Runva Winch

Winch motor corroded badly, stopped working on second time used – I bought a Runva 9500Q, used it once in 2 years went to use it again and it stopped. I took it off my troopy to diagnose the problem, when I took the motor case off water came out and it was very badly rusted on the inside, with the lead connection points practically non existent on the inside! I have never been through a water crossing with my… Read more

troopy either!

Maybe I’m being a bit naive to think a winch should be water proof, especially as it sits on the front of your car getting rained on etc For a thousand bucks you’d think it was waterproof!

I can’t get another motor as Runva have stopped producing these winches.

I won’t buy another Runva again, but will make sure to sika all points of the winch to minimise water ingress!

Winch commenced pulling by itself… – I have experienced a similar problem to a previous reviewer where the winch commenced pulling by itself creating an extremely dangerous situation. Although, there are a large amount of advertisements claiming that “The ENTIRE winch is IP67 rated” it is not. The reality is that although the solenoid may be waterproof the control unit is not. This… Read more

means that water can enter the control unit and damage the wireless receiver and cause corrosion. The retailer who I purchased the unit from was very helpful, however, the RUNVA distributor was rude and dismissive. I would strongly recommend that anyone who has a RUNVA 11XP should check the control unit for water ingress.

Suspect components – Did not buy a Runva winch, but bought one of their winch thimbles to use in place of the traditional hook. I had to use it in water and the pin which connects the winch rope to the thimble began to rust badly very shortly afterwards. Not impressed, this is a load-bearing item! As an aside, their customer service/relations are not the best. Needed… Read more

to buy new pads for the thimble and they would not allow pick-up, even though I live around the corner (they could easily have left them at the gate if they don't want people on the premises). As a result it cost more for freight than what the items were worth.

Excellent performance on order and delivery – Having read the reviews on product reliability and warranty support decided to go with the Runva 11XP premium. Sent an email query to Runva Australia, had a call back from them within 10 minutes, negotiated a deal and placed an order. This was late on a Friday afternoon. Winch was delivered to my home in Brisbane by Tuesday afternoon - pretty… Read more

impressive in my view. Previous winches have been a couple of Warns and a Magnum so will be interested to see how this one stacks up over the longer term.

Worst customer service I have experienced AVOID!! – Quite possibly a good winch, don’t know as I haven’t needed to use it. However once my winch arrived it would not fit on my bull bar and missed by about 10mm. No problem, I would just put a spacer under it which would allow it to clear but wanted to check with runva what would be best to use. After speaking to the “manager” lady on the phone I… Read more

was even more uncertain of what to do. She did not understand anything about what I was asking but gave answers anyway that proved she had no idea, rather just get me off the phone. I asked if I could speak to the owner and was told no, she was the manager, I kept asking and was advised the owner would return my call. After a week and no call I called again and was again told the owner would call. I gave up and bought some 10mm stainless steel plate. I had read good things about the runva winches but I would never buy again if they can’t even give you a call to answer a question or have a manager who at least tries to understand the product they are selling. Who knows if I am covered by warranty with the spacers I have added?? Can’t believe they have these people representing them in Australia.

Winch Pulled Underwater – My winch started pulling by itself after a river crossing crushing the bull bar and finally snapping the rope. Please note they warrant the solenoid to be 100% water proof. After contacting Runva, they asked me to send the control box to a third party to inspect it and that they would send us a report of the solenoid. I advised them I had a… Read more

trip to Tasmania in less than 2 months and needed it sorted asap.

I took 6 weeks of constant emailing, calling and pushing Runva to come back to me with reply.

[name removed], the manager, was the most unhelpful and rude person I have ever met (really doubt she was the manager as it is impossible for a business to be alive with someone like her in charge).

4th week of waiting, and after little to no response from Runva, I contacted the third party and he advise he had connected the control box and could not fault it as it was working. I explained him what happened and he said Runva did not tell him anything about the winch turning on after a river crossing. So he never opened the control box (I waited 4 weeks for someone to find out what i already knew and had told Runva). He only connected the solenoid to see if was working (I could have told Runva this myself without having to disconnect the whole thing and send it to QLD).

I then called Runva and they advised I should not contact the third party directly.

After another 2 weeks (one week before my trip), Runva finally contacted me and said they could not find anything wrong with the solenoid (they never shared the report from the third party).

They said I was going to be charged with shipping, service fee, and all replacement parts as there was nothing wrong with it. But they would "help" me with half of the service and would sell me all the replacement parts at a "substantial discount", so I could have all sorted before my trip. I had no choice but to agree as I could not go on a 4wd trip without a winch and it was only 1 week away.

I sent them an email asking for all the parts I needed, plus my remotes and solenoid. They sent me an invoice and I paid straight away on the phone.

Later I found out I could have purchased everything they sold to me way cheaper online from sparesbox.

I received the box yesterday, only to find out they did not ship my solenoid nor remotes. All I have are the spare parts and now I'm going in a 4wd trip without winch.

Incredibly frustrating experience with RUNVA. Would not recommend them to my worst enemy.

Stay away!!