In the country or at a construction site, it is sometimes necessary to use a winch to move heavy objects. Usually, for such purposes, a traction mechanism is used, with which you can move a load of several hundred kilograms. It remains only to learn about this device, and find out which winch is better.

Hand winch

First you need to figure out how the hoist differs from the winch. By mechanical properties they are similar to each other, but they are used for different purposes. The answer is very simple - with the help of winches, objects can be moved horizontally, and the hoist makes it possible to move the load vertically.

Now that everything has fallen into place, it remains to deal with this mechanism in more detail. On this moment will be studied in detail - winch. They are manual and electric, in the second case, the winch can be powered by a car generator.

Operating principle

The purpose of these winches is the same. Both have a drum on which the cable is wound, and the drive reduces the load. There are manual winches with lever, gear or worm drive. The whole mechanism, together with the chain, is attached to the frame.

There are several types of hand winches. There are wall and floor winches, the first option is suitable for objects weighing up to 800 kilograms, and the second is capable of moving up to 10 tons.

Cases where a hand winch is used

In the case when it is impossible to use an electric winch, then a manual one is suitable just for the same purposes. Using such a device is much more difficult, but the drum manual winch, does not depend on the power supply. Most often these are winches with a gear mechanism. There are traction and mounting principles of operation of these devices.

Some wind the cable onto the shaft, while the latter work with a belt. Those who have a car use manual winches when there is no room on the hood for an electric one. Ratchets, which are found in manual mechanisms, are used to fix the cable.

What are electric and manual hoists and winches used for?

Even if there is no house, but there is a garage, then there is already a need to use a traction device, for example, to remove the engine from the car. Usually, a hoist is used for such purposes. But you can figure out how to do it with a winch.

It remains only to attach the frame, but this must be done in the case when there is already a mounted channel. You can use a winch or hoist to make a lifting device.

To do this, you need to find with what help the engine will cling, as well as a winch-type crane trolley, which then needs to be adjusted to the channel. The photo shows how, using a manual winch, you can build a crane.

The use of a winch in the garden

To load into the body vehicle bags and crates of fruits and vegetables, means to move these items may be used. To work with a load that weighs no more than 500 kg, you can use a winch as a lifting mechanism.

As a rule, such a device is used as an automotive attribute, especially on rough terrain, when it is likely to get stuck in the mud after rain.

In this case, in order not to follow the tractor, you can use a winch, with which you can then pull out the car. Winches, both manual and electric, can move loads up to 4 tons or more.

Choosing a good hand winch

When choosing a cable winch, you need to pay attention to the drum, namely the shaft axis on which the cable is wound. If the diameter is small, then the tension element will wear out quickly and this will lead to burrs. In the case when it is not the cable that is wound, but the belt, the diameter of the shaft is not important. In addition, it matters how well the mechanism locks.

Before using the winch, you need to know the mass of the object that will be moved using the device. The weight of the load must be such that the traction mechanism can lift it without experiencing any special load.

All joints of parts must be strong - this applies more to the drum and drive. Even if the frame is reliable, the shaft itself can easily fail. All parts must be wear-resistant so that they are not affected by cable friction.

Photo of a good manual winch

With this article, I would like to start a series of reviews on the nuances and features of choice, try to take into account the maximum technical characteristics and features of the vehicle, while not missing out on possible individual nuances.
So what do you need to know, how to choose and how to use?

Introduction

To date, a car winch has ceased to be an exotic and hard-to-reach curiosity that is decorative in nature. Instead, it has become an indispensable attribute and practical necessity for any motorist who prefers active pastime to a quiet and relaxing holiday. Equipping a car with an electric winch (or hydraulic, mechanical) will not be superfluous if you are a fan of fishing, hunting, or even not averse to climbing far into the forest for mushrooms. And if your hobby or professional occupation is off-road and other adventures in difficult places, then an SUV without a winch is generally hard to imagine.

What is a winch?

