Thread: Winch - at front or rear of car?

yep...

or since you can custom make it to suit...

build a drop in cradle and add andersons to it so you can put it on either side.

Ditto what Dave said.
My Aldi winch is sitting in a receiver hitch cradle awaiting a mobile vehicle to be fitted to (once I get the hitch added between the front rails) Anderson connectors front and back.
Winch is out to save weight day to day, in when I'm going bush. Just stored in the came of the vehicle to balance the loads.

front if you definitely need to get through what's in front of you and it's the only route.
But it can pull you deeper into the bad stuff

Rear if you are looking for recovery and have alternate routes, or don't need to go through the bad stuff. Good if you were just trying but got stuck. Usually a lot easier to pull yourself out the way you went in, instead of trying to get through.

Rear can usually be detachable and hooked onto the towbar in some way.


I use the latter detachable winch on my daily disco, but have a front and 2 smaller rears on my '81 patrol shorty

I agree that rear mounted makes a lot of sense however ................
With the specialist build as you suggest, have you thought about rear mounted with provision for appropriately positioned snatch block/cable guides to allow cable to be routed from the rear mounted winch and come out at the front?
Just a thought for the odd occasion when you need to PSA.

Thanks everyone. I've been thinking of a detachable cradle approach, but I'm generally pretty deep in the doo doo when I come to a stop. D2Lee's set up on his Patrol sounds ideal.

Originally Posted by Xtreme

I agree that rear mounted makes a lot of sense however ................
With the specialist build as you suggest, have you thought about rear mounted with provision for appropriately positioned snatch block/cable guides to allow cable to be routed from the rear mounted winch and come out at the front?
Just a thought for the odd occasion when you need to PSA.

I agree with extreme, that was my initial thoughts.
No matter what you do their will be pros and cons, you need to decide what compromises you are willing to live with.
Mobile cradles are good being able to move from front to back - but it is a hell of a lot easier to move with two of you - winches are not light. Usually when they are mounted to the front they stick a ways out in front.
Everybody seems to be on the mind set of getting stuck in mud - and yes going out backwards is usually the better option, but what about when you can not make it up a hill? Front mount would be handier.

Mid mounted winch, round rollers at the back, then out the front. A lot of military vehicles do it this way.

Aaron

A number of years ago, I was in a party of off road vehicles driving through the bush. One fellow had a Suzuki ute with a winh at the front and a winch at the back.
With the Aldi winches being reasonably priced, why not put one each end?

Originally Posted by Aaron IIA

Mid mounted winch, round rollers at the back, then out the front. A lot of military vehicles do it this way.

Aaron

Such as the 101.

And the Inter.