I have not mounted my winch yet so I am curious what others say, but I have read that you should spool the rope out, wash it, let it dry, then hit it with WD-40 and respool it on a regular basis.
Harbor Freight Winches
- Thread starter Mekanecman
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Tapage
Club 4X4 Panamá
I use ATF in my cable pretty much regular basics ..
You should always respool after use at home. A perfect time for WD-40. I've five that route with cable on a couple of winches and got great use out of the cable
duggy
SILVER Star
If you guys are suggesting that people respool their cable, don't do what happened to me. I had a bad kink in my line and the harbor freight ties their line with a hole in the drum and the winch line goes into the hole which is secured with a allen head key.
The winch line was not secure and I had a bad kink i had to get out. I unspooled all of the line and was not able to get the winch line back on the drum and secured. I am now looking into synthetic line. Wire rope is just too much of a pain in the ass to deal with.
Here is a picture as promised of how I mounted up my solenoid box on the Ironman bumper.
The winch line was not secure and I had a bad kink i had to get out. I unspooled all of the line and was not able to get the winch line back on the drum and secured. I am now looking into synthetic line. Wire rope is just too much of a pain in the ass to deal with.
Here is a picture as promised of how I mounted up my solenoid box on the Ironman bumper.
I dunno, it may not be as easy to work with as synthetic, but it's far better than no winch at all.
Looks good. Looks like you could use the flares when conditions are like that.
duggy
SILVER Star
my flares are scattered across the us along with some being in the trash. i much prefer the look of a flareless truck and don't mind the mud. it is a pain to clean though.
and you sir are correct when you say it is better than no winch.
my main concern is the safety of others and the fact that synthetic has no whiplash if/when it breaks. you then just have to worry about that hook flying off (if it does)
CruiseOrlando
Conveniently Enhanced
my main concern is the safety of others and the fact that synthetic has no whiplash if/when it breaks. you then just have to worry about that hook flying off (if it does)
I found that an adequate application of small woodland creatures to the end of the line keeps the hook from going too far away, drastically reducing the chances of it scratching your truck....
Southeast Overland
Get lost! Go explore!
my main concern is the safety of others and the fact that synthetic has no whiplash if/when it breaks. you then just have to worry about that hook flying off (if it does)
If your synthetic line breaks and the hook doesn't break, and your hook is attached properly, the hook shouldn't come flying back at you as it should remain attached to your anchor point. If your hook breaks and your synthetic line doesn't you should have less recoil in the synthetic line than steel cable. Also remember to use a low stretch tree strap if you are anchoring to a tree or similar structure.
<thread hijack> BTW - I know someone who can hook you up with a synthetic line.
</thread hijack>
Ok guys. I bought my 12k winch a while back and haven't installed since I hav't built my bumper yet. I'm wanting to build a "cheep" alternative for the time being. The bumper horns
On the 62 is right at 6" tall. The local iron places only have 6" outer width c-channel or 8" outer width.
The other option is to buy a rectangle 6x4 or 8x4. And mount it like that. I didn't purchase metal because I don't have access to the winch at the moment. I just found the online Manuel and its saying the 12k is 6.4" wide and ~8 tall. So. My question now is:
A. Is this correct. It is about six and a half wide so it will not fit into a 6"c or rectangle.
B What is a safer way to mount. I've seen somewhere the "base" is facing foreword. So pulling towards front of truck, but making it pull tight "down" but still forward on the mount . Vs. mounting bolts down so trying to rotate it under load. I'm thinking it would be better to mount bolts facing forward. But not sure which is better.
Thanks Cody Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD
On the 62 is right at 6" tall. The local iron places only have 6" outer width c-channel or 8" outer width.
The other option is to buy a rectangle 6x4 or 8x4. And mount it like that. I didn't purchase metal because I don't have access to the winch at the moment. I just found the online Manuel and its saying the 12k is 6.4" wide and ~8 tall. So. My question now is:
A. Is this correct. It is about six and a half wide so it will not fit into a 6"c or rectangle.
B What is a safer way to mount. I've seen somewhere the "base" is facing foreword. So pulling towards front of truck, but making it pull tight "down" but still forward on the mount . Vs. mounting bolts down so trying to rotate it under load. I'm thinking it would be better to mount bolts facing forward. But not sure which is better.
Thanks Cody Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD
I agree, The 12K will not fit into a 6" channel
Properly mounted, it doesn't matter for safety. Either way, feet forward or feet down will work fine. In extreme pulls, feet forward will put less stress on mounting hardware. But if the mounting plate and hardware are of sufficient grade and properly torqued, and your fairlead correctly aligned, you'll be fine.
My local Harbor Freight store is having a parking lot sale August 24-26, and the 12k winch will be on sale for $299. I would guess all stores will be having a similar sale so I would keep an eye out to get a better price than the usual.
duggy
SILVER Star
Update on my winch line: the end was very frayed so I could not get it back into the hole of the drum. I took my grille off so I could have better access to the winch and cut the end of the winch line off with a grinder. I stuck the line back throught he drum and tightened the allen head set screw and all is good now!
I know nothing about winches but am interested in using a winch to recover big rocks for a landscaping project. So I looked at the 2k at HF and saw the 5% duty cycle thing and wondered about duty cycle at say 30 or 60%? If I had to wait an hour between pulls , it would take me all day.
I'd rather not get a heavy duty and heavy winch for such a task.
I'd rather not get a heavy duty and heavy winch for such a task.
Any experience with the HF 9K vs. the 12K? I read mixed reviews on the HF website re: poor quality rollers, etc... on the 9K . Has HF improved this or is that the reason I see the 9K on the clearance rack this month? Not too much difference between them in price, but there is another 30# (?) in weight difference. I'm mounting this on a '79 FJ40 and I was just thinking weight wise. Any thoughts or biases? Thanks.
CruiseOrlando
Conveniently Enhanced
I've been using the 9K - not a lot, but a few times - and haven't had any issue with it. Pulled a few 80's and a 60 and an FJ out of various situations. No complaints.
duggy
SILVER Star
Anybody use the wireless remote kit available at HF yet? I bought it yesterday but haven't opened the package. It's direct plug and play
CruiseOrlando
Conveniently Enhanced
I didn't even know there was such a thing available. Interested! Do you have a link?
duggy
SILVER Star
Looks nice
duggy said:
That would be great, however I have an older model, 10k lb winch from HF. It has a 3 pin controller plug... I believe the new Badlands winches are a 4 wire setup, so this won't work for me
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