BACKGROUND
On both my Daihatsu Rocky & my Defender, I had a 9000Lb Warn winch. Both came with winch compatible front bull-bar’s so it was a done deal.
The Discovery does not have a winch compatible front bumper / bull-bar. So I traded out the winch , given the history of its use < mentioned in a moment>
BTW They are doing away with cable in favor of plasma rope – which you will have to buy separately, around the R3000.00 mark
This equates to an expense of 60 – 70 K, all told. (bumper / mounting it / recovery winch / mounting it / rope / wiring & sundries
Given that the only time I ever actually used my winch in a recovery situation was to assist some other fella ONCE, I would have to have my head read for stupidity to spend that kind of lolly.....
But I do concede a winch is useful especially since I travel solo – at worst it’s a nice piece of recovery “comfort gear”
WINCH SELECTION
NOTE at this point ---- It is not a recovery winch it is a winch assist !
I’m going for a 4500Lb <2 metric tonnes> Runva <Chinese> which I can get brand spanking new with both remote & wired controls and is supplied with a plasma rope <and a box> for R4000 & all the cable / Brad Harrison connector / fuse & Fuse box another R1200 all told R5700 – fit myself
BUT ---- I know a thing or three about multiplying with snatch blocks & tackle and I can easily treble the pulling power of the winch which should give me around 4 metric tonnes --- enough to sort me out IF I get mildly stuck --- Which I’ve never been <see winc use
SO WHY ON THE BACK?
Simple really, for under R200 I can self fabricate a winch mount that is compatible with AND without my luggage carrier And with knowledge <which I just happen to have>, a few snatch blocks & some clever rigging & you can easily use the winch to pull forwards -----
ADVERT SHOWS CABLE, i'M GETTING PLASMA ROPE --- Impacts on weight, it only weighs 11Kg
Winch bought & paid for
Just picked up my assist winch, 4500Lb = 2000 Kg .... Grab & go, last 2 in stock, next shipment month's away
Not bad, @ R3900 - new --- Yip it's Chinese but for the expected use --- as I explained, was only oncefor someother fella <who gave me lip---- nogal> , and my days of recovering other's is by-by ----- I ain't complaining.
Should have the mounting plate drilled / welded and braced from the underside & completed by the end of the weekend, then I'm off to order the cable / Brad Harrison plug / fuse / fuse box / battery connect terminals /
And do a self install - I've got access to a hydraulic crimper for the Brad Harrison plug, but I know how to easily create a decent crimp <and thereby electrrical connection> with 2 thin (about 3mm diameter) rods and a bench vise then fill with Solder --- not so keen on just a solder joint, it tends to go brittle sometimes --- Especially with thick cables, you need a decient heat source --- a standard soldering iron won't cut-it
Nothing to see yet
My stupid "smart-phone" is bust --- It dropped out my pocket & needs a new screen ---- Hopeing the Pakies can fix it for me on Sat........
But I've contracted the welder for the weekend,
The drop plate is finished modified & slotted, the horisontal mounting plate is in for drilling (today) and Saturday, bright & early I'm down the road to Iron-man 4x4 fitment centre to buy the cable ETC
Sunday its welding & fabricating, and, hopefully, if my stuffing stupid smart phone --- (should never have bought a blooming cell phone in the first place) is working, I can at least mount it this weekend, (and take above requested photo) -- Just to make Wildehond happy ----
See! What I nice chappie I am ----
As per my project management wall chart plan ----- Wire it in next weekend ---- Then there is a ripstop canvas bag to be made ------------- Don't these things ever come to an end ????
Pakis
Owning a smartphone when you are as clumsy as I can be would be a lot more expensive without them. I found a great one this week. My old iPhone 7’s charging cable kept getting dislodged by the slightest movement so I took it to a very neat looking shop near my office I’ve never been to before. He cleaned out the phone’s charging port with sharp tweezers and spirits and voila. Turns out it was full of dust “common problem from keeping in pocket” according to him. He didn’t charge me a cent.
Next piece of the puzzle's completed and an electrical question
Baseplate's been drilled to the winch's footprint & the underside support has been shaped
next up is the welding & fitting
Right so to my question
Is it neccessary to run a negative cable from the battery at the front, or can I earth the negative to the chassis near to where the winch will be mounted & run only the live cable from the battery to the winch control? < Given that it's a good termination properly fastened to a the chassies ?
Warren, I might be wrong,…
Warren, I might be wrong, but what I experienced is that the English preferred to run an earth wire for just about everything on their cars. These were bunched and earthed to the chassis at random places. So the body is not earthed, but the chassis. Your starter motor is earthed to the engine, which is earthed to the chassis where your battery is earthed to.
Maybe a new generation vehicle has a different setup, but Landrovers were not too fussy before the Disco 3 was built. Btw, Lucas did most of the electrical components for British cars. He was aptly named, the Prince of darkness !!
Morning guys
Yes and no.....
DISCUSSION WITH THE FITMENT TECNICIAN FROM IRON MAN 4X4 CENTRE
It's OK to earth the winch to the body, provided that the connection to the earthing point is good.
