Synthetic Winch Rope recommendations

I'm an eyeball engineer (if it looks right, it works better). Comparing the two hooks, I like the gradual taper from the hook eye to the body better on the F55 than I do the machined/cast (whatever) crease where the eye meets the body. My logic...a crease/fold/score is a weak point in any surface, to my EYE, the SB version has a designed failure point. (That is probably all BS, just my opinion.)

I currently have some SB made items, so I'm not gunning for SB. I look at them like I do Harbor Freight, if it's something that I'm probably going to abuse, alter or destroy, I give the HB stuff a look. For example, when I was a heavy duty mechanic, if I needed to reshape the handle on a wrench to get to a fastener, I wasn't going to cut/weld/bend a Snap-On wrench if a $5 HB wrench would do the job.



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bob91yj said:
@BoldAdventure You wheel the bejeezus out of your rig, and you're not afraid of the rocks compared to most adventure travelers. I'm going to switch my '05 Jeep to synthetic one of these days. With your apparent love of Moab, I think I'd stick with wire rope over synthetic. Chaff guards should be used with either winch line, but in my experience wire rope will take the abuse of the rocks better than synthetic will when a chaff guard isn't an option, is misplaced, goofy pull, not enough guards, etc.
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Having done two recoveries there this year, I think it's a bit of a misunderstanding that you'd be dragging your rope over rocks. Not going to happen unless you are winching someone up a cliff face. Thinking about all the situations we were in and I can't think of a time where a winch line would be dragged over a rock.

I do hear the "rock" thing as a common reason to stick to steel.
 
Having spent a decade in the logging industry doing high lead and shotgun logging, I laugh when I hear folks talk about dragging ANY line over rocks. Sure, synthetic line is going to die on rocks but so will steel. Dragging steel lines across rocks is going to produce heat, sparks and damage to the line.

Is it more resistant to chafing? Sure. But to say it's OK to drag steel lines on rocks is a myth.
 
My thought is, are you buying the line for the 1 outta of 10 chance of XYZ situation were steel might have been better or the 9 outta 10 times when synthetic is useful.
 
I understand that it's still not a good idea to drag a steel line over rocks, but it is more forgiving if the situation comes up. I still use chaff guards with steel line when possible.
 
Even in straight polished aluminum it's a pretty piece of kit. Now I have to decide if I put it on now or wait for the new bumper and winch line in two months.
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I guess this is a tad off-topic, but does anyone have a solution to keep your shackles from falling off your vehicle? Other than don't drive around with them on. I just lost a Warn Epic shackle this weekend somewhere in Eastern Oregon. :(

And notice that they keep coming lose.
 
BoldAdventure said:
I guess this is a tad off-topic, but does anyone have a solution to keep your shackles from falling off your vehicle? Other than don't drive around with them on. I just lost a Warn Epic shackle this weekend somewhere in Eastern Oregon. :(

And notice that they keep coming lose.
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I either use a zip tie or a small piece of bailing wire. I prefer the wire since it is reusable
 
BoldAdventure said:
I guess this is a tad off-topic, but does anyone have a solution to keep your shackles from falling off your vehicle? Other than don't drive around with them on. I just lost a Warn Epic shackle this weekend somewhere in Eastern Oregon. :(

And notice that they keep coming lose.
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Normally, I don't keep them on the exterior of the vehicle but if I do I use a pry bar and torque the crap outta the pin so it can't rattle loose. I have a 7/8 Crosby shackle on the rear of the Ram with a 2.5 inch "Hitchlink" adapter from Factor 55. It's still there a year later.
 
I used good zip ties but eventually moved to not leaving them on because of noise and theft prevention
 
The loss happened while on a trail. I'd been taking them off to prevent theft at home. I'm paranoid.

Guess I could just not run them all the time. But they kinda complete the look of the bumper. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
woody said:
now here is an item SB could perfect and sell, plastic lightweight full race stage 6, shackle falsies? designer colors and available in hard or soft (noise reduction) material. ROFL
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:keyboard
 
BoldAdventure said:
The loss happened while on a trail. I'd been taking them off to prevent theft at home. I'm paranoid.

Guess I could just not run them all the time. But they kinda complete the look of the bumper. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Like I said, I torque mine on with a long flippin' pry bar. The average homie won't be able to un-torque it unless they had a similar tool which is unlikely.
 
An experience with synthetic. In a perfect world there would be no hunger and your winch line would always have the appropriate amount of tension... I let out too much slack when I dropped my plow blade. When I spooled it in, it created a birds nest and bound to the point that the rope snapped. The winch is buried in the front o f the UTV, making it extremely difficult to mess with. I "fixed" it yesterday. LOL. I lost ~15 feet of rope. Winch is rated at 3500lb.

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I tied a nice dressed figure 8 follow thru knot on what was left of the rope and the hook and kept on plowing:). This rope got no love for just one season and was in rough shape. I'm told I could break a steel ball in a rubber room:D
 
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