Winch Rope

upnover

upnover

Grumpy, decrepit Old Man
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Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Morganton NC
OK so I bought a new winch back in the spring of 2011. Not used many times, but, it's already fubared. Kinks, and so on.
I have wanted some synthetic winch rope for a long time, because I don't see them doing the same things my wire rope does. My winch has 3/8 wire rope now. So I am thinking I would want at least that size, maybe bigger??
So what brands and what costs. I know absolutely nothing about any brand.
Your takes and experiences please.
 
JP magazine and 4 Wheel and Off Road have done some articles recently on the synthetic rope. Just go to their web sites and search for the articles. I'm with you on the "not sure" part.
 
I havent had rope on my winch, but 5keepers has it on his. I have seen his rope break and it fell to the ground. It seems so much safer. It is also easier to spool in since you can just grab it and bring it all back to the front of the vehicle. If it does break, you can tie a knot in the end in a pinch. You can also resplice it on the trail if you have the knowledge/tools. Amsteel seems like the best out there, but I dont have any first hand experience with it or any other brands.
 
I went with rope several years ago. No complaints. Easy to spool. Less weight. I searched ebay and got the best deal there. I cant remember what brand I eneded up with. I did changed my roller fairlead to a aluminum hawse lead tho. That cost me like 30 bucks from 4 wheel parts.
 
tknopp said:
I went with rope several years ago. No complaints. Easy to spool. Less weight. I searched ebay and got the best deal there. I cant remember what brand I eneded up with. I did changed my roller fairlead to a aluminum hawse lead tho. That cost me like 30 bucks from 4 wheel parts.
Click to expand...
No problems here either. Been running it for a few years
 
The major sizes are 5/16 and 3/8. I had 5/16 back when the bronco ran, and yeah it's nice that it falls to the ground when it breaks...but it sucks that it breaks all of the time. In places regular cable would not have failed. I've got 3/8" now but havent used it yet. The tradeoff is that you can't fit as much on the drum, but it should break half as much.
 
Key to keeping it alive is not jerking it and not letting it rub on on anything, after i broke my first synthetic line i wanted to see what it would really hold so i took a piece and tied it to my dad's 4wd tractor and the other end to a tree it held with all 4 tires spining on the tractor, soon as we let go and jerked it, it broke. I broke it the first time by jerking it also. For the weight savings I prefer it
 
I broke mine thrice pulling erics dumbass original xj out of the powerline hole. Had a 10' rash guard on it too, but again it was 5/16".
 
I have seen rope break more than once. I have never seen wire break. Rope may not have any obvious problems, but wire will be easy to see if there is a problem with it. Most of the time when rope fails it just falls, but once it did move very quick. Rope rots and may look good, but randomly is trash. Once guy broke three times. We kept spooling out more each time. Rope can not take abuse like sliding over a rock and must be kept clean as dirt inside it can cause it to loose strength. That means mud is very rough on rope.

All that to say I'm not sure rope is any better than wire. The advantages are clear, but there are disadvantages also.
 
Back to the original question...........

Only one brand has been mentioned so far. Any others? Anyone with leads on good deals?
 
Travis Watford got some really nice looking prestreched winch line at the Winrock race from his sponsor. Was round like a wire with all the benefits of rope. One of the pains of rope is the fact it flatten outs and is hard to respool as neat as it does the first time.
http://www.masterpull.com/cpage.cfm?cpid=478
 
One aspect to think about,Chip, is the fact that you can use steel cable to help hold a rig together in some instances. Say for example, you break a leaf spring center pin..and you need to run the winch line under the rig to hold the rear housing in place so you can limp back to camp....well, you cant do THAT with rope.

I do like rope better though.

I have some mildly used cable if ya want it. Came of of my old hs9500i, before I switched to rope..i think its 125ft iirc.

Yours if ya want it.
 
Actually I've done that a few times with rope. Worked just fine.

My current rope is Winchline.com brand that I got from Barnes4wd. I've been very happy with it.

Masterpull is probably the best, it is more expensive though. My next project may get Masterpull rope. I'll never use cable again though.
 
I use rope. No problems yet. I did break a cable once. But it was my own dumb fault. PTO winch on a 350 powered FJ40. It was really old and I didn't see the warning signs or have a weight on the cable. It was about 18 years ago. When it broke it wrapped around the hard top and destroyed entire thing.

Now when even I use a cable or see a cable used I tell people to put a weight on.

I do think a cable is more durable but I'll stick with rope.
 
We've ran Viking winch line and its worked very well for us and our customers, check out the safety thimble they make. We offer good deals on it but it is a little pricey.
 
The Masterpull appears to be a step above all the rest. I've run the cheaper lines and durability is an issue, given I'm not the easiest on my equipment though. I just spooled on the Masterpull and it is really nice, my initial impression is it appears it will hold up to abuse better the typical winch rope. I've had 3 ropes on my winch before this one, I should have bought this in the beginning and I would have come out cheaper. Give Josh at Carolina Truggies a call, he should be able to get it for you.
 
Rope

Chip, I recently picked up a new steel cable from 4 wheel dr. due to trading some credit. I wanted a new Safety hook, so Made a list of prices including internet. From previous work experience, I talked to Vernon[I think] at Certex, in Charlotte. They're a wire rope/cable/hook/strap, Co., I've dealt with before. Industrial supplier, using Crosby & other "Rated" brands. Ended up with the hook I wanted at the same price as internet, - shipping. They do carry Amsteel Blue w/Dyneema rope. By the catalog, looks like the 5/16=12300, & 3/8=17600 mbs. Nationwide branches, Charlotte704-334-5334,& Greensboro 336-632-9949. Was leaning toward rope, but too many concerns over drum heat, fair-lead,& abrasion; Been on present steel, from Certex, for 12+ years, of mis-use & abuse! Gotta get that new 1 on!:lol:
 
I've got Masterpull on mine and I've used it for a few things, Like straightening the sign posts up at work, trying to straighten a driveshaft on a yota Truggy, and pulling my rig in gear to rotate the pinion back down to re-tighten U bolts, Oh and I used it once to pull myself up a hill. It's been pretty good so far.
 
Amsteel rope

Chip only Amsteel rope. Dont buy that other cheap stuff it wont hold up.
Custom Splice. com or 785-856-1844
If you can beat his price it will supprise me, I have bought from him twice front winch an rear suck down an NO one could even come close to his price. Hope that helps
 
I used the winch again this weekend on a BMW at a buddy's house that was stuck in his lower yard. It pretty much pulled the dead weight of the car up the hill since it was on wet grass.
 
We just setup with Masterpull today for another customer but this thread came to mind after we did it. We got a special introductory rate from SEMA a couple months ago and we're looking to pass that forward while we still have it. If anyone is still interested and wants Masterpull we can hook you up with about 25-30% off.
 
I'm currently running Amsteel. I've had Viking and Masterpull before and they are of a higher quality. When I replace this Amsteel I will probably go with Viking or Masterpull again. The things I have noticed with Amsteel is it has faded and become flat in spots so it doesn't spool as nice. It has never let me down and it has been well used so really no other complaints. I think one of the biggest things is to keep it clean and make sure you use the abrasion guard. If you do that then it should last for years. :beer::beer:
 
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