Apparently, the winch originates from quite ancient times from the construction of a well gate. Logs with a handle, on which a rope or rope was wound during torsion, and the greater was its strength, the longer this very handle was. But in today's electrification and scientific progress, electricity has assumed the role of a power element .. well, and other tricky devices.
By by and large a winch is a force converter - physical, electrical, hydraulic, etc. - due to traction. And already finding a scope for it is not such a tricky business: industry, construction, car, tow trucks, etc.
The essence of a car winch is to attach the free end of the cable to a fixed, well-fixed object, to pull the stuck car out of an insurmountable "trap" in the form of impassable impassable roads, mud, bog, snow, water and other obstacles, which an experienced extremist and amateur can find. active rest won't seem complicated.

Kinds car winches.

Despite the outward simplicity, choosing a winch is not at all an easy task, especially when it comes to buying. That's when a lot of questions and doubts arise - starting from the types of drives, manufacturers, quality, ending with the gear ratio of the gearbox.

To begin with, winches are manual, mechanical, hydraulic and electric.

Manual winch.
The simplest option with its pluses, but also with big minuses. Of the advantages - the relative simplicity of design, unpretentiousness, low weight and no need for power supply. At the same time, she has a huge minus for everything, which, if not overlapping her merits, then at least significantly diminishes them. And this minus is that you and your physical strength are the drive to it. And okay, you have to use a winch if the car is stuck in a small ditch or a shallow puddle - you won’t have to get very dirty here, and you don’t need to put in 100% effort. It’s another matter if your SUV is bogged down in a deep quagmire, ran into an insurmountable obstacle, and even in winter time. In such conditions, standing waist-deep in mud, wet and frozen, with each next turn of the handle, your opinion will change in the opposite direction of sympathy for a manual winch. But be that as it may, one should not forget about its merits. Moreover, if used wisely, then a manual winch in right moment can be a great help.

Mechanical winch.
Quite often, the concept of "mechanical" is used in the sense of "manual". There is, of course, some logic in this, but in the context of winches it does not quite fit, since it is completely different types devices with different operating principles. The main advantage of a mechanical winch is that it does not need electricity to operate, it has enough simple design and unpretentious in care. For lack of own engine it is directly connected to the power take-off shaft of an automobile engine. As a result, a mechanical winch has a fairly high tractive effort. The temporary resource of work is limited by the time of engine operation. The winding speed of the rope can be adjusted by the engine speed. Reliability. Of the minuses - inconvenient installation, especially since many cars must be initially provided for the use of a winch. In the event of a car engine failure, the winch will not work. In addition, climbing under the hood of a car in conditions of increased extreme is not the most rewarding thing, however, if the need arises, you will have to do it, especially if it is associated with some kind of breakdown, then fun pastime in a meter-long layer of dirt is guaranteed.

Hydraulic winch.
It has the advantages of a mechanical winch, and in some respects even surpasses them. First of all, the hydraulic winch has its own motor, as a result of which it can be installed on almost any vehicle that has a hydraulic pump of the required power. This good alternative for those motorists who do not have a power take-off shaft on their vehicle for installing a mechanical winch. Power is generated much more than mechanical power, while hydraulics are in no way inferior to it in terms of reliability. In addition, being sealed and having a minimum of electrical elements in its design, such a winch is practically not afraid of water and all the consequences associated with it. In addition, of the advantages: less weight than mechanical, simplicity, unpretentiousness, smoothness and noiselessness. Despite the above advantages, the hydraulic winch is not without its drawbacks. First of all, this is the fact that it is powered by the same power steering pump that works on the car engine. And if the pump power is not enough to provide required pressure both for the winch and for the engine, you will either have to put more powerful pump, or install an additional one, designed to service only one hydraulic winch, or even refuse to use it. In addition, having, though not a large number of primitive electronics, the device still has a chance of getting damaged when in contact with water.
A hydraulic winch is usually installed when a power reserve is needed, and winding speed is not very important.

