Winch Cable.

[NewTower]

Happy New Year everyone hope everyone is in good health. I am new to towing (been doing it about a year now). I have a 2005  Ford F-650 Century Rollback Tow Truck and I am begining to notice that the winch cable seems to be on its way out and I am looking to replace it before it really gets bad.. I need some help in which cable should I choose I am seeing alot when I use google but would like some more info on what should I be looking for exactly. I know want a steel cable but I am seeing a few different ones. Can some one give me some pointers in what i should be looking for as in quality. Fibre Core or Steel

Edited January 4 by NewTower

[Bushwacker]

A steel swag is the best imo they last way longer but are stiffer and takes a little more to train them to lay on the spool. Apparently a 3/8 swag is originally a 7/16 cable that's been stretched down to a 3/8.

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[NewTower]

1 hour ago, Bushwacker said:

A steel swag is the best imo they last way longer but are stiffer and takes a little more to train them to lay on the spool. Apparently a 3/8 swag is originally a 7/16 cable that's been stretched down to a 3/8.

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Thank you so much as i go google this lingo you sent me. I Just found some difference in the winch cable Fibre and Steel core, it was talking about the Fibre is more flexible vs the steel core..  That made me start to wonder since it has to be reeled in on the winch system if it would be better than the steel core

[Bushwacker]

The fiber core is easy-to-use but isn't as strong and will not last as long. Also if you do much pulling and stuff like we do you will break the fiber core easy

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[Derlyn Z]

I think it depends on what you are planning to do with the truck. If most of your tows are just vehicles broke down along the highway, and you are not doing many hard recovery pulls I think the Fiber will work great, and it is easier to manage. It seems the steel core ones tend to want to curl back up after you pull them off the winch. That is just my opinion take it as you want!

[EdsTowing]

Well the key is, whatever you use - keep within the safe work load of the product and always protect the rope. All of them will perform well if cared for. Fiber core is easy to work with and retains lubricant if properly maintained. The steel core has a higher break strength but doesn't wrap as well on the winch. The swaged rope is supposedly the strongest but personally I think it sucks to work with...it just doesn't want to bend. We use a lot of synthetic rope which is real nice to work with, very strong and the safest to be around but it's costly and susceptible to abrasive issues so you need to be careful.

[Austin Jacob]

 

In terms of steel you have fiber core and regular steel core, and then you have “super swagged” 

 

fiber core is loser and easier to manipulate but weaker. 
steel core is of course stronger but it’s harder to manipulate and has more memory to it so you need to baby it on the drum more or

itll be a pain to correct later.

super swagged, in my experience it’s the strongest but it’s real mean to work with, very hard to manipulate and very splintered, had it on my truck all but a week as every time I’d touch it even with gloves I’d get a nasty splinter. 

And then finally you have my go to, what I’ve run for the last few years, synthetic rope. 
it has a lot of pros and cons,

Pros

it floats on water, it’s light, it’s strong, requires no tensioner, doesn’t really care how it’s spooled on the drum, and real light to free spool, and easily repairable even in the field with the right tools.
of course it’s rope so it’s easily manipulated, and my favorite part is you can usually upsize the rope one size and still fit it in the same hole on the winch, and you can fit more on the drum than you could steel, I run 150 feet of 7/16 where I could probably only get 100 foot of 3/8 in steel.

as for the cons,

doesn’t fair well with abrasives, has to be babied as any sharp edges and it’s done for, does get faded from the whether and does soak in and discolor from different fluids, and it is pricey. 
 

[EdsTowing]

Another thing I have learned about synthetic rope is not to work it in the "safety margins". Guys work rope beyond their safety factors all the time and typically won't have an issue within reason. Pulling 15k line load on a rope rated at 12k isn't necessarily a "Cancel Christmas" moment, not saying that it's recommended. But if you work synthetics in an exceeding manner, it can "burn" the layers on the drum & diminish it's life.

[Austin Jacob]

8 minutes ago, EdsTowing said:

Another thing I have learned about synthetic rope is not to work it in the "safety margins". Guys work rope beyond their safety factors all the time and typically won't have an issue within reason. Pulling 15k line load on a rope rated at 12k isn't necessarily a "Cancel Christmas" moment, not saying that it's recommended. But if you work synthetics in an exceeding manner, it can "burn" the layers on the drum & diminish its life.

What I have also found if you are overloading it whether it be on purpose or on accident, unlike steel wire rope it does not give you audible crackling and popping feedback to let you know you are probably getting into the danger zone, with rope it breaks in a much more controlled manner but it doesn’t give any real feedback that it’s going to break, it just pops out of nowhere. Learned that when a surprise stump was under a car in the woods and I didn’t catch it, figured and easy pull and it was not and it popped my first 3/8 rope, that is why I upsized so my 8,000 pound winch will stall before it ever breaks my rope in good condition. 

