I recently had a long talk with a hardcore offroader, that also repairs winches for people. He said most winch damage is from people not knowing how to properly use them. He said first off, use it, it sworse to not use it, than to use it. Parts inside that you don't see get corroded and messed up, so use is good for it. But the biggest thing of all to not break your winch, is to let the winch do its job. Put the vehicle in neutral, engine left running if possible so its charging, and make the winch pull it out. He sees to many stuck vehicles, wheels spinning, as well as the winch pulling. And that shock loads it, as every time the vehicle jerks ahead and then snaps back, it stresses the winch. The next thing after lack of use, and spinning wildly as the winch is also pulling, is the stuck guy, or vehicle going to pull out the stuck guy, hooking the tow rope to the winch. Again, that shocks the winch, so don't do it he said, tie the tow rope to a tow hook, then tug away. He offroads a lot, pulls himself and others out often, and his 4 year old Smitty he says still works as good as it did the first day.