GOD OF PULLING

4x4magazine | 17/11/2012 | 0 Comments

Early October – before the official launch at the SEMA 2012 show in Las Vegas -, at Clackamas, the Oregon plant of WARN Industries, President John Stransky and his WARN team presented the new generation of winches for trucks and SUV’s. Our correspondent, Fred M. Krijgsman had the privilege to be the only invited international journalist to be present at this introduction. In this short story he reveals the ins & outs of this new series called the ZEON with a new design, innovative features and an exceptional performance which were personally tested in the field.

Text & Images By: Fred M. Krijgsman / xtreme-adventure.com

It was early Thursday morning, the 4th of October when WARN’s President John Stransky welcomed the selected invited press for the introduction of WARN’s next generation of winches for the truck and SUV market. The ZEON 8, ZEON 10 and ZEON 12 winches with a totally new and unique exterior styling and symmetrical design were revealed.

The entire design is advanced, capable and strong, and with the innovative features and new levels of reliability and performance the ZEON is a masterpiece. 8, 10 and 12 represents 8,000, 10,000 and 12,000 lb (3629, 4529 and 5540kg) capacities, and all 3 models will be available with wire rope and fairlead. Besides these 3 models, also the ZEON 8-S and 10-S were revealed, these two features WARN Spydura Synthetic rope and comes with an aluminum hawse fairlead. In one word you could say: ZEON isn’t just a new winch, it’s winching evolved.

Over the last three years WARN engineers have been quietly working with consumers to find out exactly what they wanted in a winch and most important question to them: “how they wanted a winch to perform”. WARN Industries equipped a selective group of consumers with a variety of prototype models and asked them for feedback and honest evaluation, and this resulted is this brand-new WARN winch. From scratch till working end product the ZEON is built completely from the ground up in the United States.

Why the name ZEON, was of course the question, and John Stransky just made the short joke: “ZEON is the mythical God of Pulling”… of course as just mentioned… a short joke… NO there is no particular meaning behind the word or name choice of ZEON… it’s just a chosen product name… Barry Atwood takes over the presentation and guide us deeper into the new product, by showing the new gears, a host of new premium internal components and showing the new aluminum drum, which is larger than on other predating models, and measures in at 3.15 inches, this also to reduce rope wear. There is also a new wire rope anchor in the drum that uses a slot to lock in a puck.

The new series-wound motor and larger three-stage planetary gears train, that use larger retaining pins, offer outstanding power and reliability, plus smooth, quiet operation. Which was later noticed while testing the new ZEON in the field, were different winch-action situations were set-up and all new ZEON’s could been tested to the max.

Further the motor resides in an all-new housing, which completely does away with any exposed/visible wires on the outside of the housing. The ZEON winches feature IP68 sealing to keep the elements out and improve reliability, and the contactor control provides extreme weather resistance. From inside, and as you have seen on the technical images back to the outside, the ZEON 8, 10, and 12 features a symmetrical design that is modern yet rugged and looks unlike any other winch on the market. The black satin finish and stainless steel hardware resist corrosion and looks great, and the robust aluminum housing adds strength and durability. The innovative convertible control pack can be mounted separately in the engine bay or remain attached.

There is an updated clutch engagement handle, which is stainless steel, for free spooling the cable, which give a better grip, easy to handle, smooth operation, even with gloves on (which should be always on when winching!) Some other feature is an automatic mechanical cone brake that will hold the full rated load and provide excellent control while winching; and an ultra-durable rubberized corded remote with a 12’ (3.7m) lead.

So in short the new features:

Symmetrical design
Three-stage planetary gear train
Convertible control pack
Large diameter aluminum drum
Automatic mechanical brake
Stainless steel hardware
New motor and motor housing
Contactor control, built to weather the storm for the long run
IP86 rated weather sealing, which keeps water, muck, slop and crud out of your winch
Satin black powder coat finish
Fast line speed, low amp draw, maximize your winch line speed while you minimize the strain on your charging system

Further WARN is offering:

Spydura synthetic rope on 8,000 and 10,000 pound variations.
Synthetic models Include 100’ of 3/8” WARN Spydura synthetic rope,
A ballistic nylon sliding chafe sleeve
Polished Aluminum Hawse Fairlead

In short, the ZEON 8 & 8-S, ZEON 10 & 10-S and the ZEON 12 showcases a new era for WARN winches, and buyers have never seen anything like this before. This is the next generation in Truck/SUV winches. The ZEON models will be available in Europe and other markets outside the USA will be late December 2012 or early January 2013. ZEON models for export are CE approved and differ from models sold in the USA!