RebelJeeper

So I went off-roading yesterday for the first time since I got my winch (lesson #1 - don't go by yourself) and got stuck - of course - on the very last hole as I was about to leave to go home. Thank God for Warn, cause it saved me from 3' of water bottomed out in a mud hole! Lesson #2 - after getting past the fact that it's cool that you can pull the carpet and drain plugs out, after 3 hours of interior cleaning (insert insults here ), it's no fun having to do that, at least imho Anyways, during the recovery, the cable got pinched in a couple of places and by pinched I mean more along the lines of flattened somewhat. Do I need to replace it or will it be okay for continued use as long as I keep an eye on it? Anybody got experience with this?

Sorry I don't have pictures of me actually stuck - it was my first time and I was kinda freakin' out 'cause I was by myself, etc. But I do have some from when I got home. But, I don't have enough posts to post pics anyway At least I have a cool story to tell and everybody - including the Jeep - is okay!

TEEJ

IF THE LINE GOT kinked, as when wire rope ends up with a sharp bend in it, its a weak point after that...and it could snap w/o warning there in the future.

:(

When spooling the line in, you want to keep tension on it, and guide it onto the drum so that it doesn't get kinked, etc.

If its synthetic line, then its very forgiving of that stuff.

So - you MIGHT have screwed the pooch on the recovery...or not, depending upon the exact type of damage...can you shoot a few pics of the line parts in question?

RebelJeeper

The line itself didn't get "kinked", but the first few feet of recovery, the line was under water, so I couldn't really guide it that well, then I had to get inside to correct the steering. I think in my haste to get it out of the water (read mud) hole, I accidentally pushed the wrong button unspooling some wire - rookie mistake using a winch for the first time in a recovery situation. So when I corrected this, I think some got flattened by the looser strands during the wind-in. When I got home and pulled it all out to spool it back up neatly, I didn't notice any broken wires, but I should probably pull it back off and check closer as I was worn out. I failed to mention that I got water/mud up in the pressure plate/clutch/flywheel housing and had to let it sit for an hour before the clutch would properly engage. As I said, I learned some valuable lessons yesterday. And maybe this is my excuse to get some synthetic cable. Any suggestions on good synthetic? I'll try to take some pics of the cable itself, but once again, I don't think I can post yet. I need to alleviate that problem!