I've been wondering what happened to those. Not that particular kit/brand, but wheel winches in general. I've seen 'em on older (60s era) vehicles but they seemed to disappear. Land Rover used to offer them as an accessory maybe.
Come on now, just get a real winch and be done with it. That ground anchor is great if you’re stuck in a farmer’s field, other than that forget it.:fistlaugh:
:cheers2:
Hmmm I like it. It is reliable. I always go for reliability. Electric's can stop working at the worst of times, this is simple. Would be great to have as a backup at least.
Many Military hummers have a version of this already. There will be a place on the center of the wheel you can but a crow bar through and attach a rope. They don't issue a any rope to do this and I never tried it but it is in explained in a recovery manual somewhere. It is a much simpler and less expensive version of this. There is no ground anchor. The ground anchor they have is pretty slick.
Boy, wouldn't that be fun to hook up when your tires are under mud and water.
I sort of like the concept but at the same time I don't really get it. And for $800 it seems flipping nuts. Why not get a Warn or something along those lines?
As for why not a Warn... just some thoughts: This set-up....
Allows forward or back winching with the same equipment.
Can be moved between vehicles VERY quickly and fairly inexpensively. Handy if you have more than one vehicle you drive.
Can be installed on vehicles that would have a hard time supporting a Warn (Subaru Forester or the like) but which in many areas are used as snow and dirt drivers.
They claim pulls about 14,000lbs with mechanical advantage (which they always use)...pretty good for 30lbs or so of gear.
As for why not a Warn... just some thoughts: This set-up....
Allows forward or back winching with the same equipment.
Can be moved between vehicles VERY quickly and fairly inexpensively. Handy if you have more than one vehicle you drive.
Can be installed on vehicles that would have a hard time supporting a Warn (Subaru Forester or the like) but which in many areas are used as snow and dirt drivers.
Still not buying it, both actually buying it as well as not as a concept. . . .
As for the multiple vehicle argument . . . I do drive multiple vehicles, but I'm not mounting that on my BMW 330i. . . If that thing leaves the road then I'll have bigger problems then winching out.
And if you have multiple vehicles that you take offroading. . . or I should say, if you can afford multiple vehicles that you take offroading, then I'd think you could spare some coin for a second winch.
Ok on a Subaru Forester, I can sort of see that, . . . . but you probably shouldn't be driving that some place you'd need this.
As for retro appeal . . . out houses also have a certain retro appeal to them, one might argue, this doesn't mean I'd want to actually have it as my only option.
him said:
Historically they've been installed on plenty of vehicles that couldn't lock anything. You might get into trouble if you were stuck straddling something and spinning all four wheels though.
Um, that's when I need a winch. I've gotten stuck plenty of times where I have all four wheel spinning. At which case you'd need a locker to make this thing work properly, no?
Anyways, barring any of these other arguments I still wouldn't want to get out and set that up if my Jeeps sunk deep in a mud hole, or is perched precariously some how.
It's certainly an interesting device and I'm glad this was posted. But I still don't really get it.
Historically they've been installed on plenty of vehicles that couldn't lock anything. You might get into trouble if you were stuck straddling something and spinning all four wheels though.
It could act as a sort of torque assist. If you are spinning one wheel, mount the drum to that wheel. The load it puts on the spinning wheel should help transfer torque to the opposite tire. Similar to touching the brake pedal to gain traction, or electronic (brake based) traction control.
Seems to me It would break our favorite dana 35 axle shaft with ease. So then you might be stuck now with a broken shaft to top things off. ill stick with my ramsey!
I see the problem. You are seeing offroading as a recreational act, something you do by choice.
When I lived in ca my house was up in the mountains edging the Mojave desert. It was entirely possible to drive to work on pavement and have 20 miles of wet sometimes snowy dirt to cross getting back home. Roads closed, roads covered with inches+ of dirt and rocks, roads washed out.
That's rare in the USA. Not too rare, but rare. It's common in some areas. A forester will kick a wrangler's *** over 100,000 miles of that. As long as you can get unstuck in emergencies.
That's where I see this shining. You can swap it between your forester, audi a3, tacoma,etc depending on what you take to work that day, and it'll save your *** in a pinch.
I've gotten stuck plenty of times where I have all four wheel spinning.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Jeep Enthusiast Forums
18.5M posts
726.8K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to all jeep owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, engine swaps, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!