Just curious about wench sizing. I have heard from jeep owners that you use a wench rated 2X you GRV. I personally think is is way too high. My GRV is 10,000 ibs. That would mean a weight rating of 20,000 lbs wench rating. WOW. Any thoughts on this and reasons for the weight class.

 

A viking asking about a good, stout wench...Too funny

 

Sorry, don't know much about wenches or winches, but one thing I can tell you is that it's not that socially acceptable to get a "heavy" wench.

 

i was thinkung the same thing. you beat me to it.

 

LMAO!! I don't like my wenches too big. Then again, I don't like 'em too skinny either....

 

I'm a fan of about 5'4", 115-135lbs or so. The good, stout ones scare me

As for winches, the good stout ones are the only way to go. Load your truck up to how you will typically use it and drive to the local scales, get an actual weight. multiply this by 1.5-2 and that's what pulling capacity you need.

Now, you can buy a winch that big OR you can buy a winch that's 1/2 the size, but you'll have to be prepared to use a ****** block if you're doing a heavy pull.


IMO, the best balance is a good, fast 8-9K winch, a 20k ****** block, and an extra 100' of appropriately sized cable.

 

My wench preference is 32 24 32 about 5'5 and 110-130lbs

As for winches you need to know your loaded truck weight. Then YES go at minimum 1.5 X that.

Google winch off road use.

Some things to think about:

Winches lose pulling power for ever layer of line the first wrap on the drum is what the max rating is based on it goes down from there.

If you stick a 9,000lb truck in mud you will need double that plus to pull it out to over come the suction of the mud.

If you are trying to pull up hill gravity can add a lot of resistance.

If you only plan on using it once or twice a year do what the guy below said get an extra cable and 2-3 ****** blocks. Get more than one sometimes you need to change the direction your pull or really up your rating with a 9000lb winch and three ****** blocks and the line pulled the whole way out you can pull something like 30,000+lbs!


*** No matter what you get remember to per-load your winch after it is mounted find a hill with a good tree at the top and unwind you winch the whole way put truck in Neutral and pull it up to the tree.

I leave my winch cable out about 2 feet and hook it on one of the tow hooks

Those two feet I have wrapped in only hose and duct tape to make it easier to handle.

Keep you winch covered when not using it.


If you only use it a few times a year a cheap winch will do and will last for many years but if your going to use it lots spend the money and get a good one.

 

Unfortunately far too many dealers and even some importers & manufacturers are "rating" their winches based on supposed 'pulling power' which refers to the capacity to pull a "rolling load" - this lets them rate a winch at about five times the actual line pull and even that is based on the line pull for the first wind of cable on an empty drum.

This is fine if you plan to use your winch to pull your out-of-fuel truck along a level road until you reach the gas station (or run the battery dead, which almost certainly comes first).

If your idea of a winch is to get unstuck from snow or mud where you have just lost traction but have not sunk the truck, you can get by with a line pull about equal to your actual gross vehicle weight -- or even 1/2 your vehicle weight if you are pulling the vehicle back out the way it went in and still have power to the wheels.

Once you get the truck sunk down that anything besides just the wheels are touching the ground, the amount of pull you need doubles and goes up from there if you get really stuck.

Don't forget to have a way to attach the winch cable back to the truck when using the snatchblock to double the line pull AND a way to anchor the snatchblock. Whatever you use to attach the cable to the truck needs to be able to stand the single line pull force, and whatever you use to anchor the snatchblock needs to be able to stand the double line pull force.

With a winch that can provide a 7500 pound line pull, you need the which itself mounted to stand the 7500 pound force, and a way to attach the end of the cable back to the truck that can also stand a 7500 pound force, and a way to anchor the ****** block that can withstand the 15000 pound force.

A strong winch, a good snatchblock, and a thoroughly stuck truck equal a recipe for pulling down a good sized tree!

Throw in two pair of heavy gloves, several appropriately sized shackles, and make sure you have a way to operate the winch without being anywhere near the cable in case the whole mess comes apart.

 

For a Superduty, you should be considering a 12k or a 15-16k. For most people a 12k will be fine. For the habitual stuckee, a 15-16k will be better.

Of course, there are all kinds of other reasons for a winch besides recovering vehicles, so consider your intended purpose.

The headviking usually gets the best selection of wench, and often owns more than one.

 

Sorry about the wench. Should have typed winch as some of you picked up on. Yes it is too funny.

 

12K or better if you want to make sure your rig will come out. OR get smart using some pulleys and straps. Swap the wire cable out for some of that super cool synthetic line stuff.

 

I'm not sold on the syn rope. I remember reading the advantages were they were lighter and more flexible. On the down side, they "stretched" faster and were easier to abraid, both reduce the life of the rope.

And by the way, I went 12k. It would be nice to have a 16.5k, but I haven't needed any more than the 12 so far and I really didn't need it then.

 

I fixed the thread title

It'll help others find this thread, lots of good info in here for all SD owners !

 

I have been meaning to revisit an earlier post with something a bit longer & more substantial, but time just has not been on my side lately. Rather than repost that earlier post, I will simply say go here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ml#post7611869

 

I have 8000 lbs winch on my Jeep Wrangler. Then again, even with this winch I have had to get pulled out of mud pits, it’s called air suction (much like a portable GPS latching on to your windshield), dig a air gap, messy shoe or no shoe, dirty pants, dirty shirt, messy Jeep and finally wife wants to where this is all heading!!!...the learning continues….
Well, truck don't do Monkey stunts like Jeeps do, so, my take is that you are good to go with as little as 12K and higher.