Synthetic line on Warn HS9500i winch?

Chris Kelley

Chris Kelley

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Joined
Nov 20, 2021
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Tennessee
Hi all!
I bought my first Jeep, an 05 TJ a few months ago, and I just jumped on buying a used Warn HS9500i for 200 bucks. It needed new power cables and controller, but everything else appears to be OK. We’ll find out tomorrow if it runs. I’d like to go ahead and replace the cable with synthetic and was wondering what size and length y’all would recommend. Originally, it came with 125’ 5/16” steel cable. Should I just go with 5/16” synthetic in the same length or…? Thanks in advance for the help.🙂
 
Chris Kelley said:
Hi all!
I bought my first Jeep, an 05 TJ a few months ago, and I just jumped on buying a used Warn HS9500i for 200 bucks. It needed new power cables and controller, but everything else appears to be OK. We’ll find out tomorrow if it runs. I’d like to go ahead and replace the cable with synthetic and was wondering what size and length y’all would recommend. Originally, it came with 125’ 5/16” steel cable. Should I just go with 5/16” synthetic in the same length or…? Thanks in advance for the help.🙂
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85 feet of 3/8" Dyneema with at least a 19,500 lb breaking strength.
 
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3/8" for sure with synthetic rope. 85' was recommended above for two reasons. First, 3/8" rope has a larger diameter so the drum simply can't hold as much as it can with 5/16". Second, getting too much rope on a winch can cause the winch to break its supporting structure on an off-center pull when the rope bunches up on one end.
 
So...word of warning...steel cable usually leaves burrs and nicks on the drum and fairlead

I spent about two hours cleaning up my winch drum on my 12k winch on my truck with various grits of sandpaper.

Those winch ropes are expensive.

I use UMHW from my local logging supply. They call it logging rope. Similar but lesser specs. Only comes in blue.

-Mac
 
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macleanflood said:
I use UMHW from my local logging supply. They call it logging rope. Similar but lesser specs. Only comes in blue.
Click to expand...
UHMWPE or HMPE or some variation like OPE is what Dyneema and most synthetic winch rope is. The blue stuff can be Amsteel/Dyneema/Samson which is one of if not the original vendors of this stuff and it's generally regarded as top tier. Obviously anything can be blue but if it is Sampson it's probably the good stuff. Cleaning the drum is a good idea, I probably will have to do some work on mine when I switch.
 
I just put 125' of 5/16" Diamond Line from customsplice.com on my Warn 9.5TI. It filled the drum well, was priced reasonably and shipped fast. I have notpulled anything with it yet, but I had 5/16 dyneema on my last Warn 9500 HS and worked it hard for about 7 years without any failures.
 
Blackjack said:
Eylet and screw.
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So if I choose to replace the steel cable with 85' of 3/8" synthetic, I need to make sure it has a steel eye on the attachment end like this?

1683207790711.png
 
Not necessarily needed. Duct tape works well if you secure the end to the drum. A crimped lock with set screw, duct tape, whatever can get it to hold initially. The first 3-5 layers of rope are what really secures it to the drum when in use.
 
Kenn2ns said:
So if I choose to replace the steel cable with 85' of 3/8" synthetic, I need to make sure it has a steel eye on the attachment end like this?

View attachment 421927
Click to expand...

You can use that flattened piece of aluminum tube with the hole drilled in it to attach to the drum side. If the line under load goes down the side of the drum though, it will wipe the line right out of that connection. Far better to cut that off and duct tape the tail across the drum and over wrap it with the layers of line.
 
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