Electric winch.
Oh, and an electric winch. Today, among motorists around the world, this is the most common type of winch. With a relatively small size, they are able to develop a decent effort and a fairly high speed. The operation of the electric winch does not depend on the performance of the car engine and can pull a stalled car. Also, the electric winch is easy to install and does not require any additional options for this. It has all the advantages associated with the use of electricity. Overheating sensors are installed, wireless control systems, battery charge-discharge sensors are installed. In addition, manufacturers can quite effectively isolate the electrical part of the device from moisture, water, dirt, sand and dust. But still, insufficient tightness is one of the actual problems in the construction of such winches. Since the electric winch is powered by onboard network vehicle, there is a possibility of overload and damage. With intensive use, sooner or later the question of installing a second battery specifically for the winch, and this may not always be convenient. The best option for using an electric winch is to work with short and infrequent loads. For example, on tow trucks, on cars for fishing, hunting, etc. With prolonged extreme loads, the electric winch may not show itself in the best way. Although, again, this is a matter of the quality of the winch itself and the ability to use it.

How to choose the right car winch

How to choose the right car winch

The store team welcomes you, dear reader, on the pages of our blog-magazine "Rusty Willis" :-). Someday we will definitely tell how this name was born, but for now we will talk on our web pages about off-road tuning, about some interesting projects, competitions, but most importantly about Jeep- brand four-wheel drive vehicles which we truly love.

 

Author: Evgeny Konstantinov. Specially for OffJeepRu

Drawings: - Vladimir Kremyansky

Photos: From the archives of site staff and manufacturers.

Winch - be!

Remember how Baron Munchausen pulled himself out of the swamp by his hair? Say - nonsense ?! No. He just had a winch, the mention of which was removed from the book by the editor, saving space for the rest of the text. This is obvious: if your vehicle is sinking more and more into what seemed to be a carriageway, instead of moving forward along it, then it's time to unwind the winch. In most such off-road situations, this is the fastest, most efficient and easy way continue independent movement in space. But for this, there must be a winch.

Most winches have the same principle of operation - to wind the cable around the drum and thereby pull closer what is tied to this cable. At the same time, there are many designs and types of drive: muscular, transmission, hydraulic and electric. But, despite such a seemingly endless variety, the choice of a winch for an SUV will be limited, firstly, by the technical characteristics of the car, and secondly, by the conditions in which it will get stuck. General rule is as follows: the higher the all-terrain capabilities of the machine, the more serious ambushes it will have to be removed, which means the higher the requirements for the winch.

Knowledge is power

Mechanisms driven by human muscular strength are good for their compactness, lightness and affordable price. And they are also very useful in the household - fix the fence, return the apple tree tilted from the wind to its place, drag the boat onto the trailer ... But the more prepared the car is for overcoming off-road, the less useful it is from a manual winch. The reason is the small traction force that most devices of this type develop. They say that somewhere in construction and on railway sometimes there are quite strong and powerful hand winches of titanic size, weight and price. But just for these three reasons for the jeeper, they have no practical meaning.

Well, if you were suddenly visited by the idea, just in case of emergency, to acquire a non-volatile self-pulling tool, then a hi-jack type rack jack with two additional cables is suitable for this role. One clings to the beak, the other to the top of the rail - and you can start working on the rise. The strength of the hi-jack is guaranteed to provide 3500 kgf of thrust, and swinging its long handle is easier and more convenient than almost any other manual winch. In general, the chances of getting out instead of hopelessly breaking the traction mechanism are much higher here. True, the working stroke, limited by the length of the rail, is small and will have to be hooked every meter, but the cable of a traditional manual winch from a spare parts store is not much longer, given that it will almost always have to be hooked through a block anyway.

