Winch-Will it sag my front end down

The only time I’m off road is when I’m coonhunting and a winch would definitely be handy hunting in the river bottoms but can you guys tell me if I will have to change suspension put a leveling kit in. I know nothing about that stuff and I’ve been trying to read and learn but it’s confusing if you have never done any of this stuff. I only take the truck off road when I hunt so it’s mostly driven on the road as far as % goes. It would be great to have a winch but I wasn’t really wanting a lifted truck. Could you guys steer me in the right direction. Thanks Rick

 

Yes, adding weight will lower your ride height. How much depends on the amount of weight. As a rough estimate, the truck has 2 700 lb/in springs in the front with about a 2-1 mechanical advantage, so each 700 lbs will lower the truck by about 2”. Winches weigh far less than that.

 

Yes.

Put the appropriate heavier spring in a compatible damper.

 

The problem is you'll probably need a bumper to hold the winch which means a spring upgrade. And if your going to upgrade the springs you might as well do a lift. And if you do a lift your going to want wheels and tires. After that...

 

I thought maybe I could escape doing anything if I got the lightest setup possible with synthetic rope instead of cable. Thanks for replying. I want a winch for the security because I hunt alone a lot at night but I’m lost when it comes to suspension and leveling kits- lift kits etc.

 

You will need to have a winch-compatible bumper and they are not as light as the factory front bumper.

 

I was looking at the Warn semi hidden winch Mount bumper

 

You sound like a candidate for a come-along.

 

Get these along with your prefered winch and you'll be able to pull from either end. When you don't need the winch leave it home.

Hidden front hitch

Hitch mount winch craddle

 

The Warn is rumored to be 90lbs.
https://dv8offroad.com/collections/...t-bumper-fbtt1-05?_pos=1&_fid=23219113f&_ss=c is rumored to be 108lbs.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-and-light-weight-bumper-for-a-winch.631787/

 

Get this https://www.wyeth-scott.com/orders.php

 

I wheel alone and don’t have a winch. There are other cheaper recovery devices. Some include hi-lift jack (which can be used as a winch), traction boards, and the mighty shovel

I wouldn’t get a winch until you are getting stuck so bad you need help on a regular basis or your friends are. This is assuming you are not trying to cross Antarctica.

You have a cell phone and maybe a radio, yes?

 

I have this. More effort than a winch, but very reliable and will teach you not to get stuck lol. I’ve used it on the 4Runner I had, not bad in terms of effort but takes some cranking.

 

Find the weight of your winch setup and put that much on the bumper with sandbags or a small person etc. to see how it’ll affect your ride height.

 

Just taking your assumptions as correct (they aren't) your example will travel the front 1" in bump.

2 700 lbf/in springs in parallel equal a rate of 1400 lbf/in.

2x mechanical advantage with a 700 lbf applied load is 1400 lbf.

1400 lbf load on a rate of 1400 lbf/in equals 1" of travel.

 

I might have made a mistake, but are you sure you are not forgetting that 1” of spring travel is 2” of wheel travel?

 

That wasn't mentioned in your assumption but yes, that's true. However, that modifies the effective rate of the spring at the wheel by the square of the ratio and the travel by the ratio so you have to account for it correctly. I assumed you meant the 2:1 leverage was due to the load being applied ahead of the front axle centerline which would be overly high but is another effect to consider.

 

I didn’t factor the leverage of the weight being forward of the axle into my napkin estimate; only the leverage of the LCA on the spring.

 

There are some hidden winch mounts you should look into. Most are around the 20 pound mark without a winch.
Even going with a hidden winch and a 8k winch with rope. You will still get a bunch of nose dive when braking and it will sag a little.
A set of front bump stops (like wheelers) "might" help enough so you don't have to swap coils.
I didn't like the ride stock so swapped suspension.

 

OP, in your past coon hunting adventures, have you found yourself needing a winch on more than one occasion?

And if there were times you found yourself in a pinch thinking a winch would come in handy at the moment, would any other form of self recovery been able to safely get you going again?

Traction boards
Shovel
Come along