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***GMC Envoy 5.3 on Axle Tech 4000's family rig***

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Discussion starter · #1,023 · (Edited)
#1,024 ·
I would think you're right. There's no way they put these lines on tow trucks that lift and pull over turned cars/trucks from deep ditches with an underrated line. I'm book marking that line so when I get my winch, I can purchase it. Looks like a great upgrade from the stock line, plus the smooth outer layer will make it so my wife or son (likely my son lol) can pull cable while I sit in the truck lol!
 
#1,026 ·
joshgammill said:
Haha! That would be nice!



awdirect.com It's a tow truck/crane supply company. It looks that way because it's "swaged". Not sure what they do to it but it's supposed to be crush resistant and resistant to abrasion. Plus its rated for 1100 lbs more load than normal line. And it's nice handling it cause it's so smooth. This will be my first time to see/use it so we'll see how it does.
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Swaging is a form of cold working, basically they draw the line through a mandrel to cold work all the strands into the empty voids so not only does the cold working process strengthen things, but it also allows you to fit a bit more cable on the winch drum or run more strands in the same winch line diameter. Since it's a smoother outside, that makes it more resistant to abrasion.

billy bones said:
Love the rear ladder idea :smokin:
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Agreed, that's a pretty sweet setup. Could be used as a spare tire carrier too, if you added a small ATV winch or something to help lift it.
 
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Discussion starter · #1,027 ·
DMANbluesfreak said:
Swaging is a form of cold working, basically they draw the line through a mandrel to cold work all the strands into the empty voids so not only does the cold working process strengthen things, but it also allows you to fit a bit more cable on the winch drum or run more strands in the same winch line diameter. Since it's a smoother outside, that makes it more resistant to abrasion.QUOTE]

That makes sense. I knew someone would know!
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#1,028 ·
It's still cable. And when that swage lets go, will flat destroy everything in it's path. Think hand grenade and red hot shrapnel embedding in everything around....
 
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Discussion starter · #1,029 ·
waynehartwig said:
It's still cable. And when that swage lets go, will flat destroy everything in it's path. Think hand grenade and red hot shrapnel embedding in everything around....
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I've ran rope twice and it has failed me almost every time I used it. I'll stick with cable and just stay out of the way. My winch lines get abused and I don't have the time to take care of the rope.
 
#1,030 ·
joshgammill said:
I've ran rope twice and it has failed me almost every time I used it. I'll stick with cable and just stay out of the way. My winch lines get abused and I don't have the time to take care of the rope.
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You need bigger rope then :) So stop using UTV size, and get some manly stuff :D

1/2" rope rated at over 35k lbs, vs cable rated at 9800 lbs. What am I missing? Looks like the rope is rated over 3 times stronger...

JM Rigging
 
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Discussion starter · #1,031 ·
Not only is it more expensive, but it gets cut to easy. I don't unspool it and wash it and let it dry every time it gets muddy, and it doesn't like the sun. But if someone wanted to sponsor me some of that manly rope, I would see how long it lasts! :D
 
#1,032 ·
joshgammill said:
Not only is it more expensive, but it gets cut to easy. I don't unspool it and wash it and let it dry every time it gets muddy, and it doesn't like the sun. But if someone wanted to sponsor me some of that manly rope, I would see how long it lasts! :D
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110% agree. ill never understand rope.... when your using your winch its my last resort, meaning im totally screwed. at that time i want somthing i know will hold up even if its been dirty or in the sun for a while. not somthing so fragile
 
#1,033 ·
I've had this discussion with a few guys, and it is my understanding that when a wire rope breaks, theres usually frayed wires, and rust, and in alot of cases the wire is kinked. I've never heard of a wire rope in good condition breaking out of the blue. There's usually some sort of tell when it's going to break....maybe I'm wrong.
 
#1,035 ·
Everything can brake, cable or rope. Everyone knows cable stores energy and when it brakes it releases that energy and safety is at risk. Rope falls to the ground and doesn't store energy. Cable is heavy, rope is light. Both can be degraded by environment. UV, water, dirt, abrasion, etc.

Cable or rope will fail. They both have a life span. I don't care if they are both stored in a clean, dry, shed. Everytime either are used, it's stretched, and each time it's one pull shorter to the end of it's life. The larger diameter it is, the better, the less stretching. Just putting cable on the drum, causes it to bend/stretch.
 
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#1,036 ·
I thought long and hard about this when I went synthetic but the handling characteristics are so nice and dyneema has been used for so long in the marine industry in high strength high sun, high salt environments I trusted it for what I needed.

My rig is about 3 tons which is I am sure a lot less than yours and will not see the use yours gets. I have used mine about half a dozen times so far and it is a dream to deal with compared to cable.

That said, for your applications I would be looking at steel too. Lol
 
#1,037 · (Edited)
waynehartwig said:
Rope falls to the ground and doesn't store energy.
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This is incorrect. Rope can snap back & mess a guy up, it does not carry the weight & momentum that cable does, but saying rope will fall to the ground is posting bad information. Sure a rope will likely give you a wicked welt, where cable could dismember you, but rope is more likely to fail in the real world,
I think synthetic is right at home on a lighter comp rig that will get a lot of which use & require a lot of handling, but when you have a 6000 lb + rig, wire rope or cable is going to be more reliable & take more abuse as well as neglect.

I roll a new $60 cable on mine once a year, & get good use out of them.

No matter what you choose to put on your winch, stay away from it when it's being used.
 
#1,039 ·
It matters for a couple reasons:
1. people are lazy (and don't get out of the way)
2. people are in a hurry (especially in a competition format)
3. people don't think and mistakes happen.

In all of those cases, Amsteel is going to be MUCH safer than steel rope because a mistake isn't as costly in terms of human injury.

That said, I will run synthetic on my racecar for those reasons, and I run steel on my trailer because it sees sun everyday, and abrasion on every use. If I had a rig that ran a lot of recovery I would (and have) run steel on it too. When you are winching against a fixed object and your car is moving, the rope isn't going to have as much chance at abrasion as it does when you are recovering something else and sucking that line to you with a load on the end of it, rubbing over whatever is between.

We've seen in this thread that already this rig does plenty more than self-recovery.

Steel line is a smart choice.
 
Discussion starter · #1,040 ·
Got a guy to come by the shop on Saturday and tint my windows. 5% on the eyebrow and front doors and 15% over the factory tent on the rest. Left the rear hatch alone so I can see behind me better. It is soooo much better now on those bright sunny days. And it will keep it cooler inside during the summer.





Then since my boy was running low on gas for his pickup, I talked him into hand washing the Envoy for 5 gallons of gas. She's nice and shiny now for the Moab trip. Leaving Friday morning and will be back the following Friday. Probably load up on the trailer tonight or tomorrow so I can pack everything around it.
 
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