Winch

[Thunderball]

I am thinking about buying a Winch for my 2001, I have never used a Winch, So I know absolutely nothing about them, I read somewere you need twice the GVW, That would be over 14000 Lb. The bigest Winch I have seen is rated 9000.
How about the Bumper is it strong enough, or do I need to replace it.
All I know forsure is, If I get stuck in the mud in the middle woods on some hunting trip in this baby, I'am Stuck.
Any information you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

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2001 Ram 2500HD 4x4 Quad Cab, Slt, Auto, Long-bed, 354 Anti-Spin Differential, White Clear Coat / Light Driftwood Satin Glow, Trailer Tow Group, Snow Plow Prep, Camper Special, Brakes Pwr Disc/Drum, Rr Anti-Lock, every thing but leather.

[This message has been edited by Thunderball (edited 01-16-2001). ]

 

[Cooker]

If I remember correctly Warn make winches rated up to 12,000. Certainly there are winches rated higher but unrealistic for your application on a pickup.

I don't think the stock bumber is strong enough. There are many rugged looking aftermaket bumpers an mounting alternatives. IMO it is best to have a reveiver mount winch so you can switch it from front to rear as necessary, and you can remove it completley when not in use. Also they will help with the extra weight of the bumper and winch.

Maybe on our trucks, being as heavy as they are, the receiver mount hitch is not realistic, but I know it works great on a friends "play" CJ-7.

 

[WeirCummin]

The general rule of thumb for winch capacity is one and half time the weight of the vehicle. A winches rating is based on a single line pull and the first wrap of cable on the drum, after that the capacity is reduced. The more cable you have spooled on the drum, the lower the rating becomes. Warn makes the 9500HS and with a snatch block should meet your needs, you would be surprised by the double line capacity of this winch. The stock bumper and most aftermarket winch mounts are pretty weak. A winch can be extremely dangerous if not used properly and have been known to injure and even kill people. It would be a good idea to find a 4 wheel drive club in your area and go on a trail run with them. They will be more than willing help you learn to use your winch. Any time our club is on a run and a winch is used we get everyone together and show the proper way to use it, SAFTEY FIRST. If you need help locating a club in your area, drop me a note and I'll find one for you.

 

[RonaldLarson]

I had a Ramsey winch on a Jeep, and It was an excellent piece, much stronger than any I've seen. Pulled a forklift out of mud with it with no strain. First quality. I recomend using a hitch receiver mount for the purpose of being able to use it on the front or the rear of the truck. Just have a STRONG front hitch receiver mounted, they are handy for RV and boat placement as well. You might want to invest in a winch ready bumper if the hitch idea doesn't trip your trigger.
Ron

 

[slowneasy]

Question for WeirCummin,
You seem to have plenty of experince using winchs, so I have a question. Take for example this common situation: You are using your winch equiped truck to pull out another vehicle and your truck is an automatic. What is best to do, leave your truck in park, leave in netural and chock the wheels or leave in netural and use the brakes? I'm justa wondering as I've thought about getting one myself, and thanks in advance for your/or anybodies input.

 

[DRT]

One thing I used to do, if feasible, is secure the rear of the vehicle with the winch to a solid object(tree, other vehicle etc). You can use a chain or tow strap. This helps a great deal especially if winching a heavy load. My . 02.

 

[pcorssmit]

I run a Warn 8274 (8000 lb. rating) on the Blazer. Wish I had a 12,000 lb. , and thats what I'd recommend for your truck, along with a snatch block. I always winch with the truck in nuetral and someone holding the brakes. Park pawls in auto trannys aren't that strong. The first time you use a new winch, you need to reel out the cable all the way and reel it back in with a load on it (winch your truck up a slight hill or winch another vehicle with the parking brake partially engaged). Place a heavy blanket or coat over the line to keep it under control if something breaks. Strapping/chaining the back of the truck to a tree is quite effective, but is also an excellent way to destroy your frame if not done carefully.

