you should wind synthetic winch line differently

[troyboy162]

not much of a post but i learned this weekend that doing a neat and tidy rolling of sythetic winch line is not a good idea. under pull sytetic can work its way down into the roll and get stuck between other cords. wire cant do this because it cant deform its shape. i had a neatly wound reel and ended up with only 15 feet usable on my first pull because it was jammed in there so tight that i couldn't pull it out.

[Crinale]

lol, so its better to have it rolled sloppy? so that its crossing the previous rolls rather than running with them?

[troyboy162]

yup my drum looks like someone was making a rubber band ball now. unsightly but at least it wont get stuck any more. i googled and found other people had the same solution too.

[L33T35T Tacoma]

I have experienced this before. Makes sense.

What if you do a tight row, then jet across twice, then another tight tow, and so on?

[troyboy162]

might work well. hey is yours hard to free spool? i also read that the xrc8 can be improved with a grease change. they use some thick honey stuff in there that makes free spooling in the cold a real effort

[Ric]

anyone have pix of how syn. should be rolled up ?

[troyboy162]

just angled the wraps over the ones underneath is all you have to do. nothing fancy and really easier then making things tidy.

synthetic line (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_RXGYEYpbc#)

[Ric]

:thumbup: thankx

[L33T35T Tacoma]

might work well. hey is yours hard to free spool? i also read that the xrc8 can be improved with a grease change. they use some thick honey stuff in there that makes free spooling in the cold a real effort


Ya, the couple times I've used it, it's quite the task to pull the cable out with the clutch released. Many times I find myself bringing my truck close to the stuck vehicle, and with the winch's clutch released and the cable hooked on, backing up a good distance, letting my truck pull the winch cable out instead of pulling the cable out by hand.

What grease are people using? I don't know if I could get my winch out of there without pulling the bumper off.

[Seanz0rz]

mine is pretty hard to free spool when the weather is warm, i havent attempted such a feat in the cold.

i will likely replace my grease this summer. i was going to go with a high temp moly grease that i have sitting around. i believe it is this one, or very similar:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Valvoline-1-lb-453-592-g-Semi-Synthetic-Durablend-grease/_/N-25ap?aqs=4294863767&counter=4&itemIdentifier=56537_0_0_&viewAll=true

i purchased it as an assembly grease for doing ball joints and bushings and such.

im wondering how much is enough for that gearset? i guess when i pull it apart and pull the factory grease out ill attempt to measure it and replace it with an equal amount.

[troyboy162]

i just pulled it apart and it is nearly 100% full of grease from the factory. the grease they use is defiantly the cause of all the drag, but it looks like really nice super high pressure grease. i cleaned out what i could by paper towel but did not use break cleaner on it. then i filled it with the marine grease ive got. maybe it will spool a little faster but the stock grease is best for the winch id say. if you search it looks like we have t-max style gear sets so inherently they will spool a little tougher then other winches since the gears are all moving during free spool

[troyboy162]

worked the winch repeatedly last night on clawhammer. the messy roll is deffinatly the way to go.

[Scuba]

worked the winch repeatedly last night on clawhammer.

Thanks again man! Was a fun night even with the breakage!

[troyboy162]

no problem, just wish that thing would spool easier. i might douche out that grease and replace with gear oil, but i need to research that first so i dont mess it up.

[Seanz0rz]

i wouldnt replace with gear oil, just some high quality grease that is a little thinner than the tacky resin they put in there from the factory.

[troyboy162]

im gonna check out gear oil since that will offer the least resistance, but maybe a good flush and repack with normal grease would work good enough to make me happy. the freespool is a real chore as it stands. ive also got to figure out if paying out rope with the motor while in freespool damages the clutch just the same as it does when the winch is engaged.

if it dosnt damage it in freespool then heavey protective grease will allow it to pay out line while in freespool best. that works well enough but i dont understand the clutch side enough.