Aluminum Hawse care

I've been Googling a bit looking for advice on how to maintain the hawse that I received with my Harbor Freight Apex 12K winch. I've been noticing that the synthetic rope that runs through it is leaving a bit of material at the points where it contacts the gliding surfaces of the hawse. I don't see the rope actually becoming abraided, but I am wondering if there is a way to make the hawse actually smoother?

I think the Hawse has a clearcoat on it, and it's wearing off through use.

I have a Hiline bumper with the 12K Apex mounted within it, and the Badland Hawse provided. I did have to make the Hiline's bumper cutout for the hawse a little wider, since the edges of the cutout were initially touching the synthetic rope itself. This is due the the angle of the face of the bumper itself, where the hawse mounts against it.



As you can see above, the hawse's opening is not at a absolute vertical angle of 90 degree's in relation to the bumper face, it's more like 50 degree's, so the hawse opening is even more narrower for the synthetic rope to traverse through.

I guess in a perfect world, I would like to find an adapter plate for the hawse, that would reposition it at an absolute 90 degree's on the Hiline bumper. Probably what would be more realizable though, is somehow smoothing out the rope/hawse contact points.

Any tips? Also, after getting it smoother/polished, what could it be coated with to prevent Aluminum corrosion. It's an issue up here in Maryland with the brine and salt they like to throw on the roads during winter.

 

"adapter plate" in between the opening and the hawse seems like a good idea iot reduce drag between the two surfaces. Need something triangle shaped I guess? Does not have to be cock diesel steel since it will be sandwiched between two solid materials. Maybe someone can 3d print one for you? Maybe some kind of Kidex fabrication? Heck, might be a fun project, make your own mold and use 2 part epoxy resin.

I feel your pain in regards to the freaking brine eating away everything. Since we're talking about a surface that has a dirty/sandy rope dragged across it; I think no matter what you use it will be scratched or rubbed off in short order. Even Duracoat or Ceracoat would get tore up sooner or later. (Unless of course you were just looking to have ~90% of it looking good and accept the inevitable wear on the inside part of the hawse)

Who knows what alloy that HF hawse is made from. Some kind of low end aluminum alloy. It may not rust like HC steel, but it will oxidize If you're just looking to keep the corrosion at bay; first choice would be a good cleaning, surface prep and spray enamel paint followed by car wax. If I had some Duracoat left over, I would use that. Simple fix is clean it up with some buffing compound on a wheel or drill attachment, wax and be prepared to reapply wax regularly.