winch questions

[Joe]

I was working on my winch today and took off the top plate and was bit surprised to find that the housings have four pairs of holes to mount the plate and that the plate can be mounted at the front or at the rear of the housings. Q: Does it make any difference if it's mounted in the front of the back? If so, why?

I'm also missing the spreader bar that goes on the bottom of the winch. Does anyone have it's dimensions and thread info, or better yet, does anyone have a spare that they're willing to part with?

[Tom @ Snake River]

The top plate and the bottom rod as well serves to keep the allignment of the 2 winch halves straight. Putting it in either set of holes should not matter.
I do have bottom rods for sale with the proper nuts for $25.00.
www.snakeriver4x4.com

[Tom @ Snake River]

PS Make sure and look at the bottom of the winch and make sure that the Aluminum "ear" that the rod goes through is not broken.

[Joe]

Tom,

The RH housing is threaded and there's a piece about 1/2" across x 1/4" deep broken out on the bottom edge of the hole. Is that big enough to matter? The LH housing is not threaded and appears to be fine.

How do these get broken? Do people catch them on stumps or something or can overloading the winch cause it?

[SOTVEN]

Tom,

The RH housing is threaded and there's a piece about 1/2" across x 1/4" deep broken out on the bottom edge of the hole. Is that big enough to matter? The LH housing is not threaded and appears to be fine.

How do these get broken? Do people catch them on stumps or something or can overloading the winch cause it?

I DO NOT KNOW HOW ON EARTH THEY BREAK THEM OFF. ON MINE THE LH SIDE THREADED PART IS GONE ALLTOGETHER. I DO NOT HAVE A SPREADER BAR, BUT I HAVE INSTALED A STEEL CORNER IN FRONT OF IT UNDER THE BUMPER TO KEEP THE CHASSIS UNITED. IT HAS WORKED WELL ALL THESE YEARS, AND I HAVE USED MY WINCH A LOT. NOT HISTORICALY ACCURATE THOUGH.