Do NOT Buy an Off-Road Winch || Watch First

Simply having the peace of mind of being able to get out of a stuck situation when you're venturing alone into the wilderness is worth the hassle and cost of installing a

winch

, but do you really need one? Hey, what's up guys? josh from trobolt, some of us didn't even question the idea of ​​not installing a

winch

on our vehicle, it was just one of those necessary items if you're going to hit the trails, like a

first

aid kit, a spare tire, or a fire extinguisher . a cell phone, a lifting jack, or tools in case something breaks, being prepared to hit the trails can truly be a life or death task, and if you're not well prepared you could be setting yourself up for failure, but there are many others.

For those who question the need to have a winch and may even consider it impractical for their own vehicle's usage circumstances, that doesn't mean there shouldn't be some type of recovery system on the vehicle in case of a situation where a winch would have are useful, for example a high lift jack and a tow strap can be used to get out of a sticky situation or even to move large debris out of the way, then the real question is how do I know if I need a winch or not? , and if it's not a winch, what else could you use besides a bunch of jack and a tow strap?

Here's the thing guys, there's actually no single answer to this question. Some vehicles do not even offer after-sales support for installation. a winch or perhaps most of your riding will be on pavement with the occasional trip on dirt or gravel

road

s, if this sounds a lot like your situation and you would still like to be prepared for the rare occasion then you may have to do it. get out of a jam or maybe meet someone else who has gotten themselves into a sticky situation or even as I mentioned before maybe it's just to get some heavy objects out of the way, then you can take some good recovery tools with you . a long way to get the number one stock or also known as manual ratchet winch.

They use a cable wrapped around a drum that is attached to a hand lever and at the base of the unit there is a hook that attaches to one anchor point and at the end of the cable there is another pulley with one hook that attaches to the other anchor point, be it your vehicle, tree or some other object that will not move when you turn the lever. It acts like an electric winch, except instead of using electricity, you are using traditional labor with this type of recovery system. It is good to carry a pair of D-ring shackles with you and a smaller 8 to 10 foot recovery strap that can be used to wrap a tree, also known as a tree saver, it can also be very useful to carry with you, which which is called a starter block which is a strange name in the rigging industry for a block and if you really want it, feel prepared, throw in an extra 100 feet of synthetic rope to use along with the starter block and come multiply your energy into pulling force, basically doubling the amount of pulling power or if you get one like the northern tool has.

It's called a four ton heavy duty double gear manual cable puller for $60. It already comes with the starter block pulley attached, eliminating the need to purchase an additional starter block. It takes a little more work and time to use it. Also, they are typically not rated for the weight pulling capabilities of what a normal winch is, although chances are that if you're not doing any aggressive off-

road

driving, then you probably won't need that much pulling power to get it done anyway. take off and another popular recovery option is to carry a set of traction boards with you.

They are relatively inexpensive and lightweight compared to installing a winch and can be really useful if any of the terrain you plan to travel through may be sand or mud or some type of loose debris like that or even if you are in a region where it falls. a decent amount of snow, plus they are pretty quick and easy to use, just throw them under your tires and most of the time they will provide you with enough location. and traction to get your vehicle moving again, sometimes you may need to remove loose things, mud, sand, snow, whatever before you can properly place the traction boards far enough under or above the part. bottom of the tires so that they get enough grip on the boards, some adventurers will even have several sets of traction boards to keep throwing in front of the tires to prevent the tires from going back into the mud, sand or snow or whatever the situation may be. , we have even used them to help us get a ram car out of a very stuck situation, although we are using the traction boards along with a winch, but they still provided much needed extra traction and really helped us keep the motor car would sink even further backwards.

In the mud I personally haven't had any experience using the expensive ones like the maximum tracks, but I have heard that they work very well and are virtually indestructible, but I have used the rough terrain traction boards before on several different occasions and for 150 dollars. It worked pretty well for getting unstuck but no matter what brand you choose they really come in handy for getting unstuck and another traction aid that is much more popular in northern climates are tire chains these devices have been proven to work work very well on icy or hard snow roads. In fact, there are provinces in Canada that, by law, require you to use them during certain months of the year.

Tire chains are a bit of a pain to use and do fall apart. They can cause some unwanted damage to your fenders. They are also a proactive traction device, meaning you'll want to install them before you hit mud or sand, snow, ice, whatever, or anywhere you think you're going to lose traction trying to do so. Installing them when you're already stuck will make your life extremely difficult, if not impossible, at that point, and another traction device similar to tire chains are what are known as tire straps, which you don't necessarily have to be as proactive with. like tire chains. chains because they are designed to be able to be installed if the tire is half buried, the belt has a large piece of rubber attached to it and is installed so that it acts as a sort of paddle, the belt can be passed around the tire one of the spokes of the wheel and then putting it back on itself instead of trying to wrap it all around the entire tire, which doesn't work as well when half the tire is buried.

The price of tire chains can vary everywhere depending on the size you need for your particular application, but Track Grabber's tire straps were $98 for a set of four. There are other types of tire straps as well, but I've never used any of them, so I may. I can't say which ones were good and which ones weren't, and similar to a manually operated ratchet winch is one I don't really recommend unless you're in a bind and all you have is a high lift jack. To get you out, I'm not saying that because they don't work, but because they are a pain to use, in fact, they can be more painful to use because the handle sometimes jumps. towards you if you don't have the locking mechanism fully engaged with each pull of the handle, but similar to using an advance, you have one end of the lift lift anchored to your vehicle and the other end attached to an anchor point. and then simply turn the handle over and over so that the high lift pulls towards you instead of away from you like you were lifting a car with a high lift.

