I am looking at getting a Warn M8000 (http://www.performanceoffroadcenter....07714188bcdae2) for my ARB Sahara.

Other than the roller than comes with the winch what else??
What is better?
Is there a difference?

 

The roller fairlead is usually attached to the bumper itself. You can also get a hawse fairlead, a solid one with a rounded cutout for the winch cable to run over, usually in steel, aluminum or UHMW plastic. For wire rope, the roller fairlead is probably the best option, steel hawse second. For UHMW rope, the aluminum or UHMW hawse is probably the best option.

 

If your looking to get a hawse fairlead check out the new ones made by Armorology... http://www.armorology.com/products.htm

 

I have the allpro alluminum one, but I run synthetic line with my winch.
http://allprooffroad.com/images/stories/fairlead_l.jpg

Steel is supposed to be harsh on winch rope, and aluminum will get destroyed by the wire rope.

I have my old steel hawse fairlead, that you can have if you pay for shipping. It is a little beat up, but I like the look of a roller fairlead better(if you run steel cable).

 

I've seen that winch for 60+ dollars less with a Hawse Fairlead. I have often wondered which is best. I assumed roller, but I know nothing about it.

 

They offer the same winch with a hawse fariled for $599

I plan on running a syntheitc line from day one--part of why this package it consting more than a winch alone.

 

Is synth line really as expensive as I think it is? I saw it on ebay for like 600 dollars How much are 100' cables(not synthetic)? i'd hate to break either one but esp. the synth if it is that expenive....

 

no. not all synthetic line is that much.
It depends on the company, thickness, and length.
I think the warn one is like $600.

http://www.masterpull.com/results.cfm?catid=368

also filthyrich, if you plan on running the synthetic line, this is from masterpull's website:

Why run a Master-Pull Aluminum fairlead over a steel one? Steel hawse fairleads have a coarse finish and will tear up synthetic rope, while roller fairleads will pinch and break the rope if it gets caught in between its rollers.

 

The masterpull AL failrlead is $45
They have three types of synthetic lines. from $150-$450 approx. I need to read their site some more and figure out which is best for my needs.

It looks like I would buy the cheaper hawse M8000 and swap the hawse steel for the M-P AL fairlead

 

You can get Amsteel much cheaper. Try Rock Stomper ...

But on the other hand, how much is your life and the lives of your wheeling buddies worth? Ever see a steel cable break? Or a Hook come off under load? It only takes once.

 

I agree about trying Rock Stomper... great prices and great business. This is where I will get my synthetic line from. I'm about a year out on affording that mod though.

From what I understand you will actually replace the synthetic line less often than a steel one. The steel lines get flat spots and twists/kinks etc. that damage them over time. Bill Burke (well known 4x4 trainer and now 4WD Toyota Owner mag contributer) has been using the same rope for six years in this article.

 

I forgot about amsteel. That would BE THE LINE I got. Their prices are awesome. I looks like I need the hawse fairled Warn, Amsteel line and AL fairlead (probably gonna get the rockstomper one)

 

Eric (or FilthyRich if you prefer),
I'd personally try and get a UHMW fairlead. The Amsteel Blue line is made of a UHMW fiber. UHMW is an engineering plastic that has "healing" properties as well as self-lubricating properties. The Amsteel Blue line running on a UHMW Hawse fairlead would reduce friction a great degree. From what I've heard you will get some identation in the fairlead on hard pulls, but you will not tear the rope or destroy the fairlead.

The aluminum fairlead can get knicked by a rock and get a sharp edge on it... not good for the Amsteel Blue. If the UHMW gets a knick you can smooth it out with a knife blade.

The one I have my eyes on:

Clicky

 

I'll be making a UHMW fairlead for my Amsteel-roped winch one of these days. One issue with the plastic fairleads is that thay can sag in the middle under load, say if you were winching something up from below. I'll be making mine to allow for several additional bolts to be used along the top and bottom of the fairlead, in addition to the ones at each end.

 

It looks like a UHMW fairlead with an AmSteel line. I don't know whether to get the 5/16" x 100' or 3/8" x 80'

 

I used 5/16" on my Warn 9000, 90' on the drum (instead of the original 125') then got an extra 50' extension rope. That way the drum is about 1 wrap from being full so pulling power is higher and less likely to bind up on side pulls.

 

Good choice filthy, I run the 5/16 x 100 amsteel blue in my winch.

I just linked the masterpull line as an example of winch line that is not $600.

 

So would it be better to get 80' or 90' and an extension rope?? I understand about not completely wrapping the drum.

 

I considered a few factors for my winch re-rope. First is that winch pull is rated at the first wrap on the drum and the pull decreases about 12% with each wrap:
- http://www.uncleroys.com/faqs.php#ques1

Secondly, if you are making a side pull with the winch, cable tends to build up on one side of the drum and you'll perdiodically have to stop, unspool the drum and rewrap the cable to lay flat before winching again. Having less cable on the drum means you have more room for cable buildup.

And from years of using my 125' cable, I found I mostly needed just a bit of cable, but sometimes had to spool out most of it but only winch it all the way back in. So I wanted to have at least 125' of cable but did not want to hassle with spooling in all the cable after every use. So with 90' on the drum, I have 35' less to spool up on a full pull and most of the time, I can just use the 50' extension for the last 50' and save spooling that 50' back into the winch.

 

I run 5/16" amsteel blue, but plan to upgrade to 100' of 3/8"... I've tried the UHMW fairlead, but didn't like the way it sagged under load, causing the rope to come in contact with steel frame of the bumper. I ended up getting a spider trax aluminum, but recently purchased one from Marlin Crawler that is rounded on both sides. As for getting nicks from rocks, highly unlikely that will occur on the area that the rope will come in contact.