Talk to me about the differences between different styles of Fairleads.

I recently bought a 12,000lb winch for my 2nd gen and got her all mounted up and purty looking. Mostly. The included Fairlead is the larger four-roller style which I installed but I'm not sure I like the look. My bumper is an All-Pro and it kind of hangs off a little on the bottom edge and looks a bit... off. I also have a hard time fitting my plate up to it w/o it hanging off of the top. I've seen the smaller aluminum single piece Fairleads and I'm wondering what the differences are functionally speaking. To me it seems as though the roller ones probably do their job a little bit better at the expense of larger size and moving parts that could fail eventually. Is it the fact that I have a 12,000lb winch so the smaller one-piece style isn't rated for that use? The smaller one looks more streamlined but maybe it doesn't do quite as good of a job but has no moving parts to fail. Am I missing anything? If that's the case and the sacrifice in performance is marginal I may source the smaller style and sell this roller-style as it would fit my setup better aesthetically.

Thoughts?

I'll add photos and make it a poll just to keep things interesting.

Roller style:


Solid style:

 

The solid is for synthetic line. Roller for steel cable line

 

So if I wanted to run the solid Fairlead I'd need to switch my line to synthetic. That's pretty simple I guess. Looks like I'll be running the roller style because synthetic line is expensive and less robust from what (little) I've read.

 

I prefer the synthetic for safety. Steel when it breaks is very dramatic and they do splinter which is very painful if it goes through a glove.
Synthetic will break less violently (given you have a line dampner on either type) and is much less pokey on the hands.
And steel line is a lot heavier.
JMO

 

There are (were?) steel hawse (solid) fairleads. The base model winches typically come with them. The steel line can be used with the steel hawse fairlead.

Either steel or aluminum can be used with synthetic. But it needs to be a new fairlead when the synthetic is installed. The steel line will will gouge and scrape the fairlead, which if then used with synthetic will likely cause extra wear or completely damage the synthetic line.

 

The pulling strength of either correctly sized line will be similar and more than the winch can pull.

The synthetic has less durability in regard to improper use. Don't drag it across sharp edges, etc. But a steel line is also being damaged when used similarly, just less obviously.

But the synthetic can be field repaired.

As mentioned, then lighter weight synthetic line recoils significantly less if/when it breaks under load, reducing the potential damage.

 

you can use a steel hawse fairlead. not as good for the winch line in the long term, but unless you wheel A LOT and use your winch just as much, you line will likely deteriorate from rust/exposure to the elements, before it wares out on the fairlead.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/92118_02.htm

 

Pics of a 12ton winch mounted to the front of a tacoma.

Get synthetic rope and an aluminum fairlead, it will also shave a bunch of weight off the front of the truck. The safety advantages of the synthetic rope are pretty obvious as well.

 

Not true about synthetic being less robust. Quality synthetic rope is actually stronger than steel cable in many cases. Also, there is a belief that the synthetic ropes will deteriorate quickly when sand/grit get into the fibers or when they are exposed to UV. That may have been the case early on with synthetic rope, but most newer ropes are much more resistant to the abrasive grit that will inevitably get into it and are more UV stable now so those ideas are pretty much a non-issue.
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Switching to synthetic rope is a worthwhile upgrade for any winch if you can afford to do it. The weight savings, and more importantly the improved safety of a synthetic rope are reason alone. Synthetic rope (as most of you already know) won't store energy like a wire rope will. So if it ever breaks it won't snap and fly through the air with violent force like a wire rope will which can be extremely dangerous. Quick story about that.....

...I saw a guy at our local hospital years ago who was in the ER after a winching accident. He had been pulling stumps out of his yard with his winch and the cable snapped. He thought everything was ok but his leg started to swell in his jeans. When they x-rayed his leg at the ER they found 18' of winch cable that had entered his leg and spiral wound itself around his femur. Horrific, yes, but could have been worse or fatal.

Fortunately is not common for winch cables to break, but it's hard to predict when it could happen. If you can avoid it altogether by using synthetic rope that will more or less fall to the ground when it breaks you can avoid a horrible situation.

Back onto the fairleads. The roller fairleads work well and have for decades (as have the haws style ones) and you can even get roller fairleads with delrin rollers that can be used with synthetic ropes. But the downside to a roller fairlead is that they stick out pretty far. A haws fairlead is preferable since it's lower profile and has less chance of getting snagged on rocks and other obstacles, they are lighter weight too.

 

Warning: slight thread topic detour in light of new information ahead!

Alright, so it appears I wasn't fully informed on synthetic line so let's hope I was equally uninformed on price. What's the cheapest I can find a quality 65' (length that's on there currently) line for and will it work with my unit's springed auto-tensioner that coils it properly? Steel line is dense so it doesn't compress the way I picture a synthetic might so will this be an issue? I believe I can remove this if it's not needed with synthetic (I assume it's also easier to spool consistently than steel) but can it do the same thing with synthetic w/o causing damage to the line? Basically, if I have to remove it that means removing the bumper again which I'd really rather not do since I can change a fairlead & line w/o doing this step.

 

Just so we're clear, Adam, and the others speaking to the safety of synthetic rope are correct. it is much safer than steel. however, it will still fuck you up if you do not give it the identical respect that you give steel cable. pardon the French, it's just a pet peeve of mine when people think synthetic is safe. it is not safe, it is simply less dangerous than steel.

