Synthetic Winch Rope Questions

To be very clear, I don't care what rope you get but avoid any of the jacketed versions if you can help it.

I know you don't! I appreciate the advice this forum provides.

Sometimes the offroad community can feel like an echo chamber - usually for good reason, but it can also overshadow some of the lesser known products that may (or may not) perform comparably. Having a chance to hear perspective from folks with first hand experience helps make my decision less painful in the long run.
 
  • Like
Reactions: matkal
Cross referencing Warn's parts sheet, the part numbers are identical for the drum.
Without having the full specs in front of me, my assumption is the additional clearance from the integrated solenoid makes it possible.

TRE's data also confirms 100' of 3/8 is ideal for the XD9000i where as only 85' fits the standard XD9000:
https://tacticalrecoveryequipment.com/winch-rope-conversion-chart/

If we have the same drum, I can tell you that the only way yours can hold more rope is if the drum on the 9000i sits higher off the winch plate than my 9000 does.

Centerline of my drum is about 3.25" up from the plate.
20200419_111818.jpg


The cross bars and the plate are both about the same distance from the rolled up 80-85ft of rope.
20200419_111335.jpg


20200419_111349.jpg


If the 9000i sits at the same height and the drum is the same as mine does, then the capacity is the same. And the location of the solenoids has nothing to do with anything. FWiW, my solenoids are a couple feet away from where yours are.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ShredAZ and matkal
If we have the same drum, I can tell you that the only way yours can hold more rope is if the drum on the 9000i sits higher off the winch plate than my 9000 does.

Centerline of my drum is about 3.25" up from the plate.
View attachment 154095

The cross bars and the plate are both about the same distance from the rolled up 80-85ft of rope.
View attachment 154097

View attachment 154098

If the 9000i sits at the same height and the drum is the same as mine does, then the capacity is the same. And the location of the solenoids has nothing to do with anything. FWiW, my solenoids are a couple feet away from where yours are.
My XDi is essentially the same, I measured 3 3/8 from base to center of drum. (I don’t have a cable on mine yet)
 
  • Like
Reactions: jjvw and ShredAZ
My XDi is essentially the same, I measured 3 3/8 from base to center of drum. (I don’t have a cable on mine yet)
Interesting! I measured the same on mine as well.

I wonder why TRE and Masterpull recommend 100' of 3/8 for the XDi and only 85' for the regular XD. Warn also shipped the XDi's from the factory with 25' more steel cable than the regular XD's.

@jjvw have you come close to bottoming out your spool from sharply angled side pulls?
 
Interesting! I measured the same on mine as well.

I wonder why TRE and Masterpull recommend 100' of 3/8 for the XDi and only 85' for the regular XD. Warn also shipped the XDi's from the factory with 25' more steel cable than the regular XD's.

@jjvw have you come close to bottoming out your spool from sharply angled side pulls?
I wouldn't put much value in what Warn is shipping. They send out drums completely full to the top with synthetic line almost dragging on the winch deck.
 
Interesting! I measured the same on mine as well.

I wonder why TRE and Masterpull recommend 100' of 3/8 for the XDi and only 85' for the regular XD. Warn also shipped the XDi's from the factory with 25' more steel cable than the regular XD's.

@jjvw have you come close to bottoming out your spool from sharply angled side pulls?

Last year, I broke my synthetic rope. It might have bunched up on one side, the fairlead opening might have been too small for the hawse I had at the time, I know the hawse was wrong.

Either way, that event led me to an entirely new bumper with a lot of attention paid to making the entire winch setup appropriate for synthetic rope.

20190620_172911.jpg


Look through the threads I started from last summer for more discussion.
 
Last edited:
The above cautions not to overfill the drum are very real. Inexperience with a winch can cause people to want to fill their drums all the way/too full which can cause serious problems. When a pull is off-center the rope will bunch up on one end which can break the support rods and pretty much destroy the winch. Not to mention most pulls are relatively close and the fewer the wraps of rope on the drum the more power the winch has. The less rope on the drum the less amperes the winch requires to pull the same load.
 
The vendor already shipped the A.R.E. rope.
The cost is small enough that I'm willing to be the lab rat here and try a new rope.

If 100' proves to be too long, I can always shorten it.

I'll keep the thread updated.
 
. . . I've requested cancellation of my order, and if approved, will be purchasing from TRE.

Something happened with the Amazon seller and/or USPS failing to ship the product. Amazon offered me a refund, and I ended up picking up 85' of TRE's 3/8" 12 strand rope instead.

I have TRE rope. You won't be sorry.

When your budget allows, spend the extra and buy a Safety Thimble II for your TRE rope and some soft shackles. It will be worth it.
 
Last edited:
I have TRE rope. You won't be sorry.

When your budget allows, spend the extra and buy a Safety Thimble II for your TRE rope and some soft shackles. It will be worth it.
Absolutely. I'm running a new Warn 3/8" hook for now, but will convert down the road.

I'll be carrying a few hard shackles and a tree saver for starters. I need to eventually grab some soft shackles, rope extension, and snatch block.
 
Spooled the rope today! Followed Jerry B's write-up on our neighbor's forum (@Chris, if his tutorial is on this forum, feel free to link).

Long story short, used gorilla tape to secure the tail and spooled it evenly under tension (anchored it to my daily).

As promised, here are some pics:

2AAD7898-5564-4654-B29E-DA52AD28409D.jpeg
051361F2-30BE-4AD8-96C2-100520043DDF.jpeg
F78B3E23-95D9-42BB-86C4-D8005BC95FC2.jpeg
 
Last edited: