4x4 Off-Road Winching Techniques for Beginners

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

What's your best 4x4 winching tip?

[@derekmikolaj5362]

As a trainer myself the best tip I can give you, to save accidently stepping over live rope -- Whenever possible attach the D shackle to recovery point on driver's side, when hooking up to the tree protector stand on the driver's side - you will automatically operate the winch from the driver's side, this almost totally removes the chance of finding yourself on the wrong side of a live recovery

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Great tip!

[@kenmuggli4613]

Excellent video, you actually know what you are talking about.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

It's alleged! 😁

[@dustyfarmer]

When winching, have your motor running, preferably at high idle to recharge the battery & don't turn it off until well after the recovery is complete otherwise you might not have enough battery power to start your engine.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Great advice, especially about leaving the car idleing for a while are the winching is finished.

[@useryggfdcc]

Excellent to actually see a rope snapped. Very good video for beginners.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Thanks!

[@dimitristsagdis7340]

More videos on recovery with different means in different scenarios would be nice

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Great suggestion thanks!

[@Aaron-jk4vm]

Great video and thank you for running through the basics. I'm waiting for my new hilux to come, and I can't wait to get out for some adventures and learn more about it. Thanks mate really enjoyed your video

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peterellis6065]

Hello, nice video, and very well explained, congratulations, just one thing though. When you did the double line pull and demonstrated that the rope didn’t go through the pulley. In reality if the vehicle rolled, it probably would have just broken something and rolled to the bottom. The reason for this is called “shock loading” I will use the example of a free falling weight here, i know the car is not free falling but on a hill so the mathematics will be different but it will give you some idea. If we have a load on one tonne and drop it 1 inch, the force to stop it will require 2 tonnes, if we drop it 2 inches the force will 4 tones (this is a general rule of thumb). So for every inch a load free falls the force required to stop it will double. If a car starts to roll down a hill before it’s connected up properly there is every chance that you will never be able to stop it and something will break. So until the car is fully connected it should always be treated as “Uns-secured”

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Dynamic loading will depend upon the gradient of the hill and rolling resistance etc. Kind of hard to calculate.

[@peterellis6065]

@@LockyourHubs4WDing Yes but the point was that until the load ( car) is properly secured properly it must always be considered live and unsecured especially if it’s on a gradient irrespective of the gradient

[@gavinwilliamson3944]

As the owner of a 79 with "Induction cooking but not a Air Fryer" I'm not insulted LOL. Never seen one weigh under 4000kg, fully kitted out. Winching one of these is a task. I don't take a extension rope, but a spare winch rope. I know its a No No. I boy scout it on to get that extra distance or to double up my pull. My bad. Dampeners do work with lighter items like bow shackles and recovery points etc. by absorbing some of the energy. But larger items like a Bulbar from a Hilux. Tend to just fall a foot or two in front of the vehicle !!!

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Wow! an extension rope with soft eye on both ends can also be used as a winch rope in a pinch. Great to read you haven't stooped to an air fryer! lol

[@darrylm3627]

Good Stuff,Great Tips 😄👍🏿

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Thanks mate!

[@kenezos]

Informative video. Thanks 😊 Seems like a good area to go 4x4ing.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

It's a great little area, Wombat State Forest.

[@mauritzmarais1344]

Info on your weight indicator and loadcell please

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

It's a Meltrons 20T unit

[@scowievideos7931]

Mate keen to see a vid on Kinetic Ropes

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

I think a comparison would be interesting between snatch straps and kinetic ropes.

[@scowievideos7931]

@@LockyourHubs4WDing for sure mate. Also had a tip from a workplace 4WD training day, the trainer recommended if your vehicle is lower than say a bank and the rope/cable is cutting into the ground.. Deflate and put the spare under the rope or a round timber block as a rolling lever to stop the rope from dragging through dirty and rock and save damage to the rope.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

@@scowievideos7931 great idea with the tyre, especially if you've go the spare hanging off of the rear door or rear bar where it's reasonably easily accessible. I should try that, see how it works.

[@billwatson4468]

Thanks for the great video ☺️. I’ve got a query about the best way to temporarily shorten a synthetic winch extension rope, and the effect of the technique on the rope’s rating. Would love to hear your thoughts

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

I usually use the daisy chain technique, finished with a soft bung.

[@billwatson4468]

@@LockyourHubs4WDing oh beauty, I do that with climbing ropes. Does the daisy chain de-rate the line at all? I was considering a larger diameter rope to compensate, or should I knot bother?

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

@@billwatson4468 as the hitch exceeds the MBR (Minimum Bend Radius) It would compromise the strength somewhat.

[@MiniLuv-1984]

I imagine you were using a winch roap at the end of its life. Any idea how it failed? A nik or a wear point or do these ropes just harden and die? Thanks = always worth watching even when the props fail!

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

I'm not 100% sure, and didn't have a camera on that part of the rigging unfortunately. It wasn't under much load when it failed (1T) I guess better it fail there than when I'm hanging off of the side of a hill.

[@MiniLuv-1984]

@@LockyourHubs4WDing Yes, indeed. I was quite a light load - very strange.

[@MiniLuv-1984]

You'd used it at least twice before breaking at a ton...very strange!!

[@Chris-74]

and after that happened to you ( Car falling off truck ) you still remain in good composure? Hats off to you Sir, i like your attitude , ill subscribe in the hope some of it rubs off on me , LOL

[@JasonShepherd_01]

here here!

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Thanks, it's as good as an excuse as any for upgrades!

[@mikeykeyes]

Do all winches have that free spool? Other recovery videos I see never show anyone loosened the spool they just pull the rope out...hence asking. Did you let the winch pull without driving up at the same time?

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Just about every winch has a free spool function. I winch usually in neutral so I don't overrun the winch rope and potentially shock load the winch rope if the car slides back.

[@Chris-74]

Ok serious question , because 2 lines , FROM car 9500lb and TO car 9500lb , the pulley is working at 18,000lb ( Double line pull ) BUT, you have your pulley connected to a 4.75t rated bow shackle, which is only rated to 4.75t ( 10,471lb) , so in essence its being overloaded .... Wouldnt that be correct ?

[@dustyfarmer]

No, steel bow shackles have a safety factor of 4 or 5 but in tests to destruction it is more, you wont break a 4.75T steel bow shackle in a 4WD recovery situation.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Dusty farmer is right, Aus Standard bow shackles have a safety factor of 6, so a WLL (working load limit) of 4.7T has a MBS (minimum breaking strength) of 28.2T, plenty for a winch rope with an MBS of 8T.

[@Chris-74]

@@LockyourHubs4WDing Ok Cheers for that.... had to ask, appreciate the answer ! Lots of great info on this channel, love it !

[@4WheelingInNSW]

In an automatic, put in neutral and winch while it’s in neutral ? That’s not real good for your automatic gearbox though, especially if you’re winching any sort of distant. I’d leave it in gear and that way you can drive when necessary too 😉👍 Go the #littlegreymountaingoat - got to love a #zook 👍👍 Great clip mate

[@lexicase8805]

Only bad for the auto if the engine isn't running. If it's idling you could safely flat tow it behind another car even, without issue. When the engine runs the auto trans has an oil pump that's running. It's only an issue if the engine is off and it's moved a reasonable distance like a few hundred metres at speed. The speed and distance that a winch will take you, wont damage the trans but if the engine is off you're more likely to damage your battery if anything.

[@lucatovell-soundy8152]

Hey mate

[@TimsBitsnPieces]

Maybe you should show the tow truck driver how to winch or how to secure a load LOL. Just one comment at the start and once you were back in the vehicle and each time you proceeded to winch.. you said to "put the vehicle in park and park brake on - put the vehicle in neutral and park brake off" .. that is only for automatic vehicles, for those of us that have manual vehicles it should be in 1st gear and handbrake on etc... :) I was taught to have the vehicle running anytime you use the winch, both for out spooling and for winching in, also to only use the winch remote/operate the winch from the driver side of the vehicle then there is No need to go over the cable when under tension, and when winching in to assist the winch by trying to drive the vehicle in the direction of the winch at a slow pace to not overrun the winch if you do gain traction. It would have been interesting to see where and how the winch rope broke, it's a pity you didn't have a camera set up on that area of the test rig. A great introductory video to show others how to use a winch.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

My 80 is a manual, I know all about putting it in gear! As they say, nothing can stop a LandCruiser, not even the park brake!

[@TimsBitsnPieces]

@@LockyourHubs4WDing I have an 80 series also and my handbrake works fine. It's all about adjusting it correctly.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

@@TimsBitsnPieces you have one of these mythical working park brakes? Lol I haven't met one that I haven't been able to get the car rolling on a really steep hill! Yours might be the first.

[@TimsBitsnPieces]

@@LockyourHubs4WDing Well it does depend on the grade of the hill but yes mine does hold on a slight incline. I replaced all of the cables and tensioned up each cable individually on each wheel to make sure it worked and cleaned and lubricated each of the parts behind the drum on the wheels when I replaced the brake pads. It did take a while to do but it does work. NO I did not purchase one of those mod kits that is supplied by that engineering co. that we both know of.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

I've done most of that and installed extended dog bones as well. Bloody thing is still rubbish....

[@dimitristsagdis7340]

Sorry about your rope let us know in a future episode what happened

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

I'll show the break and the repair in an upcoming video.

[@guidlines]

I don't get why you are winching in neutral. Every winching I have seen, they have been driving to assist the winch.

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

That can lead to shock loading the cable, it's probably the easiest way to brake them.

[@firemedic114]

If you hook up the snatch block to the anchor point it is absolutely 100% NOT a mechanical advantage it is only a change of direction. If you have a snatch block at the vehicle that actually moves at your vehicle that would be a mechanical advantage. There are so many winch videos that don’t understand how mechanical advantage works. The other 99% of this video is amazing though

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

I understand why you think that, and in most senarious you would be correct, the rule of thumb is if the winch block isn't moving, it's not providing mechanical advantage. This the exemption however, when both the winch and termination point are on the vehicle. Without getting into first and second class levers, the easiest way to work out if you have mechanical advantage or not is to compare how much line the winch winds in vs how far the vehicle moves. In this case, with the double line pull, when you wind in 2m of rope, the vehicle moves 1m, so therefore you have a mechanical advantage of 2:1 (ignoring frictional lossers) Hope this helps.

[@stanislavshubin3447]

+

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Cheers!

[@darrylm3627]

Good Stuff,Great Tips😄👍🏿

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

Thanks mate!