shortening winch cable?

jonnyB

jonnyB

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Location
rockwell, NC
i want to take about 10' or so off my winch cable. should i cut it off the end and use those U-bolt clamps, or unspool it all the way and take it off that end? i dont even know how its attached to the spool, ive never had it all the way out. how strong are those U-bolt clamps? can i go somewhere and get someone to crimp it back like it came from the factory? fyi its 3/8" cable.
 
personally I would say unspool it all the way and cut it off at that end and re-attach it, that way you keep it as factory at the business end as possible. I dunno though man, I've never owned a winch so I couldn't say for sure. just my 2 cents.
 
Well the end that goes to the spool is crimped on so its going to be hard to shortend that end. Most of the time guys just redo the end with the hook and use two to three good clamps with the farthest being about a 6 inchs down the cable.
 
If you cut it off of the hook end and decide to put it back together with the U bolt clamps, please, please do it right. I always see cables with these done incorrectly and it is a real safety issue if done incorrectly.
 
Since I'm not sure what is the right way to do the hook end I'd do the winch end. Typically it's just a phillips head screw.
 
BigJUGGY said:
Rule of Thumb on Wire Rope (Cable) is: "Never Saddle a Dead Horse"
so that means the "Saddle" part of the U-Bolt clamp should reside on the pulling side (live end) of the cable, not the tail end(dead end). See picture from PBB http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/Recovery.htm
Click to expand...


right. but there is a method to doing it right with correct "dead" end length based on diameter of cable, correct spacing of clamps and quantities all based on diameter. Its really not that hard to make it right with a little effort.
 
Back
Top