Owning a pickup truck comes with the regular offloading and unloading of heavy items, whether you use your truck for personal or business purposes. Since heavy lifting can be daunting work, truck bed winches designed for heavy lifting exist to help you get the task done with less effort and possibly, the simple push of a button.
Without a doubt, it can get a little confusing when you’re about to pick the best pickup truck bed winch for your heavy lifting. To choose the best truck bed winch for your hoisting, towing and pulling needs, you must pay attention to certain factors like the pulling capacity, power source and cable type, among others.
We have done the heavy lifting for you to give you a head start. This guide will review the best truck bed winches while also touching on factors to consider when buying a truck bed winch.
Table of Contents
Why Do You Need A Truck Bed Winch?
A pickup truck bed winch is a simple mechanical device that helps you to lift heavy objects conveniently. This simple mechanical system consists of a cable, drum, gear train, and motor, and they all combine to help you haul heavy objects onto your truck.
From the definition, it is easy to deduce why you need a truck bed mounted winch. It helps you move heavy objects, cargo, and items from the floor or another vehicle onto your truck and vice versa.
What To Consider When Buying A Winch For Bed Of Truck
As much as a pickup bed winch is essential, it is even more critical to ensure that you have the right winch for your truck bed. Regardless of the quality and rating of the winch, if it is not the ideal winch for your truck, you may not enjoy using it. This is why you need a buyer’s guide.
The following section will go through vital factors you need to consider before choosing or buying a truck bed winch.
Capacity or Pull Rating
Also known as the pull rating or size, a winch’s capacity determines its ability to lift loads effectively without damaging your truck, making it one of the most important factors to consider. You must ensure that the bed mounted winch you go for has enough capacity to lift the load and items you want.
To determine the ideal pull strength or capacity of a winch for your truck, you need to ensure that the winch’s capacity is double, or at least 1.5, of the GVWR of your truck. The GVWR is the gross vehicle weight rating, which refers to the truck’s weight combined with all other accessories on the truck.
Therefore, if your truck’s GVWR is 10000 lbs, the minimum capacity of the truck bed winch you choose should be 15000 lbs, and to be on the safer side, 20000 lbs. It is crucial to remember that, with pickup bed winches, the bigger, the better.
Power
This refers to the source from which the winch is powered, and there are two options in this regard; electric winches and hydraulic winches. As the name suggests, electric winches are powered with electricity from the vehicle’s battery. On the other hand, a hydraulic winch gets its power from the vehicle’s power steering pump.
While an electric winch is faster and less expensive than the hydraulic truck bed winch, the hydraulic winch works better in wet conditions and is more durable than electric truck bed winches.
Cable Type
There are two significant types of cable used in pickup truck winches, and they are steel cables and synthetic cables. Made from steel, steel cables are easy to maintain, affordable, and durable but come with a higher risk of causing fatal injuries if it cuts during use.
Synthetic cable is a lighter, safer, and stronger winch cable than steel. But, more importantly, it has a reduced potential to cause fatal injuries if it cuts during use.
These three are the most important factors to consider when choosing the ideal pickup bed winch for your truck. Other considerations include whether or not the winch can be controlled remotely and the type or model of truck bed winch mount system you use.
A Review of the Best Truck Bed Winches
Despite understanding the things to look out for in an ideal truck bed winch, you may still have difficulty choosing an ideal one for your pickup truck due to the number of options available. Therefore, we have done the hard work and have selected the best pickup truck winches for heavy lifting.
We review these winches in no particular order below;
1. WARN 95960 Zeon Platinum 12-S
Verdict: 🏆 Best for Heavy-Duty Purposes
This truck bed mounted winch from WARN is one of the top-rated winches in the market at the moment. With a pull capacity of 12000 lbs, this truck bed winch is ideal for many mid-size pickup trucks that lift and haul heavy loads. It uses a steel cable and is an upgrade to the previous models of truck bed winches, as it is twice as durable as its predecessors. In addition, it uses a remote controller and comes with a USB car charger cable and adapter.
- Pros:
- It is waterproof, and its remote control function is superb
- It is straightforward to install as it is lightweight
- Cons:
- It is a bit pricey for anyone on a budget
2. Champion 3000lbs ATV/UTV Winch
Verdict: 🏆 Best in Low Pulling Capacity
The Champion 3000 lbs ATV/UTV Winch is another quality truck bed winch you can consider if you want a quality pickup truck bed winch without spending a lot of money. The winch provides a pulling capacity of 3000 lbs which may not sound like much, but it is sufficient for hauling engines, ATVs, and even boats.
The winch has a compact body that fits perfectly on the truck bed. The compact body also makes the winch easy to install and operate.
- Pros:
- It is easy to operate
- It is compact and perfect for ATVs and UTVs
- It is an affordable option
- Cons:
- Its remote control function is not reliable
- It has a smaller pulling capacity
3. Smittybilt 98612 Winch
Verdict: 🏆 Best for Mid-Size Trucks
This Smittybilt 98695 Winch comes with a pulling capacity of 12000 lbs which is impressive for a truck bed mounted winch. This capacity covers all your hoisting, hauling, and pulling needs. It also measures about 2 feet in length. This means it fits perfectly onto your mid-size truck bed, such as the Ford F-150.
The body of the winch features solid construction, reassuring users of its durability and reliability. The pickup truck bed winch uses a tough steel cable that is resistant to wear and tear. Overall, this winch reinstates why Smittybilt is one of the leading winch brands in the world.
- Pros:
- It has an excellent size for a truck bed
- It is easy to use
- It is waterproof and weather-resistant
- Cons:
- There is no option for synthetic rope
4. ZESUPER 12V Electric Truck Winch
Verdict: 🏆 Best on a Budget (check our review of the best budget winch out there)
While the manufacturer of this truck bed winch is not a very popular brand, the winch comes with the features and functionalities of a standard truck winch. So if you are not very particular about brand names but still need quality, this truck bed winch works perfectly for you.
This truck bed winch has a capacity of 9500 lbs and uses a remote control. Also, being an electric winch, you enjoy faster winding speed and other advantages of an electric truck bed winch.
- Pros:
- It is easy to use and install
- It uses a lightweight synthetic rope
- It is waterproof and cost-effective
- Cons:
- It makes more noise than average winches
- The free spooling clutch lever is not smooth
5. Smittybilt X20 Truck Winch
Verdict: 🏆 Best in Quality
Smittybilt is a renowned manufacturer of machinery such as truck winches. The brand is known for making quality products, and there is no doubt that this truck bed winch also falls into this category of quality products.
The Smittybilt X20 Truck Winch comes with a 10000 lbs capacity, but there is an option to choose another capacity such as 12000 lbs, 15500 lbs, and 17500 lbs. You also get to choose between steel and synthetic rope with this winch.
Its body features a well-textured matte black design and uses an efficient remote control.
- Pros:
- Its spool is fast
- The installation process is easy
- It uses a high-quality forged hook
- It is waterproof
- Cons:
- You have to pay more for the increased pull capacity.
Conclusion
There you have it! This article has reviewed the best five truck bed winches available in the market, highlighting their upsides and drawbacks. Hopefully, this guide helps you to choose the ideal truck bed winches for lifting heavy loads.