[jeepwayoflife]

Hey guys, quick question about switching to synthetic winch line. I was pulling some trees for a friend and didn't realize the weight of the tree was grinding the cable into the gravel and dirt as I pulled it back to his house. Ended up cutting through almost all of the line, leaving a frayed mess. Im taking this chance to upgrade to synthetic Viking 3/8 line.

Question is, my winch drum is scratched up from using the steel cable. Should I sand until smooth and repaint before installing the synthetic to avoid damage from the sharp cuts and scratches? I will also by changing my steel rollers to polyurethane rollers to protect the rope. Thanks!

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Just smooth out any burrs left on the drum & fairlead rollers with a file until they are smooth. Your fairlead's steel rollers can be used so long as you simply file/smooth them to remove any burrs... no need to replace them with polyurethane rollers unless they are just trashed. I've used nothing but the standard roller fair lead on both of my winches and several synthetic ropes... all of which were the same superb 3/8" from Viking you're getting.... good stuff!

 

[C.L.]

This may not be a bad time to pick up a Hawse fairlead. They look a little cleaner, and are usually made out of aluminium. One less thing to rust.

 

[Rubicondon53]

My reasoning for dumping the roller anchor is a bit different. 2 years ago it was time to shed as much weight as possible off of our rig, and from our camping gear, and start saving some fuel money on our long trips. Switching to synthetic line and going with an aluminum hawse fairlead cut about 32 lbs of weight off of our front end.. With all the other upgrades we shed over 250lbs of excessive weight, which increased our MPGs by 2 and our suspension, brakes and tires love us for doing so. And I sold the old roller anchor for 50 bucks on eBay.. ( paid for the hawse ).

 

[Moabrubi]

Was this a one time thing or do you always use your winch for stuff like this? Synthetic won't hold up to that abuse. Well I guess steel doesn't either.

 

[jeepwayoflife]

Hmm interesting option dumping the roller. Never really thought about switching that too. Something to think about. And no, this was just a one time thing really, some trees were cut down and my friend wanted the wood. I should have put some wood under it to stop this from happening, but you live and you learn! It seems to me that a roller would put even less wear on the rope as it rolls instead of dragging across. I know they are smooth, but doesn't it still wear it?

 

[Moabrubi]

Delrin rollers are nice for synthetic.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

It seems to me that a roller would put even less wear on the rope as it rolls instead of dragging across. I know they are smooth, but doesn't it still wear it?

A roller fairlead, whether the rollers are steel or Delrin, is much gentler on a rope and wears it much less than a hawse does.

 

[Warn Industries]

Just from our point of view, if you do a synthetic rope conversion on your WARN winch, we say to switch over to a hawse fairlead. We suggest our polished aluminum version, which is smoother than our non-polished version.

- Andy

 

[SinfulDragon]

Just from our point of view, if you do a synthetic rope conversion on your WARN winch, we say to switch over to a hawse fairlead. We suggest our polished aluminum version, which is smoother than our non-polished version.

- Andy

Why do you suggest the switch? And if the polished is better than the non polished due to it being smoother, why still offer a non polished?

Trying to find out if WARN has something to backup this suggestion, or if the next suggestion is to upgrade to the ZEON Winch, to better handle that synthetic line and match up to the polished aluminum hawse fairlead.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I agree with 99% of what Warn says but I don't go along with their suggestion that an aluminum hawse is needed for synthetic rope. Everyone used to think that when synthetic ropes started getting popular with offroad winch users but that was eventually disproven and few still recommend hawses now. Heck I even made the switch to an aluminum hawse maybe ten years ago but later switched back to my trusty roller fairlead. I suspect it will take Warn a long time to come around, they're a big corporation with a lot of lawyers to contend with.

 

[30-284]

Just from our point of view, if you do a synthetic rope conversion on your WARN winch, we say to switch over to a hawse fairlead. We suggest our polished aluminum version, which is smoother than our non-polished version.

- Andy

So then, what you are sayin is that it is better to skid my tires on the pavement than to allow my tires to roll for anything other than stopping.:nonono:

Donn

 

[IndyJeepMan]

The wear is negligble im sure, and the simplicity, cleanness and weight savings of a Hawse fairlead compared to that of a Roller are many reasons to switch. But either work just fine.

 

[in2jeep]

The way I understand it,with a polished aluminum hawse or delrin rollers,there is no possibly rough surface that can fray synthetic rope,there can be a Lot of pressure on a winch line during a pull

 

[Jerry Bransford]

The way I understand it,with a polished aluminum hawse or delrin rollers,there is no possibly rough surface that can fray synthetic rope,there can be a Lot of pressure on a winch line during a pull

And with smooth non-burred rollers in a roller fair lead, there is even less friction and chance of damage.

 

[C.L.]

this was just a one time thing really, some trees were cut down and my friend wanted the wood. I should have put some wood under it to stop this from happening, but you live and you learn!

If you run into that again, just chain the tree to your tow hook or D-ring. If you don't have that much chain, wrap the chain around the tree several times, then loop it through a tow strap.

Worst case scenario, sacrifice the $20 tow strap to the ground rather than the winch line.