Ok... to end the suspense.
I went ahead and ordered the Factor 55 hawse fairlead ($73 from Quadratec). I ruled out the Warn one (it was a close second) because I wasn't sure about the clear coating that may be on it. I considered one of the cheaper Amazon ones that were supposed to be raw aluminum (no clear coating?) but then there was the concern about oxidation and pitting or yellowing (if there was a clear coating). The one from GoFab looked good - I figured even if the coating on it was just as good as the one on the Factor 55 one, it was a bit more expensive even before shipping, and Quadratec has free shipping over $49, and I should be in their system for a military discount. Amazon wanted $99 for the Factor 55 mount (with free shipping).
And sorry for all you TRE fans - theirs' is only .75" thick, and it sounds like nobody has any in stock anyways. And I have a light bar mounted above my current fairlead (shown below), so even if I did have a thimble, I don't think there would be enough clearance if I got the thimble holding one (I know there wouldn't). Maybe I'm just a boomer, but I just haven't got into the whole thimble thing or see the great advantage of them when I've got a perfectly good HD hook on the end of my winch cable.
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I'm hoping the coating on the Factor 55 one is as good as they say it is. We'll find out.
I may have to enlarge the cable opening on my winch mount for this new hawse fairlead. I'll find out when I go to mount it up. And since my hook is permanently attached to the winch line (see pic in post #22 above), I may have to unspool the cable before I can mount the new fairlead. There's always a domino effect it seems.