For a full-weight SUV that can get stuck where others can't get to, you need a full-fledged car winch. At the same time, the most powerful and fastest of all possible types are mechanical devices driven by the car's engine through its own transmission. If your car is already equipped with such a thing from the factory, you can not read further. Your choice has already been made, and there is nothing to look for good from good. Moreover, you still drive a truck or some kind of museum antiquity such as Dodge ¾. The only drawback of the winch is that it does not work when the engine is not running. And therefore, it is completely unsuitable, for example, in order to drag the car across a small but very deep river, plugging the engine inlet and outlet so that water does not get into it. In the rest - only pluses. But if you don’t have a mechanical winch, this is not at all a reason to immediately postpone all things and try to add a power take-off box, a cardan system and the traction mechanism to your car. Because the process will require such a volume of work and rare spare parts that it’s easier not to even take it on.

winches with hydraulic drive- also the lot of trucks and special equipment. In their work, they need a ready-made on-board hydraulic system for the drive attachments or the ability to put a separate hydraulic pump. The regular power steering hydraulic system simply does not have enough performance: the winch included in this line will barely turn the drum and stop when you try to turn the steering wheel.

If you don't have a winch...

In general, if the machine is not yet equipped with any special traction device, then it will be easiest to equip it with an electric winch. Let the electrics be inferior to hydraulics with mechanics in terms of power, speed and endurance, but it is the only one that can work for some time on a muffled machine and requires a minimum of effort to install. Just something to do - fasten to strength elements installation platform, hoist the unit on it, stretch the wires and place the control unit. Further simplifying the task is that the attachment points on the bodies of all branded winches are located as standard, and ready-made installation supports are sold for many common SUV models. True, one must be prepared in advance that during work, something else in the car will probably have to be finalized with a file - this is always the case, no matter what tuning you take. But, apparently for this reason, some prefer not to screw the winch anywhere at all, choosing for themselves easily removable options that are fixed in the standard “square” for the towbar with a metal pin.

But as a rule, such an attempt at an innocent deception of the Universe ends with sudden physical education lessons at the most inopportune moment. Before using the easily removable winch, it must be removed from the trunk and installed in place. Now imagine that the place of its attachment is hidden under a half-meter layer of liquid mud. At the same time, the winch itself, together with the mating part of the fasteners, weighs at least thirty kilos and must be placed by touch, holding on outstretched arms. And if you put it in advance, then in most cases it will become the first point of the car, catching the earth's surface on the terrain, and a significant limiter of the geometric cross. The only thing that justifies this option is the ability to pull the car in both directions with a limited budget. It is enough just in addition to the rear "square" to put one more in front. However, if it is known in advance that the winch will have to be unwound often and a lot, then it is better to save money on something else and still install two permanently.

Safety and convenience

Despite the fact that the electric motors of automobile winches develop a power of no more than a dozen Horse power, these devices themselves can develop thrust up to 10,000 kgf or more. The fact is that electric winches are equipped with gearboxes with a very large gear ratio. To keep energy consumption within reasonable limits, electric winch designers increase the traction power of their offspring to a lesser extent by increasing motor power and to a greater extent by gear ratio gears in the gearbox. Therefore, usually the higher the thrust, the less speed windings, and especially fast winches either do not shine with high-torque power, or empty batteries at space speeds and require power wires as thick as a good scrap. In any case, such models are more suitable for sports, where everything is decided by seconds, than for ordinary trips away from the asphalt. By the way, models with a sealed case are also better left to athletes - they are not only more expensive, all other things being equal, but also ... require mandatory regular maintenance with disassembly, cleaning and preventive replacement of seals. The fact is that only the strong hull of a submarine retains complete tightness for years, and even then not always. And ordinary civilian oil seals, especially undermined by work in the mud, will soon begin to let water through during diving. Let it be a little bit, but every time. But it will be much more difficult for it to flow back or even simply evaporate when heated during operation than from a mechanism with simple seals that protect only from frank dirt and do not give grease pieces fall out.

In automotive electric winches, it is commonly used planetary reductor– it is the most compact at the required this case three-digit gear ratios. In especially reliable professional expensive models, where price and mass recede into the background, a worm gear is found as the first stage of the gearbox. It adds strength, solidity and weight to the traction mechanism, but most importantly, it works as a structurally trouble-free brake, ensuring that the machine on a tensioned cable under load does not roll back, even if it is completely de-energized. In models with only one planetary gear the brake is made as a separate unit easier, but more complex and not so trouble-free. The cheapest winches sometimes do without it, which automatically turns them into a very dangerous household appliance and complicates the work - any stop of winding in this case turns into uncontrolled unwinding. And in this case, you should completely forget about the safety net with a winch when descending from a steep cliff! In a word, it is impossible to save on the brake.

