392 FE Warn Winch Issue

[busaganashi]

Hi, thought I'd post this here to see anyone has some insight. I noticed several weeks ago a missing bolt head on the top housing of my warn winch. The winch came factory installed on my 392 FE, which I bought last August 2024. I called my local Jeep dealer and asked about a replacement. They said the factory winch kit was $500 and to save me some money I could try using one of the bolts on the bumper to see if that fit rather than buy the whole kit. I suggested this was a warranty issue, but they didn't seem to think it was. I thought this was very strange, but since it was just a bolt I thought I'd just call Warn and get a new one. No big deal. I then called Warn and they sent me a couple bolts. Few days later, I got them and noticed two more bolts were loose. I tapped on the bolt head and they were so loose I just pulled them out the hole. They had snapped in half. I looked down the hole and all three had some rust and half of the bolt screwed in. I now have one bolt attaching this top plate. The plate appears to have shifted over to one side as well. I thought about just pulling that bolt out and seeing if I can fix it, but who knows if Jeep would blame me for the damage.

So, I called the same Jeep dealer back and said there is an issue. First guy hung up on me, second attempt a different service advisor put me on hold mid-sentence and the operator picked up eventually. I told them what happened and they said they'd call me back. Two days later, I called again and spoke to another lady. They said, they were aware of the issue and would call me back. Another three days go by and I called to ask for the service manager. He said bring it in and we'll take a look. I have an appointment on Monday. Oh, and no rental available. Nice.

Pretty disgusted with the service and separately the quality of the bolts used. The bolts Warn sent me, while not the correct size, were stainless steel. The ones Jeep used are very cheap. So, I'm posting this to see if anyone has seen this before. Not sure how they'll get those three bolts out and not confident, based on their service level, that they'll do a good job.

 

[WHLN392]

TBH I have it that issue on my 2024 392 with the factory winch.
as well

it doesnt bother me at all as it blends in when I tend to do this over the weekends

 

[Earl 392]

Hi, thought I'd post this here to see anyone has some insight. I noticed several weeks ago a missing bolt head on the top housing of my warn winch. The winch came factory installed on my 392 FE, which I bought last August 2024. I called my local Jeep dealer and asked about a replacement. They said the factory winch kit was $500 and to save me some money I could try using one of the bolts on the bumper to see if that fit rather than buy the whole kit. I suggested this was a warranty issue, but they didn't seem to think it was. I thought this was very strange, but since it was just a bolt I thought I'd just call Warn and get a new one. No big deal. I then called Warn and they sent me a couple bolts. Few days later, I got them and noticed two more bolts were loose. I tapped on the bolt head and they were so loose I just pulled them out the hole. They had snapped in half. I looked down the hole and all three had some rust and half of the bolt screwed in. I now have one bolt attaching this top plate. The plate appears to have shifted over to one side as well. I thought about just pulling that bolt out and seeing if I can fix it, but who knows if Jeep would blame me for the damage.

So, I called the same Jeep dealer back and said there is an issue. First guy hung up on me, second attempt a different service advisor put me on hold mid-sentence and the operator picked up eventually. I told them what happened and they said they'd call me back. Two days later, I called again and spoke to another lady. They said, they were aware of the issue and would call me back. Another three days go by and I called to ask for the service manager. He said bring it in and we'll take a look. I have an appointment on Monday. Oh, and no rental available. Nice.

Pretty disgusted with the service and separately the quality of the bolts used. The bolts Warn sent me, while not the correct size, were stainless steel. The ones Jeep used are very cheap. So, I'm posting this to see if anyone has seen this before. Not sure how they'll get those three bolts out and not confident, based on their service level, that they'll do a good job.

Over torqued call warn get the torque specs. R&R your self that way you’ll know it’s fixed properly send those pictures to warn and get all new bolts.

 

[busaganashi]

Ok, thank you. I thought about doing the repair myself, but I assumed the broken bolts were locktighted in. I'm not sure I can get them out. I will replace with bolts from Warn. Their HQ is pretty close by where I live.

