How To Install A Winch & Why Your Vehicle Needs One – Bumper Superstore
How to Install a Winch & Why Your Vehicle Needs One
What are winches good for?
Anyone who goes off-roading knows the importance of having a winch on their vehicle. If you are driving solo or with a group of people, someone is bound to get themselves stuck. A winch gives you the versatility of being able to use a fixed-point object to pull your vehicle out of a mess. Whether it is being buried up to your hubs in semi-frozen mud or being able to pull yourself off of a dirt bank, there are just some things you couldn't get out of without a winch.
Why would someone want a winch?
If you find yourself in a situation where you are truly and honestly stuck, and you are miles from nowhere, having a winch will save you a lot of shoe leather to hike out for help as well as the expense of hiring a tow truck to come get you out. Off-roading means too that you have to be prepared for the unexpected. Every vehicle should be equipped with essentials to allow you to get yourself or your companions out of a bad situation. Using a winch isn't just for you. It gives you the option to help other people out who also might have gotten themselves stuck. Also, you can use your winch as part of a pulley system if you ever need to lift a heavy load and are far from the shop.
Choosing the Right Winch
Not every bumper is capable us using a winch. Bumpers are typically what the name implies. They reduce the impact of minor collisions or impacts which in turn protect the body and frame of your vehicle. Most winches are bumper mounted; however, in a stock bumper this doesn't always mean the stockers are tough enough to handle the force exerted on a winch. It could damage the bumper or rip it entirely off the body of your vehicle if you don't know what you need.
Selecting the right winch for the job is important, since the best winch you can choose depends on what you need to use it for, the kind of vehicle it will be used on, and how often you need to use it. For occasional use, or for lighter vehicles, a lower weight electric winch is good in a pinch. Extended use will eventually wear out your winch, so you need to be wary of that. A winch that is too beefy for what you need will just weigh you down and it could cause excessive draw on your battery, drastically shortening the life it is as well as other components of your electrical system.
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Winch Installation
It is important to install your winch properly for a few reasons. First of all, incorrectly installing a winch could lead to damage to your bumper, as mentioned above, but also failure of the winch could lead to huge amounts of force being directed in unsafe ways to anyone who happens to be close. Failure of cables, the mounting brackets themselves, or the bumper could send cable or rope snapping and whipping through the air, pieces of winch breaking off, or even the winch just failing and letting your vehicle roll into an even worse situation.
How To Install A Winch:
- Be sure to have a bumper that is strong enough to support your winch and that it is properly attached to your vehicle.
- Attach your winch to the bumper with the bolts included in the kit. The winch is typically attached to a reinforced plate on the bumper.
- Follow kit instructions for wiring and control box installation, complete with appropriate grounding and wiring.
- Make sure your winch cable/rope is clear from rubbing on any objects that could wear or cut the line.
Why Choose Bumper Superstore?
As off-roaders ourselves, we sell only accessories that we would approve of for use on our own vehicles, maintaining a level of quality you won't find anywhere else. Browse our selection of winches, parts, and accessories before your next trip.
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