One of the unique things about WARN winches is their ability to be serviced, repaired, and rebuilt. These aren’t throw-away items. They’re premium, serviceable, and rebuildable products that can be bought once and passed down from generation to generation.

 

Warn Authorized Service Centers are located across the globe. No matter where it is you live, you have the ability to have your product serviced by authorized technicians who will repair, rebuild, or refurbish your WARN winch to keep it going for years. (They can also perform warranty work.) These Service Centers are another factor that sets Warn apart from other winch brands, and this formula has allowed us to stay at the forefront of the off-road market for more than 75 years. Find the WARN Authorized Service Center nearest you.

In our Highlight on the Warn Service Center video, one of our product managers, Kia, will take you to our Clackamas, Oregon Authorized Service Center, which happens to be at our headquarters. Guy Bluth is the master builder behind our Service Center here, and he talks a bit about the program, his personal experience with the company, and gives some tips on keeping your WARN winch in tip-top shape.

Video Transcript:

Hello, my name is Kia, I'm the senior product manager here at Warn Industries. Today we're actually at the headquarters located in Clackamas Oregon, the main facility where the engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, and testing work is done for all of our products that are in the field today. One of the cool things that we have here is our WARN Authorized Service Center—it's actually just in the back of our building—and you'll see where the general service repair and warranty work is done for all the products out in the field.

In The Shop

The facility here in Clackamas Oregon serves as much of the Pacific Northwest region.

Warn is extremely unique in that it provides a network of authorized service centers all around the country. No matter where you are, there's a WARN Service Center available to you. Every day they perform warranty repairs, general service work, and any other repair the customer may ask for. All these service centers are staffed with skilled technicians that not only have the people, but the parts and the know-how and the technical expertise. No matter what you need, we will be there for you.

Guy: Long-Time Employee, Master Builder

I would like to introduce you guys to Guy. He's a long-time member of the Warn family. He's been working here for quite some time across various areas of the manufacturing floor. He currently runs the shop; Guy, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself?

Guy: Well, I started here in 2008 with a temp agency. I worked a couple years in mid-frame [winch] building the M8s, the 9.5tis, I worked a few years up in the large frame [winch department]. From there, I went to the 8274 lines, and then I went into the Olympus winch, which most people have not heard of, but it's the world's most powerful electric winch. From there I just naturally came into the service center.

Kia: You know it's a great story. You built all that knowledge out on the floor and now you have the ability to help over thousands of thousands of people in the field over time.

Guy: I got, over time, the muscle memory everything; I just know these things inside and out.

Kia: How many winches do you guys think you run through in a yearly basis?

Guy: I think we do probably a couple hundred a year.

Kia: A couple hundred a year? Wow. So, going back in your time here in the service center, what is the oldest winch that you've serviced that you can tell me about?

Guy: It would have to be the 8274 from the ’70s.

Kia: Oh wow.

Guy: They go back that far. These winches become part of the family, you know, they've had so many experiences, so many times and saved them, and it just runs year after year, after year. And then eventually, four or five decades later, you need some electronics, [it] needs clean up, you know, and they bring it in. They don't want anything to do with anything, they want their baby to be fixed.

Kia: That's such a great story for them to come in and have so much so much of an attachment …

Guy: … an emotional attachment.

Kia: Right! An emotional attachment has happened to a product, and for you to take care of it and then send them on their way; that must be a truly a special moment for you.

Guy: The moments when you bring it back, when they come in to pick it up, I've had old guys almost in tears. To see that it's been revived, you know.

Kia: Just to see all those memories come back alive again and go out and use it. So you would tell me that this is a refurbished model and a lot of the WARN winches can actually get refurbished and rebuilt. That's actually really cool because a lot of the products out there in the society that we live in, a lot of things just throw away, right? And so, for me to have the option that if I want to keep the winch that's something on my vehicle for eight to ten years, and I can come in and work with great master builders like you guys in the service center, all I have to do is just pay a fraction of the cost and my winch will be as good as new, and I can go ahead and extend the life for it once again.

Guy: It's well worth it. We stand behind every winch that we work on. You bring that in here, a couple years down the road something happens, you bring it back we'll have records of it. We'll take care of you.

Kia: I get thinking about the winches and seeing all the ones that are coming back, there are obviously some things that the owner or current winch users, such as myself or everybody else out there, that can do to kind of prevent from the winches coming back in here and trying to maintain them and provide a little more love to them? What do those things look like and what are some failure points that you see that we can avoid?

Guy: Letting them sit for years is the worst thing you can do. If you're not using it regularly—once or twice a year or something—run that cable out and run it back in just get the grease moving around and everything, you know, lubricated.
Keep your rope clean. You got wire rope, you got synthetic rope: There's two schools of thought on that. The wire rope, they know it's going to be there 20 years from now it'll be fine. That synthetic rope is lighter, easier to handle.

Kia: Both of them do have to be taken care of right? Ultimately is what it comes down to.

Guy: Yeah, keeping it clean, basically though, running it regularly, and maybe not have it submerged underwater for a year!

Kia: A long period of time! So when I do go out in the field and I'm wheeling with my buddies, or whoever else is with me, and I utilize the winch often, it might be in a muddy area, or in a sandy or gritty area, what should I do when I get home? Do I just leave it on the truck, or are there some things I can do to kind of prevent further damage to the winch?

Guy: Let's say washing off the rope, you know, letting it be out in the air, you know— there's things that are built in to let moisture out. In the drum support we got little divots and stuff, you know, and you just keep it out, keep it clean, you know. Take care of the rope. I wouldn't worry about the rest, they seem to be fine.

Kia: Well, thank you, Guy, for taking the time to walk us around the shop and tell us all about the winches and all the repairs and services you've done over the years. Also, giving the users and viewers a little bit of information on how they can protect their winches over time. I really appreciate it.

For our viewers at home, if you would like to locate a service center near, you please just go on warn.com where we’ll be able to provide a full list of all the service centers around the country. For our international viewers, please get in contact with your local dealer and they'll be able to provide you a list of the authorized WARN Service Centers in your area.