No matter how fancy and prepared the jeep is, the limit of possibilities for wheeled vehicles comes. Not enough ground clearance? The steep climb? Too deep ford? Not enough engine power? Are the wheels blurry and spinning helplessly? In all these situations, a reliable friend will come to your aid, who is always with you – a winch!
What Is Winch?
A jeep winch is a budget and important solution for a radical increase in off-road capability. There is an opinion that it’s the winch that should be the first in the list of off-road accessories for preparing the car for off-road, allowing you not to lose the ability to move independently even in the most difficult conditions.
The winch has a mechanism consisting of a drum and a cable. Traction occurs by rotating the drum and winding a cable around it. The cable’s end is attached to a fixed object, and the winch itself is attached to a moving object. With the help of a winch, you can get out of any pit or swamp, you just need to hook the cable to another car or tree and the winch will pull you out, if you choose it correctly.
How to Choose
- The most pressing question when choosing is which brand to prefer. But there is no single right answer. As there is no very, very best winch model. Simply because users have their preferences. Not the last role is played by the difference in prices, which everyone considers acceptable for himself.
- If a person drives his jeep exclusively around the city or on intercity highways, then it doesn’t need a winch, except perhaps just for beauty. You need to install it only if you use your jeep for its intended purpose and know from your own experience what impassable roads and steep slopes are.
- The pull of the winch should be approximately two times greater than the jeep’s weight. This rule applies only to severe off-road vehicles since such a reserve of traction is not needed for jeeps and other heavy vehicles!
- Perhaps this is the second most important factor in how often you use the help of special equipment to rescue yourself from ambushes. If the unit hanging on the muzzle of the machine has to work regularly, it is worth taking a closer look at more complex options. Here it’s worth paying attention that the same brand may have different series of winches.
- When purchasing a winch, buy a steel cable at the same time. You will need it because the working stroke of most winches is small. A piece of sling is only useful if you the cling to a tree: a steel cable will damage it.
Some Tips
The degree of preparation of the car is another factor that should be focused on is the cross-country ability of the car in conditions where the help of additional devices or devices may be needed for further movement. For single lifting of cargo in a garage, it makes sense to choose a manual winch due to its low cost, and therefore accessibility, or if it is impossible to use electrical equipment. The advantages of choosing manual equipment are low cost and no need for any fuel or electricity to operate.
When buying a winch, do not forget about the necessary and useful accessories: pulley block, cable damper, bark protection sling, shackles, mass disconnector, radio remote control, and much more. If you would know more information, please view it here.
The main difference between modern winches lies in the features of their functioning. This parameter determines the type of construction, cost, as well as scope of the device. For example, mechanical models are powered by the car’s engine through the power take-off. They are suitable for machines with a special dispenser configuration. They are also characterized by high tractive effort, adjustable speed, increased reliability, and unpretentious maintenance.
Winches are equipped with both steel and synthetic cables. The choice is a matter of taste and purpose. The steel cable can be kept on the drum for years, and it’s always ready for work, both in winter and in summer. But at the same time, it’s heavy, naughty, quickly covered with burrs, so only work with gloves.
More Details
Does your jeep often end up in extreme conditions? When choosing a winch, keep this in mind. Extremals recommend using nylon instead of a metal cable. The standard equipment is a steel cable, but you can replace it. Kapron has better properties compared to a metal cable. It’s lighter and stronger. In addition, it doesn’t cause significant damage when interacting with the car. It’s only necessary to weld an arc to the winch shaft to prevent the cable from jumping off when unwinding. You can find more information here: jeepzine.com.
Now we say a few words about installing a winch on a car. First, the winch must be fixed to the frame. No installation on the body is allowed. It is necessary to put the winch either in front or behind, depending on the direction of the screwing. In the event of a winch failure, it will be very difficult to remove it from under the machine. In addition, it is impossible to control the process of winding the cable. The control unit should preferably be placed higher and in a place protected from dirt.
That’s It!
If you are still wondering if your car needs a winch, and which one, then first of all try to determine what goals you are pursuing and what obstacles you meet on your way. Further, from the huge number of winches that exist on the market today, you just need to choose what suits your car in terms of weight, power, and other characteristics. No matter, which winch you choose for your jeep, use common sense. Finally, the winches existing on the market differ not only in technical parameters but also in the quality of materials, processing of parts, and assembly of structures. The reliability and safety of the movement of goods depend on this.
