Type Of Line On Winch?

dkpeppard · July 10, 2009

I recently purchased a 2000 GMC Sierra SLE. It has a Warn winch on it with rope and a hook, not cable. I am not that familiar with winches. It is ok to have rope instead of cable? I have no idea what kind of line it came with, but my thinking is with the rope being exposed to the elements, such as rain and snow, the rope would weaken. With my lcuk, I'd actually need to use it and the rope would break because it had been exposed to the elements.

I've attached a picture of the truck for reference.

Let me know your thoughts and thanks in advance!

Draenor · July 10, 2009

I didn't know they used rope.

I am sure Warn has done extensive test on what they use and wouldn't put something that would wear out or wasn't durable.

Here is what I found skimming some sites.

The 100-foot winch rope is completed with the addition of a rugged hook that is mated to a 360-degree swivel and thimble, and a “Ballistic Nylon” sliding sleeve that provides extra protection against abrasion and wear. In addition, the winch rope comes with a new Hawse fairlead. The Warn Synthetic Winch Rope is designed for use on winches with rated capabilities of 9500 lbs. or less. It can be installed in under an hour and is a great replacement for your worn and damaged cable. It can stand up to any rock crawling challenge while reducing winch weight and fairlead wear and tear.

dkpeppard · July 10, 2009

I didn't know they used rope.

I am sure Warn has done extensive test on what they use and wouldn't put something that would wear out or wasn't durable.

Here is what I found skimming some sites.

The 100-foot winch rope is completed with the addition of a rugged hook that is mated to a 360-degree swivel and thimble, and a "Ballistic Nylon" sliding sleeve that provides extra protection against abrasion and wear. In addition, the winch rope comes with a new Hawse fairlead. The Warn Synthetic Winch Rope is designed for use on winches with rated capabilities of 9500 lbs. or less. It can be installed in under an hour and is a great replacement for your worn and damaged cable. It can stand up to any rock crawling challenge while reducing winch weight and fairlead wear and tear.

Thanks for the fast reply. I appreciate your research and feedback. This is a 9500 lb winch (I believe). I feel better seeing "Warn synthetic rope" and not thinking it was just something the previous owner threw on there. The hook and eyelet look professional so I thought it was probably for that winch, but I wanted some feedback from others to make sure.

blankey · July 10, 2009

I don't know much about winches but I know synthetic ropes seem be getting more popular. They make them in assorted sizes just like steel cables. If your concerned about it I'd pull out a length of it and look it over and if it looks fine then I don't think you need to worry about replacing it.

The biggest thing I know about the difference is you have to use a Hawse fairlead with a synthetic rope.

dkpeppard · July 10, 2009

The biggest thing I know about the difference is you have to use a Hawse fairlead with a synthetic rope.

Thanks.

What is a "Hawse fairlead?"

leboyd · July 10, 2009

I recently purchased a 2000 GMC Sierra SLE. It has a Warn winch on it with rope and a hook, not cable. I am not that familiar with winches. It is ok to have rope instead of cable? I have no idea what kind of line it came with, but my thinking is with the rope being exposed to the elements, such as rain and snow, the rope would weaken. With my lcuk, I'd actually need to use it and the rope would break because it had been exposed to the elements.

I've attached a picture of the truck for reference.

Let me know your thoughts and thanks in advance!

My guess is that this is winch rope. This much better than cable as it is smaller and lighter. I have no idea how to test the strength of it, but you could probably search on the net for winch rope and compare the pictures with your rope to see what you have.

blankey · July 10, 2009

The biggest thing I know about the difference is you have to use a Hawse fairlead with a synthetic rope.

Thanks.

What is a "Hawse fairlead?"

You have a Hawse fairlead on there. The other option would be a Roller fairlead (which has 4 rollers by the name sake). I also looked up the synthetic rope and it seems to have a much higher strength than steel cable, plus added benefits of not kinking, fraying and such.

Spurshot · July 10, 2009

One big plus of a synthetic rope (probably Spectra or another super strength fiber) is that when they break, they're supposed to be much safer than a steel cable when they snap.

As far as how resistant to the elements they are, I suspect that UV may have some effect on their longevity, but don't really know. They manufacturers probably have something on their websites.

700 sportsman · July 11, 2009

I have it on my fourwheeler winches, and it is great, for several reasons, it doesn't kink or crease from the sharp angle the cable is at when plowing snow, also it is very strong, my 1/4" rope has 9,500lb. breaking strength, which is plenty for my 3,000 lb atv winch, also, like Chuck said, if it would happen to snap, it doesn't recoil at all, I know this from experience, because I had a fray in the rope, were it got wound off the edge of the spool, and when I was winching out of a pretty sticky mud hole it snapped, and just fell straight down, no backlash what so ever, and when it busts, it is fairly easy to fix, check out this thread from a jeep site:

http://www.rockymountainextreme.com/showthread.php?t=24628

also the warn rope is not supposed to be harmed by the sun, and it will also float on water

Also, if you have problems with the hook flopping around, or getting stuck in the fairlead, you can get a rubber winch stopper, like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12000lb-Rec...sQ5fAccessories, I know it shows cable, but it works great for both

IMO it is very good stuff