Offroad-Express

I've been reading some posts about safty & winching from towballs etc. My question is....
I have just brought a 4x4 and it has no tow hooks on the back but I have got a tow bar with a removable towball, I also have another towball attachment which slides into the towbar, this has a hook on it. Would this be suffice for rear wards winching or dragging me out of a bog hole? Also I unwound all of my winch cable to inspect it & then wound it back up, but have just read that I shouldn't have done that as it is now not wound on under load and that is bad. Is this true?

The rear tow hook should be fine as long as it is rated 10,000kg or more and fixed with grade 8.8 bolts. I dont know what the rest of the fitting looks like tho
I have a mate with a long gentle sloping driveway that has an old stretch strop fixed to at the top. I unwind the winch rope and put the truck in neutral with no hand brake. Then winch the rope in using the weight of the truck to apply a load to the rope and ensure some tension as its wound in, works fine.
If you dont and have loose cable on the drum it will bind up when winching in anger.

Cheers

catalystracing wrote:The rear tow hook should be fine as long as it is rated 10,000kg or more and fixed with grade 8.8 bolts. I dont know what the rest of the fitting looks like tho
I have a mate with a long gentle sloping driveway that has an old stretch strop fixed to at the top. I unwind the winch rope and put the truck in neutral with no hand brake. Then winch the rope in using the weight of the truck to apply a load to the rope and ensure some tension as its wound in, works fine.
If you dont and have loose cable on the drum it will bind up when winching in anger.

Cheers

Thanks good idea - my neighbour has a slope I could attach to his tractor and winch up to it, I have never winched before so do I leave the motor going or will it just wind up on battery.

Winch in with the engine running, so you don't drain your battery. Also makes it easier to adjust the steering while you are winching in.
You can do the same on flat ground, just put the handbrake on a few clicks to put some drag on the brakes.

Smurf wrote:Winch in with the engine running, so you don't drain your battery. Also makes it easier to adjust the steering while you are winching in.
You can do the same on flat ground, just put the handbrake on a few clicks to put some drag on the brakes.

Thanks Smurf
Haven't even played with her yet - Such a newbie, Can't wait

Tonkatoy. wrote:I unwound all of my winch cable to inspect it & then wound it back up, but have just read that I shouldn't have done that as it is now not wound on under load and that is bad. Is this true?

if its synthetic rope (especially overbraid) the tighter you can spool it onto the drum the less it'll try and cut down through the layers when under tension while winching, it dosent cause a problem winching its when you go to spool out you'll find you wont be able to get the rope wound back off the drum, if you've got steel cable you just need to spool it on using a hand (with a glove ) to hold enough tension to spool it onto the drum it wont cut down through the layers under load like a synthetic rope will

derk wrote:

Tonkatoy. wrote:I unwound all of my winch cable to inspect it & then wound it back up, but have just read that I shouldn't have done that as it is now not wound on under load and that is bad. Is this true?

if its synthetic rope (especially overbraid) the tighter you can spool it onto the drum the less it'll try and cut down through the layers when under tension while winching, it dosent cause a problem winching its when you go to spool out you'll find you wont be able to get the rope wound back off the drum, if you've got steel cable you just need to spool it on using a hand (with a glove ) to hold enough tension to spool it onto the drum it wont cut down through the layers under load like a synthetic rope will

Thanks yes it is steel cable

Tonkatoy. wrote:Thanks yes it is steel cable

go find yourself a thick leather glove that shit hurts when the broken sprags of cable rip through the palm of your hand

derk wrote:

Tonkatoy. wrote:Thanks yes it is steel cable

go find yourself a thick leather glove that shit hurts when the broken sprags of cable rip through the palm of your hand

Ha Ha Thanks that explains why the old owner gave me a whole lot of strops & things that I have no idea what they are for but also a pair of gloves - and I just thought he didn't want to get dirty hands.
Anyone down in Canterbury way know a guy Tom that had a burgundy jeep wrangler with rough country on my bonnet, if so that's the one I brought.

That'll be the one with aftermarket flares and probably Mickey Thompson MTZs on??
Awesome wee truck - shame he sold it... wondered why I hadn't seen him out lately.
You'll love it, if you have any questions on it, my local garage did all the upgrades on it

Still Unbroken wrote:That'll be the one with aftermarket flares and probably Mickey Thompson MTZs on??
Awesome wee truck - shame he sold it... wondered why I hadn't seen him out lately.
You'll love it, if you have any questions on it, my local garage did all the upgrades on it

That's the one, It's now up here, I brought it on trade me without even looking at it - I had a bit of trouble with the 4x4 (damaged bearing and shaft), but that has been all fixed up now so looking forward to seeing how it goes off road.