Looking under the back, I noticed an earthing wire that had a connnection point quite close - So Neef you are quite correct - So I gambled and only bought "red" or live cable (16mm) to run from the battery --- Saved me in the order of R500
I got 2 Brad Harrison's for installing between the controller & and the winch, but could not do that this weekend, as I will tell why in a moment
Surprizingly, the technician advised not to fuse the live as the biggest fuse they have is 100A and the winch, on kick in has an instintanous draw of 200A - (Supported by the winch specs), no matter, I,ll dig into this during the week.
He was also kind enough to crimp the terminal on the power cable that's needed at the battery, and gave me a piece of shrink sleeving to cover the crimping of the terminal.
So I managed to mount the controller, this involved some careful bending of the bracket, some fine tuning on a grinder and me supergluing the nuts to my finger, which I had to poke up between 2 panels and align the mounting screw through the controlller's mounting plate, through the outer panel and into the nut that was glued to my finger ---
That's a nice tip by the way--- superglue to the tip of my finger ---- done that once before when doing a similar aquward jobbie----
After three of them diddn't have much skin left on my finger tip --- but no matter --- Got the job done.
I swopped out the M8's supplied for M6 gutter bolts, (the one's with the bigger heads) so that they are flat against the outside ---- looks better ----
Then I tackled the power cable end threaded it from the crank battery in the engine compartment through to the rear --- I swear at one point my right arm was bending in three different directions at the same time to feed it up and over the back axle ---- Got that done, all neatly cable tied and so on ---
Next tip: - I left a loop of about 150mm diameter at each end so that if I need to do something with the cable I've got a bit of free cable --- Learn't that little trick from before as well ----
But unfortunately, the welder was not able to weld the mounting bracket for me, so I could not complete the installation, and sort out the Brad Harrison connector, as I need to have the winch mounted & terminated and work backwards to the controller to see where the best place to cut the cables & fit the Brad Harrison's ---- The idea behind the Brad Harrison's is that I want the winch removable
Looking at it, I might not even need the Brad Harrison's, perhaps I could get away with wing nuts directly on the winch ----
So --- I've bumped the project 2 step's forward, Controller mounted, (quite a trickey job, took time) power cable to the back, (moerse kak job) and the controller "clicks" when the remote is pressed in both directions --- rope out ---- rope in -------- The winch is supplied with a Plasma rope not a cable --- Much lighter & just as strong
The Welder's promised me "before Friday" ----------
So to the heading ---
YES it's all looking good, and NO I won't actually know until the winch is fully mounted and see how it turns --- If it's too slow than I'm not getting enough current, and I will have to wire in a dedicated 16mm cable directly from the battery.
My call's still in at the pakies for screen replacement so no photo's yet unfortunately
Cell phone ( camera blues)
The blooming pakies could not get my phone fixed so I took it back to Cash crusaiders ---
It was a brand new phone, a phone I actually don't need or want, but I paid R1000 for a smart-phone (my first one) - cheapest one on the shelf -
Just so as you know, I dropped the bloody thing and the touch screen would not open, I don't blame the phone --- absolutely my fault --- Yes I had a screen saver and a "wallet" pouch for it
So after the Pakkies, I went back to cash crusaiders to get it fixed -- Their product they are responsible for after sales service --- product support --- Get on with it----
Quickly developed into me swearing at the counter / sales / people -- so the store manager got involved ---
I don't give a shit if they take 6 months to fix it --- just fix it! --- Again their product they are responsible for after sales service --- product support ---Get on with it -- I don't have the time or the inclination to listen to a thousand thiss-es and that's ... It's 18:00, I'm tired & hungry all I want to do is hand the stuffing thing in & get done with it
My son has a pretty good idea of me so he made shure he was there --- To temper things down --- He even told me to "stop being so rude" ----
Then he said Buy "that one" --- (a second hand Samsung) also R1100 --- he knows about these things, I don't so I bought "that one" for a backup & a phone in the meantime -----
Got home --- the bloody thing's PINK -----
PINK ! I HATE THE COLOR PINK ! So I go off on a rant about it being PINK --- Don't stress Chris says -- he will get me covers from the china mall --- R80 -----
So --- now nothing's set up ------- I still cant use the thing --- Toe spring Caylin my 10 yaarige klein dogter in woeps waps daar het ek camera / phoon / en mees belangrik U tube (Chris 7 Aiden wen't off to boxing)
Anyhow back to cash crusaiders: - I buy the stuffing Samsung then, they don't want to take the phone i'm returning without the charger as well ----------- WTF? --------- The Pakkies diddn't want a deposit / the charger / and a form to fill in --------------
Chris said "Give me the card, Go I'll sort it out"
Now I have another problem I have a moerse tangle of different chargers so I go to go back there, look at a charger to see which one -------------- SIGH --------------
So HOPEFULLY tonight I'll be Ok on the celular level ---- Grrrrrrrrrrrr
So this is now completed
But no pictures ------------ yet ------ gotta find out how to download to my PC off this new-to-me cell phone
I also made a "bandage" for the winch out of 80mm wide strips of 80 % shadenet to protect the winch from the worst of the roadgrime --- seeing as how this winch is rear mounted ---
Ok Pics
WELDING & FABRICATION - underside, mount plate - strengthing rib - welded to drop plate
End view - mount plate strengthing rib & drop plate
WINCH FITTED --- Sorry pic upside down ---
VICE POST MOUNTING - do not have to take the winch off to attach the vice & post
Real men don’t use pink smartphones
I think Windhoek had that ad where the guy said that real men don’t drink pink drinks. Of course an ad like that would probably get banned in the PC mad world we live in now. I drowned my phone by accident a few years ago, and had to buy my wife’s old phone from her. It had a pink cover, which I rapidly replaced.