[dperone]

My two cents, if you're just starting out go steel core non super swagged wire rope. It's a little harder to work with but the most forgiving as you learn your way around. Also, check the ratings tag on the truck and the winch, it'll tell you what the winch is rated to hold. On a bed I wouldn't go more than 75' as the longer the spool the harder it is to keep straight on the drum. 

[EdsTowing]

On 3/7/2024 at 3:03 PM, dperone said:

On a bed I wouldn't go more than 75' as the longer the spool the harder it is to keep straight on the drum.

I agree with that. Guys try to put more rope on it but it's near impossible to keep it nice. Another problem that many don't realize is when you go to the 100' on a Ramsey bed winch, it bumps you another wrap on the drum when it's all in. If you are loading something heavy, you may find your winch stalls prior to getting everything on the bed. Remember the winch is rated on the 1st wrap and looses around 17-1800 lbs on each subsequent wrap. Load a 10,000 truck and you may find yourself in trouble.

[Austin Jacob]

2 hours ago, EdsTowing said:

I agree with that. Guys try to put more rope on it but it's near impossible to keep it nice. Another problem that many don't realize is when you go to the 100' on a Ramsey bed winch, it bumps you another wrap on the drum when it's all in. If you are loading something heavy, you may find your winch stalls prior to getting everything on the bed. Remember the winch is rated on the 1st wrap and looses around 17-1800 lbs on each subsequent wrap. Load a 10,000 truck and you may find yourself in trouble.

I don’t have any problems keeping 150 foot straight on my bed or sidepuller so long as you keep tension on it and snatch block properly. As for power yes each wrap takes away winching power but I have never stalled my winch pulling something up my bed that actually belongs on it, never stalled it at pulling stuff up the bed actually but I don’t go overloading it. It’s pulled 550 dump trucks in park no problem up the bed. 

[Bushwacker]

I don’t have any problems keeping 150 foot straight on my bed or sidepuller so long as you keep tension on it and snatch block properly. As for power yes each wrap takes away winching power but I have never stalled my winch pulling something up my bed that actually belongs on it, never stalled it at pulling stuff up the bed actually but I don’t go overloading it. It’s pulled 550 dump trucks in park no problem up the bed. 

You must have a 20k on your bed because I put 100' on my bed once and it was full and I always had trouble. After it wore out I always put 75' on my bed . My ITD sidepull I have 125' and it's full. 25' more wouldn't fit so you must also have a 20k winch on your sidepull.

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[Austin Jacob]

14 hours ago, Bushwacker said:

You must have a 20k on your bed because I put 100' on my bed once and it was full and I always had trouble. After it wore out I always put 75' on my bed . My ITD sidepull I have 125' and it's full. 25' more wouldn't fit so you must also have a 20k winch on your sidepull.

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I have a 8000 on the bed and a 9000 on my sidepuller, bed was at 150 but I downgraded to 100 for cost savings, never had an issue but I also never needed both ropes to be full length, and if I do I have rigging to bridge the gap. The sidepuller still has 150. It would never work with steel, I have tried… but with rope I have had no issues. 

[Bushwacker]

I have a 8000 on the bed and a 9000 on my sidepuller, bed was at 150 but I downgraded to 100 for cost savings, never had an issue but I also never needed both ropes to be full length, and if I do I have rigging to bridge the gap. The sidepuller still has 150. It would never work with steel, I have tried… but with rope I have had no issues. 

Oh okay you have synthetic rope I can believe that. I know my 12k bed winch with steel would only hold 100' and my 9k ITD sidepull has 125' steel and it's really about too much.

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[Austin Jacob]

6 hours ago, Bushwacker said:

Oh okay you have synthetic rope I can believe that. I know my 12k bed winch with steel would only hold 100' and my 9k ITD sidepull has 125' steel and it's really about too much.

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Yeah you gotta have synthetic to get away with it, not only did I get away with adding 50 feet but I also went from 3/8 to 7/16 rope. I’ve never looked back and have only ever broken a 7/16 rope on my sidepuller after the sheave plate popped off and the sheave went inverted getting it caught on a sharp edge in between the sheave wheel and sheave housing. That’s my only complaint about the stuff and it’s more so a complaint with the sidepuller sheave head design. No idea what causes that plate to pop off driving down the road but I’ve done it twice now and need to just stow the damn thing in the boxes from now on.