Just before Halloween and SEMA hit, Ramsey Winch and Superlift gave us a sneak peak at their new products and a chance to do some onsite testing at the Superlift ORV Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
We spent two days getting familiar with a new 9500UT Ramsey winch and brand new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon outfitted with a new Superlift 4-inch suspension. Get ready for some big leaps in the 4x4 aftermarket. They?re coming soon!
We also got the chance to try out some brand new stuff out of the Jeep skunkworks department. Commanders with 35-inch tires and Grand Cherokees with diesels are mighty fun on the road and in the dirt.
4-Wheel & Off-Road got a firsthand look at Ramsey?s new 9500UT winch for 4x4s & trucks. It?s the same 5.5hp motor found in their existing winch line, but now with a semi-automatic clutch engagement that will change the way you winch. It comes with a new sleek solenoid assembly that adds structural integrity to the winch chassis.
The Ramsey 9500UT (Ultimate Technology) winch?s new secret is a semi-automatic clutch design. The new clutch design lets you free spool out a winch line, and when it?s time to reel back in, all you have to do is ?spool in? and the clutch will automatically engage. With the included wireless remote control, this means that whoever is running the winch line will not have to run back to the Jeep or truck to re-engage the winch clutch. Pretty trick.
We got a firsthand look and experience at how well these winches work out at the Superlift ORV Park. Superlift?s Wrangler with an all new X2 kit was adorned with a 9500UT winch that we were able to yank up the hill with.
They also gave us the chance to drive one of the all new Jeep Commanders showing off Superlift?s new suspension for Grand Cherokees & Commanders. This flare, was, uh, faulty somehow. We felt really bad when we found out that these were special handmade flares. D?oh! Sorry about that, DaimlerChrysler!
Bet you haven?t driven one of these yet! Superlift had a brand new Jeep on location for us to try out through their off road park. Here, Superlift engineer Kevin Dill is making some minor, delicate fender adjustments with a rock and a jack. The last wheeling this particular Jeep saw was in Africa for Jeep?s debut of the new Wrangler. Looks like our boss and the rest of the editors that went to Africa might have had a little too much fun with these new Wranglers.
Superlift worked in conjunction with DaimlerChrysler to create an all new Park Patrol and recovery vehicle for the Superlift ORV Park. 37-inch Toyos keep traction in the dirt while a Superlift 6-inch kit clears them. There?s a winch mounted on both ends of the PowerWagon sitting in Road Armor bumpers. We went out on it?s very first day of trail usage. We didn?t expect to be using it for more than photos that day, but when a call came in that a Jeep had rolled and there was an injured party, the Park Patrol went into action being one of the first vehicles on the scene and lending a heavy duty winch line & anchor to get the hurt driver and Jeep out of the woods.
The Superlift ORV Park was packed this past weekend with all sorts of stock to heavily modified vehicles. This 4-wheel steer S-10 was sporting some huge Swampers and Rockwell axles to boot.
We even ran into a recent Top Truck Challenge competitor in his giant Dodge Cummins diesel buggy. Who in their right minds would cut up a new diesel truck? Well, after this truck was totaled in an accident, the owner, Brad bought it back from the insurance company with a dream of one of the gnarliest buggies that side of the Mississippi.