I was able to spend a decent amount of time in a test facility where we brought all kinds of different sizes/styles/brands of synthetic and steel products to their failure points. Unfortunately, i can only find my videos of the steel cable break tests.

anyways, synthetic rope stores a ton of energy, just like steel cable. the only saving grace is that it does not have nearly the mass of steel cable. that being said, if you are struck by a snapped synthetic line, it will hurt you. sure, not as badly as a steel cable, but lets not test that. furthermore, if it's the attachment point or hook/shackle that fails, you now have a chunk of metal coming at you, and it no longer matters how light weight line that flung it is.

Here's a video (not mine) of some folks (intentionally) demonstrating the potential energy that builds up in synthetic rope.


some photos from our testing. again, i wish i could find the videos, as they really show how impressive these breaking reactions can be.

3/4'' wire rope. broke at over 65 tons on the load meter (static test)


static testing an nylon endless loop sling


the mother of all winch lines. the machine in the above picture is not strong enough to break this line. This is plasma rope, the same stuff that many winch lines are made from.


OP, i know this is off topic, and I'm only posting it because i feel we have answered your question regarding fairlead options. if we have not, i apologize for derailing your thread.

 

Not at all and if you read my reply just before yours I felt that we had all addressed that question I had as clear cut as possible so no need to beat on that dead horse anymore. I have my answers there and am now using this podium to ask further questions that are related that I now have regarding synthetic line. Now the primary concern is cost because the limited research I did lead me to believe that a comparable synthetic line to what I have now would be more than I wanted to spend. If there's a general consensus that 'this is the line everyone uses...' and it's not cost prohibitive & works with what I have (see previous post about that aspect) I'll order it now. If it's expensive then I'll probably just keep the silly looking but capable setup I have currently.

 

I've used steel solid fairleads without issue with steel. Has to be steel and no aluminum with cable. I've seen synthetic lines get wedged in roller fairleads, plus in my experience I've seen roller fairleads get wedged up themselves and not roll at all. Plus they stick out a lot further.

I'd have synthetic if I had extra money. I've seen it break in person before and it's super safe. Just falls straight down and piles up in a little coil. You do have to take extra caution and watch the line to make sure any spots that are hitting the ground/rocks are covered by the sleeve.

I had a roller for a while since that's what my winch came with, but now I have a solid one.

 

I use 100' of Warn Spydura Synthetic because that's what came with my winch. I've used it a ton and haven't had any issues. I run synthetic because its lighter and I'm scared of the cables Both Viking and Warn 80' lines are expensive (mid $300s) but well worth it in my opinion.

 

$200 to $300 for a new synthetic line with a hook or thimble already spliced onto it, and another $30-$50 for an aluminum hawse. depends on the brand, and where you buy from.

roughly $50 for a steel hawse fairlead that is compatible with your steel cable.

either option can be installed without removing the winch or your bumper.

 

This just came up on another forum I frequent.

Least expensive for a quality rope would likely be this route:

5/16" at $1.25 a foot, 3/8:" at $1.75/foot, order a couple feet extra for the splice:
http://www.lfsmarineoutdoor.com/rope-and-line/samson-rope-and-line/samson-amsteel-rope.html

Tube thimble (you could very likely find a less expensive one, this is the first that showed up)
http://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/...thimble.aspx?gclid=CJHH6oz-ssYCFRRlfgod3g0CGg

And splicing instructions pdf:
http://www.samsonrope.com/Documents/Splice Instructions/12Strand_C2_Eye_Splice_WEB.pdf

Fid length as referred to in the above link is 21 times the rope diameter, ie, 5/16" rope has a fid length of 6 3/4". You can buy a fid or make one. I use a super fancy bic ballpoint pen with a piece of electrical tape, though I've also just used a piece of tape on the end of the rope. For the lock stitch I use a heavy duty cotton thread, like the kind used for tarps.

Or splicing instructions video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjR4E_91txk&feature=youtu.be

Don't be put off by the thought of splicing. Splicing Samson is easier than tying your shoes and it can save you a ton of money.

 

No one has mentioned this yet but have you checked to make sure your winch is compatible with synthetic line? Winches produce heat due to the braking forces applied to the line when doing a recovery. That heat can be enough to heat the drum and heat the synthetic line if the winch was not designed with synthetic line in mind. Heating up synthetic line can quickly lead to a failure.

In most recoveries there isn't enough heat produced and transferred to the drum to worry about synthetic line degrading, but if we are getting technical it is something you may want to look into. I have heard of failures on cheaper synthetic lines due to the line not being compatible with the winch.

 

You're absolutely correct. There's a reason you still use a blanket or winch dampner over the winch rope when winching even with a synthetic rope. My comments weren't to say that there is no risk, but it's still MUCH safer than wire rope.

 

I run synthetic line but was not able to use a hawse fairlead due to the design of my bumper and the fact that I NEEDED to have the fairlead stick out further to avoid running the line on a metal surface on my arb. I got the delrin rollers and actually like them a lot so far. Have used the winch 10-12times under various conditions.

 

I know you know your stuff. just wanted to make sure others looking to this thread for information didn't take it the wrong way