Despite the fact that the electricity stored in the battery may be enough to drag the car for several meters, it is still better that the engine be started during the operation of the electric winch and the generator at least partially compensate for the huge discharge current calculated when the car is pulled out of the mud captivity hundreds of amps. Partly - because the standard generator of an ordinary passenger SUV can completely take over the power supply of the winch only in the unloaded cable winding mode. Therefore, in order not to drain the battery dry, you will have to take mandatory breaks if you have to overcome a long stretch of off-road on the winch, over and over again hooking the cable in the direction of solid ground. In addition, with a long continuous work the electric motor can overheat to such an extent that the insulation begins to melt in it. When will it happen? The lower the initial quality of this motor, the faster. But there is a danger for any winch motor. And if somewhere there is an opportunity to independently drive with wheels, even in a roundabout way, but without resorting to a winch, then it is better not to miss it. In any case, it will come out faster and easier.

Through the horror of the pangs of choice

The choice is one of the most difficult things in life, so equipping your favorite car with an electric winch will not be easy. Especially if you do it for the first time. On the one hand, it will be tempting to bang all the money on the most expensive model available to you according to the principle “more expensive means better”, on the other hand, the toad will start to choke and persuade you to take “also a winch”. On the third hand, there will be a desire to buy more powerful “so that traction with a margin”, which will definitely meet opposition in the form of “why is it so slow and heavy”. In general, a solid tangle of contradictions, which must be started to unravel, grasping the right thread.

If, on the one hand, we forget about competitions, and, on the other hand, we do not seriously consider cases when a winch is bought just for beauty, then the idea of ​​equipping it already speaks of a person’s moral readiness to get stuck qualitatively and seriously, and then get out of there on their own. Simply put, a winch is an item like a fire extinguisher in a house and a lifeboat on a ship. And since it is, it should not fail at a crucial moment.

First of all, any winch in terms of developed traction must correspond to the car on which it was installed. You need to focus on 2-2.5 maximum "marching" weight of the car with all the equipment and luggage. And since the thrust of all imported and many domestic winches is traditionally indicated in pounds of force, these two masses in kilograms must also be multiplied by 2.2 and rounded up to the nearest winch thrust class. At the same time, the ratio of traction, work speed, equipment weight and its safety margin will be optimal for a car. tourist preparation. Such a simple calculation immediately shows that three- and four-thousandth electric winches are intended only for quadrics and snowmobiles, and even with such light machines as the Niva or Suzuki Jimny You need to focus on no less than 6,000 pounds. On the other hand, a bulky 12,000th model will fit heavy equipment like a Dodge Ram with a living module in a kung, but is already redundant for Jeep Cherokee. And in sports on lightweight cars, high-torque power is often sacrificed for the sake of speed and weight reduction, and therefore they give a minimum margin, choosing a winch based on only 1.5 masses of the car going to the start.

And finally, the question to which there is no single correct answer is which brand of winches to prefer and how much it would be appropriate to overpay for a big name. On the one hand, Warn, Superwinch, T-max, Come-Up and other world-class brands keep the brand, monitor the quality and provide their products with after-sales service. At the same time, each of the leading brands has its own main financial target audience: Warn aims at high achievements in sports, Come-Up fights for the wallets of "athletes", T-max focuses on fishermen with hunters, and Superwinch its range of products for amateur and professional classes. On the other hand, today you can count on the fingers the models that continue to be produced in the USA, Great Britain or Japan. At the same time, their prices are comparable to a used car. Whole budget segment even well-known American firms make electric winches at factories in China and other countries of Southeast Asia. At the same time, a huge stream of even cheaper obscure mechanisms under one-day brands flows from there. Or even without them at all with a comprehensive, but nothing concrete meaningful marking"Electric Winch", which translates as simply "electric winch". This whole stream is a continuous lottery. The fact is that it is absolutely impossible to track what, where and from what spare parts it was produced. Therefore, among the nameless goods, molded from waste and what came to hand, full copies of famous branded models can suddenly come across. But it’s unlikely that you will somehow know about this in advance: the world has not yet learned how to judge the strength of gears by the appearance of clones. Even the sellers of this product themselves do not know what kind of cat is hidden in their bag, and attempts to pick up spare parts when something fails are doomed in advance.