 

[3TV]

That is pretty horrible customer service that is being given to someone that just dropped $100K on a new vehicle. Post the name of the Jeep dealership so people that live in the area can know what dealership not to buy from.

 

[Earl 392]

Ok, thank you. I thought about doing the repair myself, but I assumed the broken bolts were locktighted in. I'm not sure I can get them out. I will replace with bolts from Warn. Their HQ is pretty close by where I live.

You may have to drill and use an ez out unless there’s some bolt sticking out down below , hit it with some WD 40 or your favorite bolt buster spray
Spray it two or three times over a couple of days doesn’t hurt anything. If you’re going to warn headquarters show them maybe they will give you a new winch . Keep us posted. You might want to look at some zinc coated button head bolts , then white grease or anti seize them don’t forget to reduce torque by 20 percent if you lube them up.

 

[busaganashi]

Thought I'd post an update. The Jeep has been at the dealer since Monday. As of yesterday, they haven't removed the bolts or located replacements bolts. Warn says it is a Jeep issue and Jeep is saying the winch is an accessory purchased by them to install on the 392 FEs and Warn is the only one to fix. Of course they are covering work and parts under warranty. So, absolutely no progress so far. I told them to get a new winch and send the defective one back to Warn. You'd think they'd want to figure out why the bolts failed. At this point, I'm picking it up today and they'll supposedly continue to work on a fix.

So, I jumped the gun on blaming Jeep. They don't build the winches. Still not exactly thrilled with the service from either company. I'll update here as/when things progress.

 

[Brutus 392]

Thought I'd post an update. The Jeep has been at the dealer since Monday. As of yesterday, they haven't removed the bolts or located replacements bolts. Warn says it is a Jeep issue and Jeep is saying the winch is an accessory purchased by them to install on the 392 FEs and Warn is the only one to fix. Of course they are covering work and parts under warranty. So, absolutely no progress so far. I told them to get a new winch and send the defective one back to Warn. You'd think they'd want to figure out why the bolts failed. At this point, I'm picking it up today and they'll supposedly continue to work on a fix.

So, I jumped the gun on blaming Jeep. They don't build the winches. Still not exactly thrilled with the service from either company. I'll update here as/when things progress.

It really doesn't matter if Jeep sold you the Jeep with an installed winch then they need to get the vendor to honor it.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I would definitely save the frustration and fix it myself.

 

[Earl 392]

Thought I'd post an update. The Jeep has been at the dealer since Monday. As of yesterday, they haven't removed the bolts or located replacements bolts. Warn says it is a Jeep issue and Jeep is saying the winch is an accessory purchased by them to install on the 392 FEs and Warn is the only one to fix. Of course they are covering work and parts under warranty. So, absolutely no progress so far. I told them to get a new winch and send the defective one back to Warn. You'd think they'd want to figure out why the bolts failed. At this point, I'm picking it up today and they'll supposedly continue to work on a fix.

So, I jumped the gun on blaming Jeep. They don't build the winches. Still not exactly thrilled with the service from either company. I'll update here as/when things progress.

All bolts on my winch a shiny.also installed that UV proof rubber strip you see to keep UV off of spydura winch line

 

[Earl 392]

Hi, thought I'd post this here to see anyone has some insight. I noticed several weeks ago a missing bolt head on the top housing of my warn winch. The winch came factory installed on my 392 FE, which I bought last August 2024. I called my local Jeep dealer and asked about a replacement. They said the factory winch kit was $500 and to save me some money I could try using one of the bolts on the bumper to see if that fit rather than buy the whole kit. I suggested this was a warranty issue, but they didn't seem to think it was. I thought this was very strange, but since it was just a bolt I thought I'd just call Warn and get a new one. No big deal. I then called Warn and they sent me a couple bolts. Few days later, I got them and noticed two more bolts were loose. I tapped on the bolt head and they were so loose I just pulled them out the hole. They had snapped in half. I looked down the hole and all three had some rust and half of the bolt screwed in. I now have one bolt attaching this top plate. The plate appears to have shifted over to one side as well. I thought about just pulling that bolt out and seeing if I can fix it, but who knows if Jeep would blame me for the damage.

