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Clean Your Synthetic Winch Rope with These Steps

cleaning-your-synthetic-winch-rope

There are many reasons why your synthetic winch rope can fail. A dirty winch line could be one of them. When dirt, mud and sand is caught between the 12 strand layers of rope it can cause abrasion. Abrasion is the most common reason for damaged winch rope or winch rope breakage issues. Maintaining and properly cleaning your winch rope will decrease damage and possible failure while potentially extending the life of the rope.

Following these few steps to properly clean your synthetic winch rope will help maintain the life of your TRE Synthetic Winch Rope! It  is best to clean your synthetic winch rope every time your winch line has came in contact with mud, sand, or dirt. Winch ropes are usually stored on the front bumper of most vehicles and subject to damage from chemicals and bugs caused during normal driving. While cleaning your winch rope, make sure to also inspect for abrasion issues, cut strands or any other damage.

How to Properly Clean your Synthetic Winch Rope:

  1. Remove your Synthetic Winch Rope from winch drum.
  2. Check the winch rope for any damage or signs of abrasion.
  3. Fill a clean bucket with warm water.
  4. You will want to submerge the winch rope into the warm water and compress the winch line together. Cleaning your winch rope with this method will loosen the dirt from the middle of the strands.
  5. Continue step 3 until the entire length of rope has been cleaned.
  6. Lay your TRE Synthetic Rope to dry.
  7. Spool Synthetic Winch Line back onto drum under tension while creating even layers and rows.

All TRE products made from synthetic rope can be cleaned using the above procedure including winch extensions and soft shackles

**Do not use a pressure wash, or a degreaser cleaner on winch rope. Also do not put your winch rope in the washing machine**

 

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Choosing the Correct Size Winch Rope for Your Winch?

safety thimble fairlead

It’s finally time to replace that worn out old steel winch cable? Or maybe your wanting to replace your current winch rope with one of ours? How do you choose the correct size winch rope?  What size diameter and length will fit on my winch? Many people assume that when they are purchasing a new winch rope for their winch,  they can get the largest and longest size they can find.  This is absolutely not true and can cause major damage to your winch.  If you want to know the details of this issue continue to read on, or you can go straight to our Winch Rope Conversion Chart to see what size winch rope is recommended for your particular winch model. If you don’t see your winch model, feel free to contact us!

Continue reading Choosing the Correct Size Winch Rope for Your Winch?

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How Do I Attach My Synthetic Winch Rope to My Winch Drum?

If you just purchased a new TRE Synthetic Winch Rope to replace your worn out, kinked, frayed, and rusty steel winch cable, you may be wondering how it will attach to your winch drum. Most standard self-recovery winches use a screw on style drum attachment on either side of the drum flange. Many times these are in the form of a crimped on electrical lug, a pressed aluminum tube, or a crimped terminal in the case of steel cable. While the drum attachment screw should never see a load, these inferior style winch rope drum attachments leave a lot to be desired. Also, very few, if any synthetic winch rope resellers include the necessary hardware to help finish off your installation! You can damage your winch if you use an attachment screw that is too long!

Continue reading How Do I Attach My Synthetic Winch Rope to My Winch Drum?

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Is Your Winch Bumper Ready For Use With A Synthetic Winch Rope? – Checking Your Fairlead Mount Opening

Improper Fairlead Mount Opening

So you’ve already made the switch to synthetic winch rope or plan on making the switch to synthetic. Or, you have used your new synthetic winch rope and it failed almost immediately? How about you see abrasion on the rope and you have no clue how it happened? Chances are the fairlead mount opening on your winch bumper is the incorrect size for use with synthetic winch rope.  The fairlead mount is where your Hawse Fairlead mounts to and your synthetic winch rope passes through from the winch drum. During the winching operation, your winch rope will pass through your winch fairlead opening.  While the Hawse Fairlead acts a guide for your winch rope, it is rare to get a perfectly straight pull all the time. So the rope must come in contact with a smooth surface on angled pulls to avoid abrasion which damages the synthetic winch rope. If the first thing the rope comes in contact with is the mount opening before the fairlead surface, you have a huge issue.  The single most important feature of your winch bumper is the fairlead mount opening size when making the switch to synthetic.  Many winch bumper manufactures overlook this detail.  The correct winch fairlead mount minimum opening for synthetic winch rope is 1.75″.  We typically see openings of 1″ to 1.25″, this is simply too small for using rope and must be addressed. Don’t risk breaking or damaging your new winch rope by overlooking this!

Continue reading Is Your Winch Bumper Ready For Use With A Synthetic Winch Rope? – Checking Your Fairlead Mount Opening