Winch and leafspring questions

Ok, two shorts questions

1. I have a rear passenger side leafspring, the top one, broken near the axle. Should I hurry to replace it, or do I just look it from time to time, so I change this latter.

2. Can a 3000 pounds winch be use on a jeep, always with a block (that give 6000 pounds) ?? I'm not looking at a winch to hoist the jeep in a tree, just something to give a hand in case I get stock somewhere. I dont do rockcrawling, i do prefer trail in the woods.


Thanks

Bob in Sherbrooke, Province of Québec

 

1) I'd fix the leaf spring right away. Too much could happen and none of it good.

2) I'd wait and find a more capable winch. 3000# would make me vervous. If your stuck good, it'll take all of that and more to pull you out. I believe a good rule of thumb is 1.5 times the weight of the jeep. Rough translation : at least a 4500# winch. JMHO

 

:iagree:

6000 lb winch is as low as I would go.

 

If your are thinking of upgrading your leaf springs I would suggest you take a look here: http://holbrookspecialties.com/forum/index.php

If you were just going to replace our broken one then this would maybe something you could keep in mind.

 

:iagree: I might be remembering wrong, but weren't you looking at only replacing the broken leaf in that spring pack. If you run it too much broken you increase your chances of having to replace it all. There is also a ton of other things that could go wrong, even on light trails.

As for the winch, the cheap 3000lb ones are not going to work good and you don't want to wait until you are stuck to find this out. I had one on a trailer that wasn't pulling much weight at all and it came apart in a million pieces. Second part about this is that a good 3000lb winch will cost you just about as much as a cheap 6 or 8k one. So, especially if you will not be using it much, you would be better off with a cheap heavier rated winch than an expensive 3k winch.

A lot of the guys that I know have had a lot of luck with Mile Marker winches. If you want something that doesn't cost a ton of $$ you might look into them.

Just my .0236

 

Hi folks

I went to a local jeep club meeting last friday. One of the guy said that I have military style leaf, meaning that there is two leaf that form the eye where it will bolt to the frame. He strongly advice me to keep this set-up because it is stronger. I looked into my bank account, and I'll have to replace it with the one I already have on the shelf !!

The one I have is a regular leaf, with the eye being formed by only one leaf. What I will do is install it on the jeep, see if it is the same height, and go like this. I will have the other one fixed later for a spare. This is a jeep, so I think that as long as it rides almost straight, I can fix it with non-matching pieces right ??

As for the winch, well for now I wont go the winch route. I informed myself as to what was needed to go in the trail with the jeep club members, and what I need is a way to pull the jeep if I get stuck.

So I will built myself one front and one rear bumper with a receiver ??(square section of tubing) These bumper will be welded and bolted on my frame. Then I will get myself a hitch ?? (to attach a trailer) and also a square piece that goes into the same receiver that will have a shackle attached to it. This way, they will be able to pull me out, from the front or the back, at minimal cost to me, and yes, don't worry, I will post pics when I'm done. Sorry for the technical terms, might be all wrong, but forgive me, this is not my first language.


Bob in Sherbrooke, Province of Québec

 

I would suggest you replace your springs in pairs- I doubt your spring rates will match.

 

the 3000 pound winch is rated for 3000 pounds ONLY on the first wrap of cable on the drum. here are the specs for my winch: http://www.ramseypdfs.com/Auto_Catalog_PDF/page9.pdf .

 

Actually, before thightning everything up, I will lower the jeep to see how it react. If it sits level, and when I shake it it does seem to shake the same for each side, I'll leave it like this for now. Sorry about the bad explanation, hope you understood.

Bob in Sherbrooke, Province of Québec