Your winch mount looks good. How easy is it to remove the winch? Unfortunately in this country one has to be worried about someone liberating you from the winch when you’re away from the vehicle…
Warren, jy het seker genoem,…
Warren, jy het seker genoem, maar ek het nie raak gelees nie.
Wil jou vra wat is die gedagte met die Winch agter. Mens beur mos vorentoe, en retreat is nie in n ware man se woordeskat nie, kleur van sy foon is n privaat aangeleentheid. Dan weet ek jy is n ou Landrover man. Hulle sit nie vas nie. En as jy wel op die punt kom waar die difflock gesluit is, en die wiele tol, is jy so diep in die moeilikheid dat n Wenas jou nie daar sal uitkry nie.
As dit wel gebeur, moet jy n lekker " kinetic" band byderhand hou. En sodra n Hilux verbykom, dan pluk hy jou uit die moeilikheid.
Kinetic -- not so much
More Neef
2 things, this winch is not a recovery device, and as you so rightly put it, Clever people who drive Landrover’s don’t get stuck ---- Idiots who drive Landrover’s --- They get stuck --- frequently
In all the time I had a fully fledged 8000Lb (4T) properly mounted recovery winch on both my Rocky SE & My Defender I only used the thing once, and that was to recover some other fella -----
Who nogal gave me lip ----- NE!
What I did use it for, for myself, was to extract my caravan, <see pic below> but that was only to pull it out, I had already recovered the Landy with a spade & track-mats ----- And yes I was an IDIOT --- Or ignorant, ---- Take your pick.
MY STUPIDITY
It was at the dam, top crust dry, substrate was damp clay. I engaged rear diff-lock then proceeded to make a sharp left-hand turn, the inner rear wheel dug itself in and dragged the other side down below the dry crust ----- I stopped right there, unhooked the van, did a little digging / set track mats – drove out --- then turned round and because it was convenient & I did not have to fish out my rope ETC I unwound the winch ----
So, I actually don’t need a full-blown recovery winch, my needs are a winch to assist.
To mount a full-blown recovery winch will cost around R70 K --- Yip that’s 70 thousand Rands – the winch –mount-bumper / the attachment of the bumper to the vehicle / the winch / the plasma rope / the fitting of the winch to the bumper -----
This is a winch to assist me in my old age ---- manoeuvre my trailer / and so on. It is only a 2T winch, and mounting it on the tow-hitch receiver for 2T LINE-pull is fine, because the tow-hitch receiver – as supplied by Landrover--- is correctly and adequately engineered & mounted to the chassis – with recovery forces factored in.
SIDE NOTE---
I’m forever smiling at those “Ford boys” with their home mounted 12000Lb (6T) winch plakked on the front ---- whith whatever bolts happen to be in the gararge under the workbench---Not that we have any of “those” ‘Ford boys” on this forum now do we??
BACK TO MY WINCH
So cost & intended / expected use was what determined the size choice & why it’s mounted at the back
HOWEVER
Being only a 2T winch in order to use it for recovery, I would need to rig a series of snatch blocks / pulleys thereby reducing the pull load verdeel deur number of “wraps” --- yes it can be done ----
HERWINNING
When it come to recovery ---- Ek’s N’ moerse lafhaard ---- dis moer baai werk waarvoor ek minder lus het as om duer n slang gepik te word.....
You mention kinetic recovery --- Mmmmmmmm yes well I know my vehicle, but I don’t know the other one or how the “hook-up point” has been attached to the other vehicle
Perhaps it’s one of them “Ford boys” with an aanmekaar geplakede ding--- NE!
Then you have steel bits flying round at bullet speeds --- And one of us is going to be hoog-de-moerin------hanks, but no-thanks, not for me I’ll go the long, slow & safe route ---- dig --- dig --- dig
RECOVERY FORCES MOUNT UP HELLISH QUICKLY
I DO HAVE THIS LEKKER 6 SHIEVE PULLY SET ------ turns 2T line pull into 12T a moer of alot cheaper than R70K and weighs about the same with a cable
PULLED OUT THE VAN WITH THE WINCH --- BUT ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS HANDY COULD HAVE DONE IT WITH A ROPE
Great inventions
I believe many great inventions have come about through wanting to save money. I always try and see how I can do it myself for cheaper too. Plus it’s fun.