Tonkatoy. wrote:I've been reading some posts about safty & winching from towballs etc. My question is....
I have just brought a 4x4 and it has no tow hooks on the back but I have got a tow bar with a removable towball, I also have another towball attachment which slides into the towbar, this has a hook on it. Would this be suffice for rear wards winching or dragging me out of a bog hole?

As people have said above, providing it is a rated tow hook and attached with 8.8 bolts and a few other things make sure the complete tow bar is attached correctly to the chassis and that it wont fold in half if pulled to hard.

The problem with tow balls is when they let go it makes one hell of a missle to try kill people.

If the whole bar lets go and rips out part of the chassis then it makes a bigger missle to take people out, just check out the fittings that attach it to the chassis and see if it has enough bolts each side and sandwhich plates to spread the load. I would think at a minimium 4 x 8.8 bolts each side m12's with sandwhich plates would be suitable.

The next bit of advice is make sure its not a flimsy tow bar and if you pull it in the middle to hard it wont fold in half and bend your chassis with it.

This is not to try scare you off but just give some warning, i see you have done some reading and snatching/winching can potentially go wrong with tragic results.

The above is only a guide and hard to tell on individual setups without seeing some pictures.

One last thing make sure you get a winch dampner or use a heavy blanket when winching.

trucked wrote:

Tonkatoy. wrote:I've been reading some posts about safty & winching from towballs etc. My question is....
I have just brought a 4x4 and it has no tow hooks on the back but I have got a tow bar with a removable towball, I also have another towball attachment which slides into the towbar, this has a hook on it. Would this be suffice for rear wards winching or dragging me out of a bog hole?

As people have said above, providing it is a rated tow hook and attached with 8.8 bolts and a few other things make sure the complete tow bar is attached correctly to the chassis and that it wont fold in half if pulled to hard.

The problem with tow balls is when they let go it makes one hell of a missle to try kill people.

If the whole bar lets go and rips out part of the chassis then it makes a bigger missle to take people out, just check out the fittings that attach it to the chassis and see if it has enough bolts each side and sandwhich plates to spread the load. I would think at a minimium 4 x 8.8 bolts each side m12's with sandwhich plates would be suitable.

The next bit of advice is make sure its not a flimsy tow bar and if you pull it in the middle to hard it wont fold in half and bend your chassis with it.

This is not to try scare you off but just give some warning, i see you have done some reading and snatching/winching can potentially go wrong with tragic results.

The above is only a guide and hard to tell on individual setups without seeing some pictures.

One last thing make sure you get a winch dampner or use a heavy blanket when winching.

Thanks yes I have done some reading and this is why I want to get as much info as possible before hitting the dirt.
The truck has been used a bit around Canterbury with this set up so I would assume it is done right but will look for all these things before the weekend.

Thanks again

This truck has been well set up with a strong towbar and the detachable hook in the middle is fully rated... He has done some heavy snatching with that hook and no problems. He belonged to our club and we have yearly vehicle inspections by qualified wof guys who go over all the recovery points, winch mounts, and gear etc.
So have a good look at all the points mentioned above and then be confident that your new wee toy will more than mix it with the big boys
Also The lsd has already been shimmed once... not sure how it's performing now but may also need an upgrade at some stage...
I know he was looking at options and was leaning towards the way I set mine up - I run Eaton Truetrac's front and rear and really like them. For a person new to 4WD's, my personal opinion would be that they are ideal. No buttons or levers, just point and shoot . Do a google search and ask around about them.
All the best

Still Unbroken wrote:This truck has been well set up with a strong towbar and the detachable hook in the middle is fully rated... He has done some heavy snatching with that hook and no problems. He belonged to our club and we have yearly vehicle inspections by qualified wof guys who go over all the recovery points, winch mounts, and gear etc.
So have a good look at all the points mentioned above and then be confident that your new wee toy will more than mix it with the big boys
Also The lsd has already been shimmed once... not sure how it's performing now but may also need an upgrade at some stage...
I know he was looking at options and was leaning towards the way I set mine up - I run Eaton Truetrac's front and rear and really like them. For a person new to 4WD's, my personal opinion would be that they are ideal. No buttons or levers, just point and shoot . Do a google search and ask around about them.
All the best

Thanks heaps Still Unbroken,

Call me paranoid but I don't want to end up in the Hall of Fame - Muppets forum for not having the right gear

Now I just have to find some mud and someone to come with me

I'm sure there's no shortage of mud around our area after that weather lol. Sounds like a well built truck someone should have no problems going for a play and showing you what all the gear is for. Unfortunately not me my rig is still waiting on some bits to be finished off, hopefully catch you out there someday tho