facility of electric winches is located in Washington, DC and their sister facility where they manufacture their drive-train parts and hydraulic winches is in Pompano Beach, Florida. Mainly noted for their winches, Mile marker first started out producing other Jeep parts, most notably, lock out hubs for a wide variety of vehicles ranging from Jeep CJ 7's all the way to Toyota FJ's.

Eric Planer from Morris 4x4 Center says, "Installing a winch on your vehicle requires some skill and a bit of heavy lifting. Several Jeep parts may be needed to install a winch. The bare minimum needed will be a winch mounting plate. These can be bolted to the front bumper of your vehicle or in between the frame if you have a Jeep. Some drilling may be required to mount the plate. There are also Jeep parts companies out there who manufacturer front bumpers that have a channel incorporated into the bumper to mount a winch so a winch plate is not needed. After you have your winch mounted there is some wiring required, wiring diagrams come standard with all winches. In total, minus the costs of the winch, installation will run between $100.00 - $600.00."

There are many Jeep parts manufacturers of electric and hydraulic winches aside from Mile Marker. A very well known name in the Jeep parts industry is Warn. They offer a wide variety of winches including ones with air compressors on them. Another popular Jeep parts manufacturer is Smittybilt. The winches they offer are more mild mannered for the off road enthusiasts who is looking for a winch with one goal in mind, recovery. Another key feature that Smittybilt offers along with Mile Marker is synthetic winch rope. Synthetic rope is a safe alternative to the standard steel cable as it does not snap if it reaches its breaking point. Finally for those on a budget, Jeep parts producer, Rugged Ridge, has some good offerings for those in need of a winch, but may not be using it often. All of these manufacturers are great. What helps Mile Marker stand alone is that they are built in the U.S.A. and used by our armed forces.

Any off road enthusiasts should invest in a good winch. It is a staple for the recovery of a stuck vehicle. They offer means to pull you up and over obstacles as well as a way to pull someone else out from being stuck. Not only can you recover vehicles, but winches help you pull heavy, otherwise immovable objects off the trail and out of the way. If you traverse the wilderness alone a winch will help you recover your vehicle from situations that with out one, would leave the vehicle and occupants stranded. Aside from improving the recovery capabilities, a winch is one of the many Jeep parts and Jeep accessories that just looks plain awesome in the front of a Jeep.

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