Thread: Winch- Front or Rear

This old chestnut again

There is no right and wrong, so here's my thoughts!

If you spend most of your time doing a lot of single vehicle travel, at the back is normally best - pull yourself out and find another way around, rather than pulling yourself further into the poo.

If you often have others around, front is often best because then you can often make your way to where you want to go.


Having said all that, the type of vehicle you have is also a big factor. A 101 or 130 isnt too bad to get a rear mounted winch fixed in. A 110 and 90 is significantly harder, and a Disco / RR... well... good luck!

I do however know of a few 90's and 110's that have some excellent rear cross member modifications that allow for a Warn 9.5XP mounted in the rear cross member, with only the fairing as a protrusion.

So thereby lies my preference... One at each end

Jon

Contrary to many of the posters here, I have had a 4:1 ratio of front:rear winching/recovery.

Front winching.
1. Went down a slippery, greasy hill in SF in the sunshine coast hinterland. Realised that going further wasn't a good idea in weather conditions. Turned vehicle around and no chance of driving back up hill - which was the only way out - needed to winch up.

2. Gearbox locked up when driving up a steep hill. Best way to recover vehicle was winch it down the hill. So winch on the front winching the vehicle down safely with the t-case in neutral.

3. Dave S on here was driving through a river crossing and one side of the vehicle slipped off into deep water with a soft bottom and lost traction. Front or rear winching would have been possible, but front was the direction he needed to go anyway.

4. Bellied out on log while driving over. Needed to winch forwards. Winching backwards would have been no use, as no way to turn around or drive out the way I came in.

Rear winching:
Drove out onto lake dissapointment while doing the CSR. Sank up to axles. No point winching forward into worse mud. No rear winch and nothing to attach winch to, so 2-vehicle snatch after digging car out.

Jon has it in a nutshell, front and rear if you travel alone all the time, front if your with other/friends.

Really, if you do a lot of extreme stuff, then front and rear would be the best option, but if your touring, how many touring 4WDs do you see with two winches, why put yourself in a position that would require two winches, your on holidays, why spoil it, avoid the extreme stuff and enjoy the journey.

99.99% of the time a front winch will be fine and as Frank said, winching backwards with a front mounted winch can be done without a problem.

Baz.

Last time I blew a head gasket I winched my Disco backwards onto the car trailer with my front mounted winch. No harder than winching forward unless you are bottomed out, then you have a piece of rope tied to your front and rear bumpers before you go into a precarious bog hole so as you can pull the cable back. Then again I would either go around or go back, regards Frank.

My 101 I can get the cable swapped around quickly front or rear in as little as 10 minutes, as the tools and gear for the winch is handy on the outside of the vehicle and I carry the 15/16 spanner for dropping the fairhead pulley quickly. The reason why my winch cable is normally at the rear is in NSW it is illegal to have the 101s large fairhead sticking out in front of the vehicle.
In fact the bull bar on my 101 was fitted for rego to cover the front pintle.
I found the winching I do is about 50/50 , but most is rearwards as that is where the cable normally is.
Winching from the rear with a PTO winch requires good coms via UHF or a person standing near the drivers door.
Most non PTO rearward winching people dont realise this and they need on the spot training to get them to help.
When I was going though the Abercombie by myself with the 101 towing a 1.5 tonne trailer I swapped the cable to the front as a just in case I didnt make it up the steep climbs.

Garry , I seem to remember being stuck in a fish bowl at stockton and you winched me out.
If no one else was there it would have been a front winch out job for me.( and digging in the spare tyre)
I remember early in my 101 owner ship without lockers I had trouble at the lower part of the steps at Yalwal and that was a front winch out job to get out as I entered the area driving down hill.
All my other winching has been rearwards , mostly to help other people or the move fallen trees over tracks on the farm.
I find if I need to winch a tree or other vehicle at the front , the 101 can be turned around and just winch from the rear.

Not me by the way standing near the cable.

Originally Posted by LowRanger

Going on that sort of philosophy,how many times have you reversed up a difficult slippery rocky hill????

a few more than Im going to admit to. (3 questions - fail on poor route selection so no I didnt need to go there and there was no room to turn in one case and the same deal from trusting a packet leader who in hindsight shouldnt have been packet leading for the same reasons a few more times, but at least I had a winch and no trailer those times.)

that said and ignoring the "going up difficult slippery rocky hills basically means you havent paid attention to the 3 questions" thing.

Its a 101 the PTO winch is center mounted and you can run it out front or rear. Its better to set it up for rearwards winching for a few reasons

1. with it out the rear the winch lead is less likely to be damaged from driving into something,

2. If you're in the mud or bogged you will usually have driven in and going out backwards is typically easier than going out forwards.

3. if your pulling something into position to tow it your generally going to tow it from the rear of the vehicle

4. if your pulling something onto a trailer the trailers at the back......

5. (this ones a bit iffy depending on configuration) theres more between you and the winching when winching from the rear if something snaps.