So, I called the same Jeep dealer back and said there is an issue. First guy hung up on me, second attempt a different service advisor put me on hold mid-sentence and the operator picked up eventually. I told them what happened and they said they'd call me back. Two days later, I called again and spoke to another lady. They said, they were aware of the issue and would call me back. Another three days go by and I called to ask for the service manager. He said bring it in and we'll take a look. I have an appointment on Monday. Oh, and no rental available. Nice.

Pretty disgusted with the service and separately the quality of the bolts used. The bolts Warn sent me, while not the correct size, were stainless steel. The ones Jeep used are very cheap. So, I'm posting this to see if anyone has seen this before. Not sure how they'll get those three bolts out and not confident, based on their service level, that they'll do a good job.

Bolts must be coated they are not made of a high quality stainless due to the rust I see from your pictures of them.However stainless really is not very strong.on my 05 LJ I put a vr 8000 on it and the mounting hardware was only grade 5.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Bolts must be coated they are not made of a high quality stainless due to the rust I see from your pictures of them.However stainless really is not very strong.on my 05 LJ I put a vr 8000 on it and the mounting hardware was only grade 5.

100%

 

[Earl 392]

Hi, thought I'd post this here to see anyone has some insight. I noticed several weeks ago a missing bolt head on the top housing of my warn winch. The winch came factory installed on my 392 FE, which I bought last August 2024. I called my local Jeep dealer and asked about a replacement. They said the factory winch kit was $500 and to save me some money I could try using one of the bolts on the bumper to see if that fit rather than buy the whole kit. I suggested this was a warranty issue, but they didn't seem to think it was. I thought this was very strange, but since it was just a bolt I thought I'd just call Warn and get a new one. No big deal. I then called Warn and they sent me a couple bolts. Few days later, I got them and noticed two more bolts were loose. I tapped on the bolt head and they were so loose I just pulled them out the hole. They had snapped in half. I looked down the hole and all three had some rust and half of the bolt screwed in. I now have one bolt attaching this top plate. The plate appears to have shifted over to one side as well. I thought about just pulling that bolt out and seeing if I can fix it, but who knows if Jeep would blame me for the damage.

So, I called the same Jeep dealer back and said there is an issue. First guy hung up on me, second attempt a different service advisor put me on hold mid-sentence and the operator picked up eventually. I told them what happened and they said they'd call me back. Two days later, I called again and spoke to another lady. They said, they were aware of the issue and would call me back. Another three days go by and I called to ask for the service manager. He said bring it in and we'll take a look. I have an appointment on Monday. Oh, and no rental available. Nice.

Pretty disgusted with the service and separately the quality of the bolts used. The bolts Warn sent me, while not the correct size, were stainless steel. The ones Jeep used are very cheap. So, I'm posting this to see if anyone has seen this before. Not sure how they'll get those three bolts out and not confident, based on their service level, that they'll do a good job.

What does Jeepcares say about this

 

[Turboencabulator]

What does Jeepcares say about this

Jeep Cares? jk... But @busaganashi that sux, thanks for posting. I think those torx bolts came from the factory that way (it's a winch defect). On a lot of bolts you can look at the head and it's marked with the grade, but those look like unmarked chineseum. Kinda makes me think twice about buying a "high quality" Warn winch. The bolts they use for mounting the winch are more legit. Warn uses Fastenal (FNL) hardware, medium carbon steel quenched & tempered metric grade bolts and metric grade 8.8 "medium strength" carriage bolts with a zinc coat. It's good enough, but nothing premium or even "platinum".

Hey @Earl 392 where did you get that "UV proof rubber strip" you used on your winch install? Was it in the kit or did you have to make/buy it? I like that it'll protect that spydura winch line. I'm planning out my eventual winch add-on project, but so far I haven't needed a winch at my local shopping mall yet.