Hey guys, I just purchased my first blue amsteel plasma rope. Does it matter if you use a hawse or roller fairlead? Is one mandatory, or recommended over another??? Any info would be great! Thanks!

 

Hawse fairlead for sure, aluminum or better yet UHMW poly is the best material for the fairlead (same stuff as the rope).

 

The UHMW fairlead distored way too much when pulling, so I ended up buying an aluminum. the roller fairlead will work but the just add alot of weight that is not needed...

 

I was also concerned with the distortion of the end-mounted UHMW fairleads as well. The UHMW fairlead I'll be making will be attached top and bottom with multiple bolts and will also fit inside the winch access hole on my front bumper to prevent this. My main concern w/ aluminum is that my fairlead sticks out in front of the bumper and would be the first thing to make contact with a big rock on the trail. Gouging up the aluminum would leave sharp edges that could damage the rope. If your fairlead location is fairly well protected, then aluminum is probably fine.

I've heard that with roller fairleads, you can have problems with the UHMW rope slipping into the gaps between the rollers, since it is not as stiff as the wire rope.

 

I just picked up a m8000 and the UHMW fairlead and had the same concerns about distorting. When I build my bumper I planned to use some angle iron to support the top and bottom edges.

Scratching the Aluminum fairlead is the reason I went with the plastic one.

http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/

 

Thanks for the input guys, I think I will try the UHMW Hawse!