Against this background, winches can serve as a good budget alternative. domestic brands, such as Avtospas, adapted to our conditions. IN last years they try to keep the quality, they supply a decent part of the volume of their products, they send it straight to the factories that produce snow and swamp vehicles and special equipment. even updated periodically. the lineup, but in terms of volume and assortment in retail sales, they are still noticeably inferior to the nameless Asian onslaught.

And yet, no matter how the SUV is prepared and equipped, no matter what the winch installed on it, nothing can replace common sense and driving skills. Because it is always better, faster and more reliable not to get stuck, to choose the right trajectory or find a detour, than to pick out a stuck car from a quagmire.

From the variety of models, modifications, brands and the range of prices for them, it is a little dazzling. Yes, yes, you are not alone. However, choosing the “right” winch for yourself is not that difficult, if you take into account just a few important points. Immediately I apologize to the sophisticated, since this material is addressed rather to beginners.

What to pull

Golden Rule the choice of electric winches (we leave hydraulics and mechanics out of the brackets as dishes for delicate gourmets) reads:

The pull of the winch should be approximately 2 times greater than the weight of the machine. This rule applies only to "severe" SUVs, SUVs and other heavy vehicles such a reserve of traction is not needed!

This refers to the actual weight with all the equipment, and not recorded in the technical specifications of the automaker. So, if you have a UAZ-Hunter (with a curb weight of 1770 kg), which travels with 2-3 passengers and 50-100 kg of cargo, a winch with a thrust of about 4.5 tons will be enough for it. That is, ideally, this winch with a pull of 9500 lbs, or 4310 kg.

If the car is not loaded to the eyeballs and does not climb into the toughest places, then 9000 lbs (4090 kg) of thrust will be enough. If, on the contrary, additional iron of 300-500 kg is hung on the car (a pair of power bumpers with power "gates" and many more different strong pipes in a circle), then it will sink better, and drive worse, so you should look at winches with an effort from 10,000 to 12,500 lbs (up to 5670 kg). And vice versa, if the car is as light as possible for competitions and does not carry anything extra in combat equipment except for two people, then lighter and faster winches are better suited (for example, STO HS 8.8 WP with 8800 lbs / 3992 kg thrust, but high speed).

Sometimes there are exceptions to this "weight" rule. For example, by car Chevrolet Niva with his gross weight 1860 kg a lightweight winch with a short drum and a thrust of 6000 lbs (2720 kg) takes root well. More powerful options (8000-9000 lbs) are too heavy and create a risk of "rolling the muzzle". The same applies to the usual "Niva", which is a little easier.

Another interesting example is the lungs Suzuki SUVs(Jimny and Samurai). With a curb weight of just over a ton and a full load of about 1400 kg, they are quite content with a thrust of 6000 lbs if the car is used for a trip for mushrooms, berries or fishing. With more severe use (off-road rides), these “babies” are able to climb into such jungle and rest against bridges so that mechanisms with a thrust of 8000-9000 lbs (3630-4090 kg) can work normally.

And, perhaps, one more “weight” exception is a mobile (portable) winch for crossovers. With a pull of just over 2 tons, it can be recommended for cars with a mass ... up to 2 tons. This is due to the fact that crossovers on road tires do not travel through swamps and arable fields in muddy conditions. And when using the winch 2 times a year, it will not be difficult for the owner to apply the amplification unit, increasing the traction force by 2 times.

How to use

Perhaps this is the second most important factor in how often you use the help of special equipment to rescue yourself from ambushes. If not more than a few times a year, almost any winch will do, even inexpensive designs. If the unit hanging on the muzzle of the machine has to work regularly, it is worth taking a closer look at more complex options. Here it is worth paying attention that the same brand may have different series of winches.

