Waterproofing a Winch
- Thread starter greentruck
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
This "Land-Toyota-Rover", is all Toyota less the Body
What about tapping a zerk fitting to the gear housing so you could more readily change the grease? Though I suppose without channels it is kind of moot but I remember reading that in marine applications grease fittings are popular for forcing water containing grease out with fresh grease. I guess if you spent every day swimming in a lake it could possibly be worthwhile... just a thought though.
- Thread starter
- #25
Not sure if a zerk would help here, at least on my Smittybilt and most planetary gear winches. First, there are several small drain ports, which makes sense. You don't want water not being able to get out if it gets in.
And water will get in in any ordinary planetary gear winch. There is a shaft that runs from the motor end through the cable drum over to drive the gear end. The ends of the drum where it rotates against the motor and geared ends fit reasonably tight, but there is no seal. There's really no way to introduce grease to fill the inside of the drum with grease. other than disassembly.
I did see one of the Australian T-Max clone winches is now advertised as waterproof since my original post, so it must have some sort of seal at the drum ends. Not sure if any of us here in the States have had a chance to try one of those out, but if it is truly waterproof it would be a step up. There's still an issue of what grease is being used from the factory.
As I noted earlier, one of the big issues that I believe is contributing to the belief that these sort of winches are "less than equal" to Warn's is that the manufacturer uses a grease that absorbs moisture and thus predisposes the thing to corrosion. Combine that with the fact that any decent 4WD vehicle is going to get the winch submerged unless it's operated in a desert and you get water inside where it's held onto by water-absorbing lithium grease, then causes problems with corrosion, etc.
Using the moly grease may be the solution to the fact that most winches are not waterproof. I removed all of the lithium base grease that I could, then regreased it thoroughly with the moly, with a simple break down of the winch components that would be done anyway if you have to clock the winch for the install. This was covered in the owner's manual for my winch, so taking things apart to do this should not cause a warranty problem with the winch if it should fail for some other reason provided you carefully follow the instructions.
I did not disassemble the geared end of the winch. This seemed a little intimidating to me never having taken one apart before, although it may not be so complex as it seems. Even with several zerks, I doubt you could properly introduce grease into the case there. I did wipe out all the grease I could get to where the driveshaft enters to engage the gears there. I'm hoping this will be sufficient.
Not sure when the next time the winch might be off the truck, so this is kind of a long term experiment to verify my theory that some problems users have is because of the wrong grease is being used at the factory. If my theory proves out, especially if others who are likely to use their winch more often than we do are able to "gather some data" so to speak by trying this. Ours is an expedition build, so the winch is a backup and will hopefully be used very infrequently. I believe that infrequent usage like ours is actually what most consumers do with their winches. Thus having a grease that helps repel water, while properly lubing things and preventing corrosion, is very important.
In the long run, I'm hoping that the manufacturers spend a few cents more to use moly base lubes at the factory. I suspect that price is what drives the decision over what grease to use. Or could it be that they have figured out that they will sell more winches in the long run if they use sub-optimal grease? That's a very bad thing to do for your reputation, even if it provides a few cents more at your bottom line sooner than normal wear and tear would.
And water will get in in any ordinary planetary gear winch. There is a shaft that runs from the motor end through the cable drum over to drive the gear end. The ends of the drum where it rotates against the motor and geared ends fit reasonably tight, but there is no seal. There's really no way to introduce grease to fill the inside of the drum with grease. other than disassembly.
I did see one of the Australian T-Max clone winches is now advertised as waterproof since my original post, so it must have some sort of seal at the drum ends. Not sure if any of us here in the States have had a chance to try one of those out, but if it is truly waterproof it would be a step up. There's still an issue of what grease is being used from the factory.
As I noted earlier, one of the big issues that I believe is contributing to the belief that these sort of winches are "less than equal" to Warn's is that the manufacturer uses a grease that absorbs moisture and thus predisposes the thing to corrosion. Combine that with the fact that any decent 4WD vehicle is going to get the winch submerged unless it's operated in a desert and you get water inside where it's held onto by water-absorbing lithium grease, then causes problems with corrosion, etc.
Using the moly grease may be the solution to the fact that most winches are not waterproof. I removed all of the lithium base grease that I could, then regreased it thoroughly with the moly, with a simple break down of the winch components that would be done anyway if you have to clock the winch for the install. This was covered in the owner's manual for my winch, so taking things apart to do this should not cause a warranty problem with the winch if it should fail for some other reason provided you carefully follow the instructions.
I did not disassemble the geared end of the winch. This seemed a little intimidating to me never having taken one apart before, although it may not be so complex as it seems. Even with several zerks, I doubt you could properly introduce grease into the case there. I did wipe out all the grease I could get to where the driveshaft enters to engage the gears there. I'm hoping this will be sufficient.
Not sure when the next time the winch might be off the truck, so this is kind of a long term experiment to verify my theory that some problems users have is because of the wrong grease is being used at the factory. If my theory proves out, especially if others who are likely to use their winch more often than we do are able to "gather some data" so to speak by trying this. Ours is an expedition build, so the winch is a backup and will hopefully be used very infrequently. I believe that infrequent usage like ours is actually what most consumers do with their winches. Thus having a grease that helps repel water, while properly lubing things and preventing corrosion, is very important.
In the long run, I'm hoping that the manufacturers spend a few cents more to use moly base lubes at the factory. I suspect that price is what drives the decision over what grease to use. Or could it be that they have figured out that they will sell more winches in the long run if they use sub-optimal grease? That's a very bad thing to do for your reputation, even if it provides a few cents more at your bottom line sooner than normal wear and tear would.
I spoke with Warn. They advised not to use too much grease as it will cause more strain on the motor causing more heat. They were very specific as to use green molly grease too. Also there are condensations issues with winches heating up so the moisture issue is kind of unavoidable. They went as far to say that ideally.. a vent for the motor would cool it and its efficiency would be significantly better but impractical for a winch expected to cross water. I suggested a snorkel for winches and they said they will look into it.. HA!
- Thread starter
- #27
acpete,
Just returning to visit the thread because of a discussion elsewhere about greasing your winch. Interesting that you've confirmed that Warn uses moly...
Moly won't turn your winch into a Warn, but it sounds like there is general agreement that regreasing a new winch with moly will extend the life of your winch and likely improve its performance.
Just returning to visit the thread because of a discussion elsewhere about greasing your winch. Interesting that you've confirmed that Warn uses moly...
Moly won't turn your winch into a Warn, but it sounds like there is general agreement that regreasing a new winch with moly will extend the life of your winch and likely improve its performance.
- Thread starter
- #28
Was re-reading this post and I realize I neglected to get back with the install pics, so owed Brian a few since he asked. 
better late than never, I suppose...
These are a couple years old and there's plenty more if anyone has any questions about the install.
better late than never, I suppose...
These are a couple years old and there's plenty more if anyone has any questions about the install.
