Synthetic winch rope install

Zorba said:
If it helps someone:
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The comment about the TRE fairlead should be clarified. Yes, they may cost more but there is no doubt they have a larger than others radius on both sides and there is a line machined into the backside that needs to be visible in the opening of the fairlead mount. That ensures there is no danger of a too small opening that can shred the line. Just because something looks like a duck, that doesn't mean it can quack, fly, swim, and float. Sometimes things that look like ducks just float on the water so folks can quack and then shoot the shit out of the real ducks that show up. ;)
 
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mrblaine said:
The comment about the TRE fairlead should be clarified. Yes, they may cost more but there is no doubt they have a larger than others radius on both sides and there is a line machined into the backside that needs to be visible in the opening of the fairlead mount. That ensures there is no danger of a too small opening that can shred the line. Just because something looks like a duck, that doesn't mean it can quack, fly, swim, and float. Sometimes things that look like ducks just float on the water so folks can quack and then shoot the shit out of the real ducks that show up. ;)
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That may or may not be true of mine - I dunno! I'm a fan of TRE, don't get me wrong, but their fairlead is definitely overpriced. So's their thimble, but not to the same degree and I bought one anyway! Now with all this said, my cheapie's anodizing is changing color in the Florida sun. I don't care about that, but if it eventually fails and starts to corrode, I'll probably replace it with a TRE - overpriced or not!
 
mrblaine said:
The issue with using a snatch block is that it tensions the line by half as much as a single line pull would. The line weight is is NOT NEEDED.
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You mean the "safety blanket"? Educmacate me please: Not needed in that low tension scenario, not needed because of the snatch block, or not needed ever? Remember, I'm a rookie!
 
Zorba said:
That may or may not be true of mine - I dunno! I'm a fan of TRE, don't get me wrong, but their fairlead is definitely overpriced. So's their thimble, but not to the same degree and I bought one anyway! Now with all this said, my cheapie's anodizing is changing color in the Florida sun. I don't care about that, but if it eventually fails and starts to corrode, I'll probably replace it with a TRE - overpriced or not!
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While I have no doubt that other places in the world are able to do UV resistant black anodizing, for some reason they are very difficult to find. I only know of one place that does it and it is the same place that does the Savvy tail lights. They don't fade or turn colors. That is also where the TRE fairleads and what not are done. I also know the 3 different machine shops that do the parts for TRE here in SoCal so that is why they cost a bit more, they are made here.
 
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Zorba said:
You mean the "safety blanket"? Educmacate me please: Not needed in that low tension scenario, not needed because of the snatch block, or not needed ever? Remember, I'm a rookie!
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Where was the line going to break? Not being an ass, just a basic simple question to help you understand why line weights, sails, blankets etc. are a fool's errand. Where is the line going to break?
 
mrblaine said:
Where was the line going to break? Not being an ass, just a basic simple question to help you understand why line weights, sails, blankets etc. are a fool's errand. Where is the line going to break?
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That makes sense to me. What *did* occur to me was "if it breaks, which of the two legs should be weighted?" I guess using that logic, one perhaps should cover the whole friggin' line with blankets! "I read it on the Internet, so it must be true..." Thank you, Sir!
 
Zorba said:
That makes sense to me. What *did* occur to me was "if it breaks, which of the two legs should be weighted?" I guess using that logic, one perhaps should cover the whole friggin' line with blankets! "I read it on the Internet, so it must be true..." Thank you, Sir!
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The rest of the problem is assuming that the line will magically grab aholt of the blanket, jacket, t-shirt, sweatshirt, floor mat, etc. that is being used and then that will somehow magically do something to prevent it from moving. It really doesn't work that way and even if it did, you still need a crystal ball to predict where the line will part and then know which side of the part will cause the most damage.

You can't even come up with a reasonably accurate guess for any of that so you only have one solution. Avoid the kill zone. That is the only way to be safe.
 
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mrblaine said:
Where was the line going to break? Not being an ass, just a basic simple question to help you understand why line weights, sails, blankets etc. are a fool's errand. Where is the line going to break?
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I didnt watch the video but I'd say it will either break at the thimble or at the fairlead due to chaffing/cutting
 
mrblaine said:
The rest of the problem is assuming that the line will magically grab aholt of the blanket, jacket, t-shirt, sweatshirt, floor mat, etc. that is being used and then that will somehow magically do something to prevent it from moving. It really doesn't work that way and even if it did, you still need a crystal ball to predict where the line will part and then know which side of the part will cause the most damage.

You can't even come up with a reasonably accurate guess for any of that so you only have one solution. Avoid the kill zone. That is the only way to be safe.
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Makes sense now that its been spelled out. I wasn't too sure about the whole thing to tell the truth, but as I read it on the Internet... :D ;)

Of course, I was *in* the kill zone for that video - as I stated therein, I figured it wasn't going to break with only a few hundred pounds on it, and if it did, it wouldn't do much. "An acceptable risk" for that pull. OTOH, I've been on ships at sea where the line load was 20 or 30 thousand pounds - you stay the fuck out of the way in those circumstances. We all heard the stories involving decapitations or worse! Never mind the lifting strap that broke and dropped a 5,000 lb buoy onto the deck from about 8 feet up - thank Goddess everybody was paying attention so there wasn't anybody under the load...
 
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Saddle Tramp said:
Wow these Jeep shops have gotten expensive in the last 10 years!! $125 to install a $350 rope. I can get ropes online much cheaper and do it myself. I just don't know what size and length for a Smittybuilt 9.500. And I assume you put it on with a good tension like the cable? Thanks, ST
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So I have a RC pro series 9500 and I bought a synthetic line from Big Foot Winch Ropes. They recommended 85 feet. In their instructions they recommended you wrap about 4 to 5 wraps around the drum then connect the end to another vehicle or sometime stable and on a slight incline. The street I live on has a slight incline so i just parked my truck at one end and had my wife set in the cab of the Jeep while I reeled in all the line. There are several videos on YouTube about installing your winch line also.

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Claybirdd said:
Call me old school, but I prefer rollers to a fairlead.
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So do I. But...I've decided to go synthetic on the rebuild of my old Ramsey Pro8000 I picked up. The cable needed to be replaced anyway and the rollers were damaged so I got a synthetic rope and fairlead for synthetic rope on Tactical for cheaper than a quality cable would cost me. I'll keep my old REP6000 as-is with cable and put it on a hitch mount for the rear.

I want to do due diligence before I talk anymore smack about synthetic. I'm going to beat the shit out of the synthetic as I've my winch to pull trees and stumps more than I've used it to pull my Jeep. See how it holds up.
 
ejay said:
I'm going to beat the shit out of the synthetic as I've my winch to pull trees and stumps more than I've used it to pull my Jeep. See how it holds up.
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Regardless of all the internet bullshit, the rules for the use of synthetic are virtually the same as steel. The problem with steel is most continue to run it against all standards of practice to the contrary after it has been damaged to the point it is unsafe. Protect your rigging, synthetic or steel to prevent damage, it really doesn't get any more basic than that.

If you pull a stump, you don't wrap the line around the stump and hook back onto the line with steel, don't do it with synthetic either.
You don't drag steel across sharp rocks, don't do it with synthetic.
 
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mrblaine said:
If you pull a stump, you don't wrap the line around the stump and hook back onto the line with steel, don't do it with synthetic either.
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Why not? I thought the issue with this was killing the tree, not an issue with a stump.
 
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