• Budget series of car winches: T-max EW, Stokrat LD and SD, Comeup DV, all Avtospas models.
• Advanced series of car winches: T-max X-power, Hundred HD, Comeup Seal and Seal Gen2.

Advanced models are distinguished primarily by improved dust and moisture protection of the engine and other elements of the winch. There are other differences, such as a more powerful engine, more high speed work, increased distance around the drum, the presence of a more advanced configuration. If you are interested in learning more about this - torture our managers, everything will not fit in the article.

The time factor generally renders big influence choice of winch. If an ambush is an event for a fisherman or mushroom picker, then it will be more than acceptable to get out of captivity in 10-15 minutes with the help of a winch - this is not for you to grumble for 2 hours with a shovel. It’s a completely different thing when you participate in a linear off-road race, where you need to pull yourself out in 3-5 minutes, and not in 15. In addition, other crews can push you if it’s hard to bypass you. These circumstances also affect the choice of winch, including its tractive effort. We must hurry - have a reserve. There is a lot of time - you can try to “twitch” with something weaker, and if it doesn’t work out, slowly and thoughtfully redistribute using an amplifier block.

About the increased distance around the drum: if the winch is structurally more expensive (for example, the Stokrat HD series), it can allow full extension at a large angle. But if it's cheaper - he began to stretch sideways, wound part of the cable on one side - be so kind as to rewind.

Where to put

The easiest installation is on a power bumper. There are practically no restrictions here. It's hard to find a winch that won't fit into a designated spot, although it's good to make sure there's no problem just in case. The most delicate installation is hidden, in a regular bumper. And here a lot of questions arise: will the winch fit geometrically into the bumper shell, will it block the radiator too much, how is the contactor block made (remote or integrated), what is the length of the wires, is there an installation platform for this winch? Sometimes it’s easier to ask if the seller has his own installation center, so as not to rush around the city later when the car has already been disassembled and something didn’t fit somewhere.

In the assortment of our store there is for most popular models SUVs. As well as body kits, where there is already a place for attaching a winch.

How to repair

When buying a winch for the first time in their life, not many people think about whether they will find spare parts for it - a brush assembly, for example, or a contactor, or a motor. We always want to believe in the best, but off-road troubles often happen, and we are far from always able to prevent them.

Although by law the seller should have the parts, in practice the situation is not the same as in theory. If you do not yet know this market very well, do not be too lazy to ask about the availability of spare parts for it before buying a winch: “How much do they cost? Can I come and buy now?"

Well, at the end of the article, we will talk about some features of choosing a winch for various types of SUVs.

Winches for UAZ

Winches for small pickups

Winches for "Niva"

Winches for heavy "Americans"

Winches for crossovers

Stationary winches are usually not installed on crossovers (SUVs). Although such a machine can climb through the mud, it’s not worth doing it all the time on it. Crossover is a city dweller who loves outdoor recreation. A portable winch of medium power is perfect for this. The winch can be bought even with less pulling force for your crossover. It can be compensated using

The road is full of surprises for any car. SUVs are no exception, despite powerful motor And high permeability. How to get out of captivity if the car is bogged down in a swamp or stuck tightly in the sand? In such cases it will help special device- car winch.

Pulling a heavy SUV with a winch onto hard and even ground will not cause much trouble. It is enough to find the nearest fixed support, hook on it with a cable, which, winding around the winch drum, will pull the stuck car out of captivity. A strong tree or stump, a large boulder is used as a support, and in their absence, a special anchor is used - scrap metal with staples driven into the ground.

Important! After attaching to the “anchor”, when the cable is already tensioned, it is imperative to move to a safe distance due to a possible break in the cable.

In addition to the winch itself, extreme situation additional accessories required:

• "Anchor". If the car is stuck in an open area, and there are no trees and large stones nearby, then in this case a special anchor is used. It is a device similar to a large bayonet shovel or crowbar with a metal bracket.

• You can make an anchor for a winch with your own hands (see an example in the video above), and sometimes they use improvised means - they bury a log or a spare wheel in the ground.

