Synthetic winch line question

hovenator

Explorer
I am going to install synthetic line on my Viking GS-9 (ComeUp DV-9s). Do I get 3/8 X 80', or 3/8 X 100'? The DV-9s comes from the factory with 100', but was told I would get more pulling power only loading it with 80'. I am a novice when it comes to winches and am now confused on which length to get. I would greatly appreciate any advice and real world info from the experts.

Thank you!
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
I like to put a short length on the winch and then have several extensions of different lengths. Most of the time you are going to be spooling out 30-40' or so. When you need more than that, just add in an extension.
 

jadmt

ignore button user
I agree get the 80’ besides more pulling power it is also easier to spool in neatly.
 

ArkansasDon

Observer
this is interesting. I just put on 95ft. of new 3\8" synthetic winch line. The company I bought mine from claims 18,500 lbs laboratory tested breaking strength. My question is " if I only spool out only 30 to 40ft as mention in the above post & use extensions I would get more pulling power w\o risk of breaking?
 

jadmt

ignore button user
this is interesting. I just put on 95ft. of new 3\8" synthetic winch line. The company I bought mine from claims 18,500 lbs laboratory tested breaking strength. My question is " if I only spool out only 30 to 40ft as mention in the above post & use extensions I would get more pulling power w\o risk of breaking?
no the way you get more pulling power is to have less wraps on the drum. ie a 10K winch only gets 10K of pulling power is with only the first wrap on the drum. The more wraps on the drum the less pulling power. so the shorter the winch line is to begin with the less line that will be wrapped around the drum if that makes sense. Also the longer the rope the tougher it is to keep the rope spooling neatly on the drum.

if you have 95' of rope and only spool out 30' you will have less pulling power than if you have say 50' of rope and spool out 40' to begin your pull.
 

craig333

Expedition Leader
I made the mistake of putting 125' feet on my winch. This time I looked it up. Warn recommends 75-80' for my winch. At least I'm not too old to learn something.
 

homeguy

Observer
I’ve got a 9.5 cti and it has 125’ of cable. I’ll be going to a synthetic soon and only putting on 85’


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

rnArmy

Adventurer
I have a Warn M-8000. It came with 100 feet of 5/16" steel cable (we're talking like 10 years ago). It got a bad kink in the cable recently, so I decided to replace the steel cable with 100 feet of synthetic 3/8" line (I also replaced the aluminum rollers with poly rollers). I almost ran out of space on my winch's spool when putting it on! I probably should have gone with 80 feet of synthetic line. The kink in my steel cable is at about the half-way point; I can cut the cable at the kink and put a loop in there to use it as an extension.winch line synthetic.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: WVI

jadmt

ignore button user
So wait until you have to make a long pull at an angle and can’t control,how nice that line spools on you will have issues with it hitting the supports. I’ve watched so many guys have that problem
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
wouldn't you then just have to take the time to de-couple and re-spool and reset for the remaining pull? And wouldn't the off angle pull be a problem like that even with steel cable? I mean it's the geometry more than the type of line.
 

jadmt

ignore button user
wouldn't you then just have to take the time to de-couple and re-spool and reset for the remaining pull? And wouldn't the off angle pull be a problem like that even with steel cable? I mean it's the geometry more than the type of line.

it is the amount of line on the spool that is the problem. when you really need your winch you don't always have the luxury of repositioning your jeep or even the anchor point. In that photo even perfectly spooled it is almost touching the supports. It does look pretty tho.
 

J!m

Active member
Wound under full tension might help compress it.

Which brings the thought from another thread I think- using less cable to constantly run to the first wrap for highest torque.

When I re-wrapped my Husky10 (actually never had steel on it since new) but the point is even with a longer rope than the original cable, I did not hit the supports. The synthetic compresses onto the drum and onto itself much better than steel cable, which remains round.

So although you may be at a layer count that might suggest a certain reduction, that is based on a non compressing steel cable. With synthetic, the diameter does not change as much.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,531
Messages
2,875,592
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top