Pete

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'97 2500 CC 4X4 5spd Sport
'83 K5 Blazer 350 TBI (ex 6. 2), 39. 5 TSLs, 3" lift, Dana 60/GM 14 blt, Detroits

 

[Whitmore]

Thunderball,when buying a winch you must ask yourself a few questions about your application before you buy. The biggest one is ,frequency of use and load,if you are wanting it for security because you do the boonies now and again than a 8,000 warn or similar and a snatch block(this gives you 16,000 line pull) will be just fine. for a little extra security the 12,000 combo would be even better,the things I dont like about any electric winch are they pull a terrific load of amps,you can easily overload your electrical system and kill the truck dead I mean dead,also with continued use on smaller to med loads(pullin trees for firewood and the likes)than you have a heat problem,batteries as well as winch motor, then the next best application is your pto or power take off winch,you must have the hd transfercase to do this as it supplies you with an outlet for your pto to hook up,with a pto you can actually pull your truck in half(I did this to a cj7 once as it was ancored to a tree) the weak link was the frame,the winch did not powerout,what I dont like about a pto is I think they are a little more dangerious but they last forever and they are tough. now for my choice hydrolic this is safest to control as well as very strong and reliable,the one I have is on another truck but it is pto hydrolic which is older style but it will live longer than I will, If I were doing it again I would look seriously into the new ones that run off a pump that you put on a seperate belt (clutch driven like a air conditioner) this requires a new double shive on your cummins as a drive source,this way you do not change any of your existing belt configuration other than the shive, there is also the same set up out there but this one uses your power stering pump as a means of hydrolics ,I am still leary of this one but if someone else proved its worth I would buy that. The wrecker service uses alot of braden hydrolic winches I think that says it all.
I have had and seen many kinds of winches and they are all good the big thing is buy what is right for your application. good luck and be safe Kevin 2001-2500eth dee

 

[COBRAJET]

NEVER EVER winch your truck or pull a truck out with your truck in gear. Leave it in neutral... . if it moves when your are winching someone else out tie it off. Trannies are expensive!! I use a 12K WARN with 150ft of 3/8 inch cable. Snatch blocks will let a lesser winch do the work, but keep in mind you cut your cable length in half when using a block. The smaller winches generally only have 100-125 ft of cable so cutting that in half means something better be pretty close. Of course you can always bury logs, your spare or hammer in some good winching spikes... CJ


PSD Picks

 

[ANCIENT WOOD]

Warn just came out with a 15000# winch.

 

[Davey]

Check out www.milemarker.com , they have released a 12000lb two speed hydraulic winch that runs off your power streering pump. Very long motor life(3000 hrs), 2 amp draw compared to 450 amps for the 12000 warn, and some 36 pounds lighter.

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

I use a 12,000lb Warn Winch on my setup. Let me reinforce something from a previous post to this question... its only 12,000lbs on the first wrap of cable on the drum. Thats very IMPORTANT to remember. Mine sits in a winch receiver/pocket behing the bumper. I have come very very close to stalling it out with about 1/2 the cable out and not caused/had trouble re:amp load or stalling engine.
A snatchblock or double purchase pulley is a MUST. NEVER place the truck in park, you will inevitably shred the parking pawl in the transmission. I've seen it done and its not pretty or fun, specially in the toolies. Securing the back end of the vehicle is a very good idea, coupled with someone in the truck holding brake pedal. An old trick that I used to use to anchor the truck, or, to provide a winch point ahead of the truck when nothing was close enough to hook to was the following idea i got from an old timer.
Get your hands on 3 old axle shafts, sharpen one end and securely weld a strong link to the other end. Then pound each into the ground at an angle (the top leaning away from the trucks direction of pull), about 3-4 feet apart, fasten a 'quick link and chain between the welded links at the top of each axle with your winch hook running to the top of the last shaft in line closest to truck. This will even work in fairly soft soil. You need a bit of sledge hammering to do it but beats being stuck in the middle of a big open space. To pull them out you just whack the axles back and forth a couple times and pull straight up and out. If you have too much trouble manually pulling them up you can do a quic hook to the back bumper and just pop the little buggers out by pulling forward a bit,, piece of cake!!
Personally, I REALLY TRY not to get stuck first though.

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93. 5 D250 4X4,HD Spring Pkg, Rancho 7000's, Rear Swaybar,Dual Shock Front Stabilizer,BD Injectors,31/2" Mandrel bent exhaust,16cm 'Hot End',Modest Pump Tweaks/Timed,K&N Air,Isspro Pyro,Tach,transmission Temp,Auto Meter Oil Filled Boost Ga. , 3:54's, 4 Speed Auto, Clubcab, Aftermarket Reclining Buckets w/ctr Drop Down seat/console, Black over Silver, 21psi,285-65R-16's,American Racing Clear Coat Mags, Amsoil 15W-40HD Marine,12,000 lb. Warn Winch,KC Spots. 97,000 Kms.