• A protective sling that prevents rubbing and breaking of the cable, as well as protecting the bark of trees from damage during anchoring.
• Two-layer gloves to protect hands when working with metal or synthetic rope.
• Additional (spare) hook.
• Rigging brackets (shackles) for reliable fastening of the cable.

Classification of automobile winches

1. By type of fastening.

Stationary. They are installed in front under the bumper on a special reinforced platform welded to the SUV frame. The operation of the electric winch is carried out from the cab or from a separate remote control. The disadvantage is that most SUVs require changes to the design of the car.

Portable. The advantage of portable winches is their compactness, light weight, but the pulling force is only enough for ordinary needs. For sports and heavy extreme conditions not suitable for use. Are mounted on the special platform of the car if necessary.

2. By type of drive.

Mechanical. The rotation is transmitted from the car engine to the winch drum through an additional shaft connected to the transfer mechanism. Switching the link of the SUV gearbox, the speed of winding the cable on the winch drum is regulated.

Electrical. The winch motor is powered by the machine's battery and drains it heavily. Therefore, it is used for SUVs with a battery capacity of more than 90 Ah. For portable electric winches, special requirements are placed on fastening. Detachment of the winch from the platform leads to damage to the hull and gearbox and other backfire. Poor waterproofing is fraught with the danger of burnout of the electric winch.

Hydraulic. It is considered more reliable than an electric winch. The working medium is oil. The winch is powered by a power steering pump, to which it is connected using a system of adapters and high pressure hoses.

Manual mechanical. Powered by human muscle power. Two types are produced: drum and manual winches, mechanical lever type. Disadvantage: small load capacity of 800 - 2000 kg. Some models issue pulling force enough to pull an average weight SUV, but not more than 2800 kg.

3. By the magnitude of the tractive effort.

The pulling force indicated in the device passport shows how much the weight of the car this type of winch can handle.

Important! To calculate the tractive effort for your brand of SUV, take the gross curb weight of the vehicle and multiply it by two.

• For Daihatsu, Niva, Isuzu and similar light vehicles, traction in lbs is 6000 (10 kg=22.05 lbs).
• For medium SUVs such as UAZPatriot, IsuzuTrooper, LandRoverDiscovery, MitsubishiPajero, JeepWrangler, respectively 8000-9500.
• For heavy vehicles such as Nissan Patrol, Toyota Land cruiser, Land Rover Defender value will be 9500-12000.
• Pulling force can be doubled by using a chain hoist. You can find out how it works by watching the video.

What winch for an SUV to buy

Electric winches are considered the most popular among SUV owners. For autotourism, travel and recreation, including fishing and hunting, a middle-class winch with an index of 6000 - 8000 is suitable. Preferred brands: T-MAX 6500, WARN 8000, Come-Up 8000. Price - from 30 to 70 thousand rubles.

To participate in the rally, it is better to purchase more powerful options: Come-Up 9000, T-MAX 9500 and WARN 9500 at a price of 100 thousand rubles.

For sports competitions, the same brands are suitable, but with an increased traction index of 12000 and 15000. (Price: 150 - 250 thousand rubles).

ATVs are equipped with WARN 2500 at a price of 30 - 40 thousand rubles, and for domestic needs (towing a boat or yacht to the shore or you need to drag Construction Materials) you will need a WARN 4500 winch worth 50 - 60 thousand rubles.

When assisting another stuck car, you need to anchor your SUV so that you are not pulled towards.
Overcoming a pit, ditch or moat, you should first put soundtracks and cross the obstacle at an angle.
Do not overcome the ford with acceleration. The order of the passage of the river is the same as for self-pulling.
If the pulling force of the existing winch is not enough, then use a chain hoist, and if there is a long main cable, two. This will quadruple the tractive effort and offload the harness and winch platform along the way.

Outcome

There are a large number of car winches for SUVs today. Choose a model depending on what kind of car you are driving, where you are going and how much money you have. Don't forget also about additional accessories useful for off-road driving.