How the Winch Works

Winch Mechanics

Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with your Warn winch and its components,we can begin reviewing how it works. The major advantage of an electric-powered winch is that it can provide reliable service for intermittent utility and recreational use even while the vehicle’s engine is stalled — assuming, of course, that sufficient battery current is available. Your winch can operate at high current loads, and, for this reason, the control box uses a high current control system to safely handle the current flow.

It is important to understand that the longer the pull, the more heat that is created, just like a hot plate. Prolonged winching without cooling the winch motor will damage the motor. Also, if the engine is idling during winching, the battery may drain faster than it is

charging. So pay close attention to your voltage gauge to make sure you aren’t draining your battery too low to start your vehicle.

Control Of Your Winch
The winch is controlled by the handheld remote control to allow the operator to stand clear while controlling the winching process. The remote control provides control of the forward or reverse rotation of the spooling drum.

How the Winch Reacts to Load
Warn winches are rated by pulling capacity. The maximum pulling capacity occurs on the first layer of wire rope on the drum. As the layers increase, the pulling power decreases. It’s the mathematics of winching. Exceeding the winch capacity could cause the winch to fail or the wire rope to break. Thinking through how you intend to use your winch now, could save you a big headache later.

In addition, you’ll also want to make sure that your winch’s mounting system and your vehicle’s frame can accommodate the rated load of your winch.

So analyze your situation. Use your judgement to calculate how much weight you intend to pull. Calculate the gross weight and multiply by 1.5 and then do not exceed the rating of your winch or wire rope.

Source: WARN - The Basics Guide To Winching Techniques

Getting familiar with your winch

Simplified from Warn – Basic Guide to Winching Techniques

You should familiarize yourself with your winch and each of its components: Practice using your winch before using it on the trail.

1. Motor Typically the winch motor is powered by the vehicle’s battery.The motor provides power to the gear mechanism, which turns the winch drum and winds the wire rope.

2. Winch Drum The winch drum is the cylinder onto which the wire rope feeds. The drum is driven by the motor and drive train. Its direction can be changed using the remote control.

3. Wire Rope The wire rope’s diameter and length are determined by the winch’s load capacity and design. Wrapped around the winch drum and fed through the fairlead, the wire rope is looped at the end to accept the hook’s clevis pin.

4. Fairlead When using the winch at an angle, the fairlead (or wire lead) acts to guide the wire rope onto the spooling drum. It minimizes damage to the wire rope while it goes through the winch mount or bumper.

5. Gear Train The reduction gear converts the winch motor power into a large pulling force.The gear train design makes it possible for the winch to be lighter and more compact.

6. Braking System The brake is automatically applied to the winch drum when the winch motor is stopped and there is load on the wire rope.The brake prevents the winch from paying out line, which in turn holds the vehicle in place.

7. Clutch The clutch allows the operator to manually disengage the spooling drum from the gear train, enabling the drum to rotate freely (known as “freespooling”). Engaging the clutch “locks” the winch drum back onto the gear train.

8. Control Box Using electrical power from the vehicle’s battery, the control box solenoids switch power to the motor, enabling the operator to change the direction of the winch drum rotation.

9. Remote Control The remote control plugs into the winch control box, allowing the operator to control the winch direction, as well as stand well clear of the wire rope while operating the winch.

Tips for Improved Tyre Life

For 4WD vehicles owner who sometimes bring his car to off-road condition, choosing a type of tyres to be suite in the vehicles can become a dilemma, H/T, A/T, or M/T? As some surveys said that 80% of 4WD vehicles used in sealed/asphalt road, here some advice to improved your 4WD tyre life.

• Purchase tyres correctly to suit your driving requirements and amount off-road use.
• Always set tyre pressure to manufacturer's recommended specification.
• For uniformity, try to set the pressure when the tyres are cold and use your own, good quality gauge.
• Don't forget to check your spare.
• Keep an eye on the condition and wear rates of the tyres a regular intervals.
• Rotate the tyres at 10,000 km at the latest to give even front to rear wear.
• Have the wheel alignment and balance corrected if tyres are showing uneven wear.
• Drive to suite the road conditions. Slow down in rough or rocky conditions.
• if using heavy A/T or M/T tyres on hot sealed road, reduce vehicles speed to limit heat build-up in the tyres.
• Limit your use of soft compound M/T tyres to soft tracks and sand as they can wear rapidly on sealed roads at speed.