Suck down winch....

[ghost]

So on steep climbs I really need to pull the front end down I think. I had a harbor freight ATV winch mounted to the unibody rail but it got destroyed. I've always thought it would be nice if the front hidden winch could be used. But I would have to pass the rope through the aluminum fairlead. The only way I know of doing this would be a removable hook. Is this a bad idea and what other options are out there?

Tuff Stuff® Half Link Winch Hook - Tuff Stuff® 4x4 | Winches, Off Road Lighting, Overland and Accessories

Just in case you don't know what my shit box looks like.......

 

[Chris_Keziah]

If you want a removable hook I'd probably use a Factor 55 pro link and keep a pair of snap ring pliers to pull the pin. Or try to address the issue of the suspension unloading on steep climbs.

 

[BigSouth]

If you want a removable hook I'd probably use a Factor 55 pro link and keep a pair of snap ring pliers to pull the pin. Or try to address the issue of the suspension unloading on steep climbs.

I hear ya big baller! Them things are big $$$!

 

[Chris_Keziah]

I hear ya big baller! Them things are big $$$!

Yeah I looked them up after I posted and about shat a brick. To revise my statement I'd just splice on a heavy duty spindle that will fit through the fairlead and use a shackle through it.

 

[ghost]

If you want a removable hook I'd probably use a Factor 55 pro link and keep a pair of snap ring pliers to pull the pin. Or try to address the issue of the suspension unloading on steep climbs.

When I say steep I mean like the waterfall at rail bed or big ledges that put it near vertical. Not much you can do about that as far as I know. A rebuild is planed but not until I have something to wheel...... Yea those Factor things are high dollar.....

 

[77GreenMachine]

My only concern with that is if you wound up in a sketchy situation and needed the winch for recovery or securment quickly you have to deal with rerouting it. Unless you make it wide open and that’s quick and easy to do, I’d much prefer a seperate winch.
Just my .02 cent.

It don’t take much to suck down the front so you could get away with a very small winch if you have room.

 

[Chris_Keziah]

My only concern with that is if you wound up in a sketchy situation and needed the winch for recovery or securment quickly you have to deal with rerouting it. Unless you make it wide open and that’s quick and easy to do, I’d much prefer a seperate winch.
Just my .02 cent.

It don’t take much to suck down the front so you could get away with a very small winch if you have room.

Playing off of this, you think you could just put a limit strap in the center @ghost ?

 

[ghost]

My only concern with that is if you wound up in a sketchy situation and needed the winch for recovery or securment quickly you have to deal with rerouting it. Unless you make it wide open and that’s quick and easy to do, I’d much prefer a seperate winch.
Just my .02 cent.

It don’t take much to suck down the front so you could get away with a very small winch if you have room.

Room is the problem There is a steering brace I made up under there. This is also my concern. I've gotten myself into those situations in the past.....

Playing off of this, you think you could just put a limit strap in the center @ghost ?

That might end up being the easiest solution.

 

[BigSouth]

Yeah I looked them up after I posted and about shat a brick. To revise my statement I'd just splice on a heavy duty spindle that will fit through the fairlead and use a shackle through it.

SHIT!! Lost a bet with eBay and now I’m the owner of a slightly used UltraHook. I thought 100% this dude would reject my offer.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

Is there a reason you can't just hook it to a shackle welded to the axle. If you need extraction, unhook the axle and rehook.

Another thing I have seen is rope out the bottom of the winch, through a shackle/pulley on the axle and back up to the bumper. Suck down would be twice as slow, and would compress the suspension during extraction, but should still work

 

[ghost]

Is there a reason you can't just hook it to a shackle welded to the axle. If you need extraction, unhook the axle and rehook.

Another thing I have seen is rope out the bottom of the winch, through a shackle/pulley on the axle and back up to the bumper. Suck down would be twice as slow, and would compress the suspension during extraction, but should still work

Yes it would not suck it down but forward and either break the rope or rip the front out.......

 

[livetorun]

I used to use a d ring and recently switched to a soft shackle on my winch. I haven't used an actual hook in years. And D rings are much cheaper than that Factor 55 hook.

 

[ghost]

I used to use a d ring and recently switched to a soft shackle on my winch. I haven't used an actual hook in years. And D rings are much cheaper than that Factor 55 hook.

How well do those "soft shackle's" work? I have yet to see one in action.

 

[Mac5005]

How well do those "soft shackle's" work? I have yet to see one in action.

I used a friends at windrock the last trip and it worked well.

Really stupid simple and fast to use. Definitely feels safer standing nearby as nothing has any stored energy or mass.

My dad bent a d-ring later on that rendered it nearly useless. It need tools to get the pin in and out, but had to use it bc of the situation.

While messing with it, I wished I had a soft shackle at the time.

Also much easier to hook around a tube node to flip a rig back over than a d-ring shackle.

 

[Caver Dave]

We wheeled with the guy from Chaos Offroad back in June and the biggest pull for me was the weight savings... you could have a duffle bag full of soft recovery gear that's still lighter than what I carry

 

[ghost]

We wheeled with the guy from Chaos Offroad back in June and the biggest pull for me was the weight savings... you could have a duffle bag full of soft recovery gear that's still lighter than what I carry

I can see that. I won a WARN winch kit at the crawl this year. I was surprised at how heavy that bag is for how little is in it.

 

[livetorun]

How well do those "soft shackle's" work? I have yet to see one in action.

I like it. We used it a few times at the KY Ultra4 race doing near dead pulls up a hill. As Mac5005 said, its much easier to store them as well.