The winch addition was necessary because next month, the staff at ORC is heading "South of the Border to provide the best, most-extensive coverage available of the Baja 2000.

The humble beginnings. The front "bumper" of the Renegade had to go in order to make room for the 9500

Now, my assignment for Baja is to get to the middle of the course, out in the middle of nowhere, and get the best pictures possible. With Norm Lenhart as the second half of our two-man team, it was important to make sure that we had the proper gear to get us out of any situation in which we might get stuck. Our Baja plan is to head out to where the pavement meets the sand, then go another 20-30 miles.

Getting stuck for two or three days out in the middle of nowhere with Norm is not my (or anyone else's for that matter) idea of a good time.

After the bumper was removed, we had to cut the inside of the fender flare to accommodate the winch mount.

Every Off-Roader knows that one of the most important survival accessories you can put on your rig is a winch. However, for those of us that push the limits of our vehicle, a solid, hard-working winch is more than an accessory, it is mandatory.

Which brings us to our main subject -

First in the Platinum Series was the Platinum 9000 - Ramsey's solution to getting stuck out on the trail. The 9000 was such a tremendous success, that most people didn't know how Ramsey could improve upon it. Really, how do you improve upon a 3.6 horsepower, 9000 lb. capacity workhorse?

Well, they have improved it -

With their new Platinum 9500, Ramsey has again taken winches to a new level.

Take a look at the improvements that the Platinum 9500 has over the 9000:

The Major Difference - Ramsey has increased the motor's horsepower was increased from 3.6 to a whopping 4.8! This added power gives you more than enough strength to pull you up that vertical rock wall, or drag your friends out of that mud pit.

Technical Specifications

Installation

Installing the 9500 was easy. With the help of a friend, very little effort is required to install this winch.

Before mounting the winch to the vehicle, you'll need to mount the winch to the mounting bracket. This is the hardest part of the winch install.

Unfortunately, I had the task of removing the front bumper of the Wrangler "Renegade" body styling. Yes, it was time to modify the fenders on this Project Jeep.

I still cannot figure out why Jeep would want to put what amounts to "ground effects" on their vehicles. Anyway, I began the winch install by removing the front Renegade "bumper" to expose the stock bumper that would hold the winch.

Remove the existing bumper bolts - these will be replaced by the mounting bolts that are supplied with the mounting bracket.

Next, I took out the "exacto" knife a began trimming away the rubberized fenders that are the Renegade ground effects. The flares were no match for the razor sharp blade and I quickly made room for the winch's mounting bracket.

After measuring the area and making sure the bracket would fit, it was time to attach the winch to the bracket. The first bolt was a little tricky due to the location of the nuts hidden under the winch. After we got the first one lined up, the others fell right into place.

No modifications are necessary! The bolts fit right into the existing holes in the Jeep's bumper.

Once we attached the winch to the mounting bracket, it was a simple as putting the bracket/winch on the bumper and lining up the existing bumper holes.

Ramsey's mounting bracket is designed to fit into the existing holes in the bumper. Nothing could be easier than that.

Next, we ran the cable to the battery and attached it to the positive terminal. The winch is grounded to the vehicle, so there is no need to have a cable attached to the negative terminal.

It took less than 2 hours from start to finish - that includes the body modifications to my Renegade. Now, this was not a speed test to see how fast we could install a winch, although I'm sure someone's pit crew, somewhere can give you a "fastest time" for install. We took our time and made sure we did everything right the first time, it just happens to be that easy to install.

All the moving parts in the winch are permanently lubricated with high temperature lithium grease at the time of assembly, so under normal conditions, the factory lubrication will suffice. However, you can consult your owner's manual for specifics.

FEATURES 4.8 hp, heavy duty 12-volt electric reversible motor 150 feet of galvanized aircraft cable (5/16") 8mm Designed to fit existing Ramsey Winch mounting systems Fully integrated solenoid assembly with continuous duty solenoids for reeling in cable 3-stage planetary gear system for fast line speed Automatic load-holding brake for strength and reliability Weather shielded motor-to-solenoid wire cover 6 ft. 2-guage battery cable with connectors 12 ft. (3.65 m) remote control switch 4-way roller fairlead Limited lifetime warranty

The finished product - Ready to be put to the test.

Using the F-150 "Flashback" as an anchor - the Platinum 9500 had no trouble pulling the Jeep up this incline.

We took the Wrangler out for a test drive in the desert just outside of Vegas to test the pulling power of the 9500. For some reason, we let Norm Lenhart lead the way. Amazingly, he knew of a good place not too far away, to test the winch.

We guided Norm's "Flashback" F-150 up a little obstacle and used his truck as an anchor point in pulling the Jeep up using only the winch.

The 9500 had no trouble whatsoever in pulling us up. We did need Norm in his truck to prevent the winch from pulling the truck off the ledge and down onto us.

No problem for the 9500 - we expect to see a lot of this during our coverage of the Baja 2000

Getting stuck won't be a problem for us - not with the 9500 pulling us through.

For additional information, visit Ramsey online:

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