It will also require you to have a pair of recovery straps along with you. You should attach to each end of the jack one strap that goes to the vehicle and the other to an anchor point, but in a pinch, a high lift can be a lifesaver, but It may also prompt a pre-emptive trip to the holiest of holies, so be careful. Be very careful when using one, so what's the tipping point where it's not so much a matter of if you need a winch but rather whether and when you should install a winch on your four-wheel drive vehicle?

Now let me say this. Guys, I'm personally pro-winch and I'm not ashamed to admit it, but I'm going to try my best to present this in the best light possible with a more diplomatic and unbiased approach. The thing is, I consider having a winch to be an essential upgrade. to almost any four-wheel drive vehicle where there is at least some intention of using your vehicle to hit off-road trails, especially if your plans are to go solo. There are definitely some negatives to owning a winch, like they are heavy even with synthetic rope. you still have the weight of the winch, mounting plate, bumper and all that will add extra stress to the suspension and driveline components which will increase wear and in most cases you will have to replace the parts more frequently, but if your vehicle is going to see any type of off-road use that is to be expected anyway, another disadvantage is having to run the power cables properly with a disconnect switch and then having to keep an eye on the consumption of amperage so as not to burn the winch or cables. or the battery or even your vehicle, so also, if the

first

thing stopping you from upgrading your vehicle with a winch is the lack of aftermarket support for mounting a winch on your vehicle, then I can completely understand that, but there are some options. for a receiver hitch mounted winch that simply slides onto the receiver hitch, but that may be a little inconvenient to store somewhere until you need to use it, but chances are, if there isn't an aftermarket upgrade accessories so that your vehicle can mount a winch. then you probably aren't using that vehicle for much more than dirt and gravel roads anyway, however if it has a receiver hitch then at least you know you have options for installing a winch if it's not the lack of aftermarket support. accessories what stops it.

After installing a winch, then the next bottleneck will probably be cost, and I understand that. Winches can be expensive and not just because of the winch itself, but then you have to modify your vehicle, whether it be a new bumper or installing a winch. mounting plate of some type and have it work with your vehicle, if you have to pay someone to do it right the costs can add up pretty quickly and this is where being a little creative can definitely make installing a winch a breeze. much more affordable for For example, if funds are tight, then definitely look into the rough field winches on our website at Trail.

Build a 9,500 pound steel cable rough field winch that costs just $400, add a rough field winch mounting plate for $70 and for less than $500 you'll have a pretty decent winch setup to take off the road. Some precarious situations if you have the know-how to install it yourself and chances are if money is tight then you've probably already learned to be resourceful and installing a winch probably isn't. It's not a big deal and guys aren't trying to sound stereotypical there, but I had to learn to do a lot of things on my own because I'm sure I couldn't pay anyone to do it for me, but even buying a cheap one. winch, at least it will help you until you are ready to upgrade to the next level of winches, heck, my first winch I bought from harbor freight in 2005 and I paid 300 dollars for it including the mounting plate, and although I had buyer's remorse for spending so much money at that time it was one of the best improvements I made.

I just stuck a worn-out sticker on it that a friend had given me and no one knew the difference anyway. That's also a true story, by the way. Yes our vehicle has enough aftermarket support to mount a winch on it and we can afford to buy the winch, bumper and even install it if we wanted, but what if I think I will never use it and I can afford to spend? That money on other things for my vehicle like a suspension lift or a new set of tires besides the new tires and the suspension lift should keep me from even getting stuck or maybe I'll take that money and invest it in a set of front and rear lockers then I won't really need a winch because I'm never going to get stuck and guys I'm not saying what you should or shouldn't do after all it's your vehicle and you choose to do with it whatever you want except me personally and because I do a lot of traveling alone or have had to use a winch line to get mya friend unexpectedly or I've even had to use a line to a roll cage. to prevent the vehicle from rolling down a steep embankment, but as I said at the beginning of today's video, having a winch on the priority list is one of the first things to upgrade on your vehicle and can be one of the best improvements for all sorts of different situations that are completely unexpected, like removing fence posts or tree stumps or hauling your friend's dead gear onto a trailer and again, unless you have no intentions of going anywhere other than roads of earth and gravel.

I would do everything in your power to make sure you have a winch installed on your rig because I bet you would be happy if you did and if you don't, that's fine too, just do your best to make sure you have some kind of recovery. system along with you on that, sometimes rare occasion, when something completely unexpected happens and then, at least this way, you won't have to call your friend, that is if he has cell phone service, and ask him to come pick you up at middle of There is nowhere to get your vehicle out of some kind of stuck situation that you probably shouldn't have been in in the first place, that probably sounded a little harsh, but guys, if you've been driving for a while, you know exactly what am.

Speaking of which I know, I sure learned the hard way, so try not to make the same mistakes I did and have a way to get out of a jam if necessary. One thing I'm curious about though guys, it's for everyone who hits the trails, how many of you don't? Do you use a winch on your vehicle and what type of off-road driving do you do? Is it for work, hunting, fishing, exploring, camping or just for recreation? Also, do you have any type of self-recovery system that will work well for you and those of you who already have a winch installed?

Do you think it was worth the investment? Would you ever go back to not using a winch on your vehicle? It would be great to hear from all of you by letting us know in the comments below and remember guys, Check out our rough country winches and even our worn winches. Make sure you head over to Offroad Trail Building or to make it easier just click the link in the description below, but before you do, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to stay awake. to date with all our latest videos and guys, as always, we thank you all for

watch

ing and all your support.

I'm Josh from trill build and we'll see you on the trails.