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Re greased my old winch. Looking for some other ideas.
I spent (far too long) hunched over dirty mineral spirits and gears. I'm happy with the end product, from gluey mess to greasy mess.
This winch came with my truck, it's old and beat up, so I figured it needs a lot of maintenance. It does work.
I also plan to paint the bumper.
That brings me to my question, what should I do to the motor? There's some very fine glitter and black crud in there (graphite?) should I spray anything in there, like wd40 or silicone?
Also how does the 4x4 crowd feel about rattle canning one of these?
(Warn M8000)
It only has one of those cross bars because one of the corners is broken.
I currently have it out of the truck, so hit me with some ideas of what to do to breathe some life into this old thing.
That glitter looks like brush and motor/commutator glitter. I would use some compressed air and wear a face mask and eye pro. You could use some spray contact cleaner, and maybe a little bit of WD afterwards. Sure rattle can it, use some Rustoleum.
With it removed I would try to repair the missing cross bar, and then NOT hook the hook back to either of them. Get a winch cable stopper, the rubber one is nice.
And or come up with a better place to anchor the hook. Like a mtal tab welded on the bumper and or also use a clevis for the finial attachment... so if you run the winch down to tight, you can remove the clevis pin to get some slack.
Some times when you run them down tight, you can not get the clutch back into "free wheel/spool". Sure reverse/power out works, but I had a 1/2 broke "winch in" only one time and that was my trick.
Now get a old classic Warn 8274 and rebuild that monster. I had one once and like a dummy sold it....but at least it was to my buddy. Think about being able to use you winch in more than the ONE fixed front position.
I made my Superwinch 9K where I can mount it on the rear, front and even sides of my Bronco. I built rock sliders and incorporated a reciever hitch in line with the tube. I can mount it on the front of either flat bed / car hauler trailer. I can mount it in any vehicle with a rear receiver hitch. I have QD power cable that have clamps like jumper cables.
Now get a old Warn 8274 and rebuild that monster. I had one and like a dummy sold it....but at least it was to my budy.
The more I read about these things, the more I like mine. Sure it isn't new and shiny, or the most powerful, but it didn't cost me anything and it was stupid easy to take apart.
That is a badass bronco, it definitely would be handy to be able to run the winch from the front and rear.
You did great on that winch. The brushes and armature look good, so I would expect that the motor works fine. If not, it’s a Warn! They can rebuild or replace that motor and make it like new for reasonable money. That’s why both my winches aren’t from TSC.
If it were mine I would change it to synthetic cable. It’s safer and easier to deal with. That said, I have a new steel cable that was on the unused M8000 on my Jeep when I bought it recently. I replaced it with synthetic and it works great, but you can have the old cable for the cost of shipping if you want to stay with steel. I’m not sure if your winch requires more cable than the 8000. I’ll let you research that and if you want it, PM me. Again synthetic cable is a great upgrade!
You did great on that winch. The brushes and armature look good, so I would expect that the motor works fine. If not, it’s a Warn! They can rebuild or replace that motor and make it like new for reasonable money. That’s why both my winches aren’t from TSC.
If it were mine I would change it to synthetic cable. It’s safer and easier to deal with. That said, I have a new steel cable that was on the unused M8000 on my Jeep when I bought it recently. I replaced it with synthetic and it works great, but you can have the old cable for the cost of shipping if you want to stay with steel. I’m not sure if your winch requires more cable than the 8000. I’ll let you research that and if you want it, PM me. Again synthetic cable is a great upgrade!
It does work! which is why I've chosen to give it some time and money. I agree synthetic is the safer option, however I don't utilize the winch often enough to feel that's quite necessary, plus I like the UV resistance of steel. I will look into those weights you drape over the cable though.
I can't PM you, you might need to swap some settings to allow messages. I would take that cable off your hands, as my winch is an M8000 as well. (100' 5/16)
I started posting on this forum about 20 years ago under the moniker MBDiagMan and posted thousands of times over the years. Was away for a while and when I came back I could never get in under that account. I created this account and this is only my fourth post under the new name, so that’s probably why they won’t let you PM me. Give it a few days.
i understand your hesitancy to hassle with keeping the rope out of the Sun. I keep both my 4x4’s indoors when not in use and I layed everything out with the winch so that there is minimum exposure when it is outside. Many years ago, I had a steel cable come loose and it was a close, so I happily go to the trouble and expense of synthetic cable and all the soft shackles, recovery rings and the other stuff. All that said, a new cable for you might help. I’m happy to get it to someone that can make use of it.
There was zero seal, now there's a bit of seal. Didn't mean to pull the armature out, but I was able to get the brushes back on with some toothpicks and finagling. I don't think I damaged them. Reused the bearing. The castings are a little different, but there's no issues with fitment. Tie rods coming in the mail.
If anyoneneeds a crusty, but perfectly usable drum support (supports 1 tie rod), free + shipping it's yours.
Most of my prep work was 100 grit sandpaper and elbow grease. It's not perfect, but it sure isn't bad. This thing still shows its age, but being probably 30 years old, I'm ok with that. (The one bent tie rod was steel, new ones are aluminum, and Warn can't remember when they switched)
Anyways, here it is, my first real rattle can job.
Before:
After:
The only parts I bought were the motor drum support (used), and the tie rods (new)
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