Help me pick a hawse fairlead

Got a shipping notice today for the hawse fairlead from Quadratec - it should arrive on/about 6 June. I should be able to install it the following week.

I'll document the installation - we'll see if I have to trim the opening of the current winch mount so there are no sharp edges for the winch line.
 
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mrblaine said:
The radius factor is the correct reason to use thicker material. Unfortunately, that does not in and of itself mean the designer took advantage of it and created a larger outer radius around the opening. The PS version is one which didn't even use what they had to make it as large as it could be.

The Warn version is one of the more desirable shapes but they have an issue with the material. Not sure what they did but we see ALL of them that have any use on them loading up the radius with melted rope and then that just keeps building up and abrading the rope more.
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I was shopping for a cheap one off ebay and amazon but they all looked to have a very small radius. More of a deburr than full width.

If anyone bought a cheap fairlead that looks right please share.
 
srimes said:
I was shopping for a cheap one off ebay and amazon but they all looked to have a very small radius. More of a deburr than full width.

If anyone bought a cheap fairlead that looks right please share.
Click to expand...

Harbor Freight, gotta live with the badge of honor front and center but it's not terrible for what it costs.
 
I threw this POS on my Warn M8000 along with a cheap chinesium red synthetic winch rope.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L165KL1/?tag=wranglerorg-20
No longer available. Doesn't meet any of your specifications...have used the crap out of it and it's been fine. (Up until recently the Jeep was on 3.07s with 33s and we'd get stuck a lot in snow...4.88s and lockers rule.)

Went from black to liquorice brown in three days in the Oregon rain.

Winch rope turned pink. Since the Jeep is white we affectionately call it the Barbie Jeep rope.

Broke off the top tie bar the other day being a tired, wet and cold idiot.

IMG_20220524_114211713_HDR.jpg
 
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Ouch. That turned an ugly brown fast. And sorry about your winch.

The Reindeer one in the above post is 0.78" thick. The opening height is 0.98".

Reindeer hawse fairlead.jpg


The Factor 55 one I ordered is 1" thick, and the opening height is 1.1" (to be honest not much different than the 0.98" opening height in the one above).

Factor 55 fairlead.jpg



But just comparing the two pictures, you can tell the Factor 55 one has more of a radius to the opening.

Not that I'm suddenly becoming the hawse fairlead expert or becoming a Factor 55 shill (I'm still not going down the thimble route). But I'm thinking I made the right choice with my purchase. I have yet to hear anything bad about the Factor 55 hawse fairlead. We'll see once I get it installed and maybe actually have to use it.
 
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macleanflood said:
I threw this POS on my Warn M8000 along with a cheap chinesium red synthetic winch rope.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L165KL1/?tag=wranglerorg-20
No longer available. Doesn't meet any of your specifications...have used the crap out of it and it's been fine. (Up until recently the Jeep was on 3.07s with 33s and we'd get stuck a lot in snow...4.88s and lockers rule.)

Went from black to liquorice brown in three days in the Oregon rain.

Winch rope turned pink. Since the Jeep is white we affectionately call it the Barbie Jeep rope.

Broke off the top tie bar the other day being a tired, wet and cold idiot.

View attachment 334163
Click to expand...

There is a lesson there for those paying attention, one we repeat over and over. Keep an eye on the line during any off angle pull that lets it stack up on one side of the drum. When it gets too much, stop if possible, freespool some line out and then spool in under as much load as you can to the other side of the drum to stop it from blowing off the tie rods. And if you don't already know, that tie rod is very important since it forms the other side of the box to stabilize the winch halves with the base and unitize it.
 
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mrblaine said:
There is a lesson there for those paying attention, one we repeat over and over. Keep an eye on the line during any off angle pull that lets it stack up on one side of the drum. When it gets too much, stop if possible, freespool some line out and then spool in under as much load as you can to the other side of the drum to stop it from blowing off the tie rods. And if you don't already know, that tie rod is very important since it forms the other side of the box to stabilize the winch halves with the base and unitize it.
Click to expand...

Oh it wasn't me spooling up too much cable on one side...it was me having my soft shackles out and they don't fit through my front shackle holes on my bumper. My hard shackles were buried under the camping gear. Had a stuck ATV in front of me. Figured it was light enough for a little tug on the tie bar. Just another wet, cold, tired stupid decision.

I had my winch out...guy on the ATV was like I've never used my winch... should have just stuck to using mine...or pulled off my hook.

Wet, cold, tired stupid decision...

-Mac
 
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macleanflood said:
Oh it wasn't me spooling up too much cable on one side...it was me having my soft shackles out and they don't fit through my front shackle holes on my bumper. My hard shackles were buried under the camping gear. Had a stuck ATV in front of me. Figured it was light enough for a little tug on the tie bar. Just another wet, cold, tired stupid decision.

I had my winch out...guy on the ATV was like I've never used my winch... should have just stuck to using mine...or pulled off my hook.

Wet, cold, tired stupid decision...

-Mac
Click to expand...

Every time you think you've seen it all, someone comes along and shows you just what you don't know.
 
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There continue to be threads that amaze me.

It amazes me that someone about 10 posts up is going to document and show us how to install a hawse fairlead. 🤔

It's starting to hurt just signing in to wranglertjforum
 
macleanflood said:
Amen... here's the video...


Someone needs to make a vinyl no pull sticker for those tie rods. Like the military no step decals.

-Mac
Click to expand...

macleanflood said:
Amen... here's the video...


Someone needs to make a vinyl no pull sticker for those tie rods. Like the military no step decals.

-Mac
Click to expand...

next time just loop through the grill slots. No warning stickers there so you know it's strong
 
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