 

[WeirCummin]

It's good to see members ringing in with there recommendation and opinions, it helps all of us. One word I didn't like was "CHAIN" for a few of reasons. 1- they are darn heavy to lug around out in the country, especially when packed full of mud. 2- which should be #1 on my list is that they are a saftey hazard, under tention they are as dangerous as the winch cable. If it breaks or breaks free from the truck will become a projectile moving at a rate for which they were under tention. 3- They do damage to the environment, you never want to wrap a chain around a tree, always use a strap or tree saver. I am not a treehugger or a environatzi, but so many of our public lands are being closed to offroading because of a lack of respect for nature. You will never see a chain or strap with hooks on them at any organized or sanctioned 4 wheeldrive event because of the reasons listed above. Both Warn and Ramsey have good information on their websites reguarding cable lenght and diameter along with their winch rating and AMP draws for the rated loads, check them out. A electric winch is the most cost effective way to go and will last for years if maintained and used properly, I've had my Warn XD9000 (the first 9K winch they made) for 12 years on several different vehicles including a 1Ton F**D diesel and with proper riging has gotten me out of bad situations every time. As others have said, determine what your needs in a winch are and go from there.

 

[slowneasy]

Thanks WeirCummin and all ya for the valuable information you posted. This has got to be the BEST site- bar none!

 

[Bart Timothy]

This is an interseting thread and takes me back to some old days.

Back in the mid '60s I was trained as a vehicle recovery and evac specialest in the Army. It was an 8 week course with quite a bit of time spent on rigging. Some of the stuff we worked with was BIG. The main winch cable on the M88 tank retriever was so heavy that we had to use a smaller 10,000 pound winch just to spool out the larger cable. Spent almost a year as a 5 ton wrecker operator for a 5 ton tractor/trailer company in Viet Nam. Have forgoten most everything now but a few things still come to mind.

We used 2 line pulls lots of the time. You can double the power of your winch this way.

A buried spare tire makes a good "dead man" to hook your line to when nothing else is avialable.

Wire cables and vehicles are a very dangerous combination. We lost a couple of guys in Nam by snapped cables. Remember that when something breaks, there is a "radius" around the cable where you can get hurt. If the cable is laying on the ground, or a few inches above it, and you've got to cross over it for some reason, never step over the cable but step ON it.

The military 5 ton wrecker had many mechanisms to keep it in place while winching. The main one was the ability to lock-up all the brakes and winch with the transmission in neutral.

 

[CUMAPART]

I USE A WARN 8274 WITH 100 FT OF 3/8 CABLE ON MY FJ40. IF I WAS GOING TO GET ONE FOR THE DODGE IT WOULD BE A 12000# AND DEFINETLY A WARN. I AM ALWAYS IN NEUTRAL WHEN WINCHING SOMEONE ELSE. I DONT TIE OFF TO OBJECTS WHEN WINCHING SOMEONE BECAUSE I DONT FEEL LIKE ADDING A COUPLE OF INCHES TO MY WHEEL BASE. USUALLY I'LL JUST PUT A BIG ROCK IN FRONT OF MY TIRES OR PROP MY FRONT BUMPER AGAINST A TREE. I DON'T TRUST THE HYDRAULIC WINCHES THAT RUN OFF YOUR P/S PUMP. JUST MY. 02

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2001. 5 2500 DARK GARNET QC LB 4X4 6SPD HO 3. 54 EVERYTHING BUT THE COWHIDE

 

[rich m]

another guy hosted a very similar discussion just the other day: https://www.turbodieselregister.com/ubb//Forum3/HTML/002465.html

ain't a boatload of data just wonderful to have @ your disposal?

 

[Thunderball]

Thanks Guys

For all the info.

Not sure what I will do yet, Alot of info to go over.

This is a Great site.

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2001 Ram 2500HD 4x4 Quad Cab, Slt, Auto, Long-bed, 354 Anti-Spin Differential, White Clear Coat / Light Driftwood Satin Glow, Trailer Tow Group, Snow Plow Prep, Camper Special, Brakes Pwr Disc/Drum, Rr Anti-Lock, every thing but leather.

 

[hammersley]

Thunderball - let us know what you decide on a winch... . whichever way you go be sure to get it welded to your frame - or else somebody may have it other than you. Also the electric winches will not run more than 40-50 seconds without starting to cause real harm to them. After a minute - look out. It is very easy to burn them up - as in SOL! And the problem about not being able to use the winch if the vehicle is not running - well if the rig isn't running - it doesn't matter if you're stuck - you're dead in the water till you get her started.