Synthethic winch cable...fitment question.

Bigjerm said:

it should fit but why go bigger? Whats the break strength on the 5/16 vs the 3/8? When I had synthetic on my Mile Marker it never melted during some heavy winching BUT I always worried about it so the heat resistant thing would be a nice piece of mind.

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rarely will more than 100 foot be needed. i would recommend carrying an extension line for the small chance that you might need that extra length. to me, the fact that you rarely need more than 100 foot is good enough reason to go with the 3/8" line, even though you can't get 125 foot to fit with it, as you could with the 5/16" line.

i'm not sure what the drum protector is either. maybe it is a typo and should be "line" protector instead.

if you can afford it, i would go with the 3/8" viking combo line. the safety thimbles are really a great thing.
check out this link to see the difference between the safety thimble and the crush-proof thimble. with the safety thimble, you don't need a hook. with the crush-proof thimble, you have to by a separate hook (well, you don't HAVE to, but i would recommend it).
Winchline.com Hooks/Thimbles

also, you can use a metal roller fairlead with a synthetic rope. i do, and know lots of people that do it. you just have to make sure it isn't all scraped up and/or gouged from using a wire rope on it in the past. scratches or gauges will potentially damage a synthetic rope.

StubEXrube said:

I beleive that it is planatary gear driven as well...Advantage of the 9.5ti is that it is driven by a Bosch new generation motor and that it uses a thermometric indicator that lets you see via LED indicator, the operating temperature of the motor.

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by the time the light goes on, the drum is already pretty darn hot. the light just lets you know to stop winching so you don't damage the motor.

i'd rather only have 100 feet of 3/8" rope and use an extension for anything needed beyond that than go with 5/16" just to have 125 feet.

this is most significant when pulling out of thick mud/muck, where the extra pull weight added by the suction and mass of the mud really adds up fast.