Replace the cable on your winch with the same diameter and length.
When replacing the cable on your ATV or recovery winch, use the cable width and length recommended by the manufacturer. Never replace cable with heavier or lighter rope. If the cable is too thick, you won’t be able to fit as much cable on the spool. If it’s too thin, it won’t have enough strength for the load rating on the winch.
If preferred, you can switch to synthetic rope for safer winching, plus no frayed wire or kinked cable.
You do not need to remove the winch from the vehicle (unless the winch is mounted in a way that restricts access to the drum) or take the winch apart to replace the cable.
How to Replace Wire Winch Cable
- Spool out the entire length of the old cable.
- Remove the winch cable where it is attached to the drum. Release the tension on the cable and push on the end of the cable where it feeds through the small hole in the drum. If the rope is kinked over and pulled tight into the drum, simply push the cable out of the hole until you can straighten out the kinked cable. Then pull the end of the cable through the hole to remove it from the drum. If the cable will not come out by pushing, try using a pin punch (or something similar) and a hammer to drive the metal button or keeper out of the hole. If your cable is attached to the drum with a bolt, you’ll need to remove the bolt to take off the cable.
- Attach the new cable to the drum. For wire rope, slip the end of the cable through the hole in the drum and tighten the set screw to hold the cable in place. For recovery winches, apply Loctite (or similar product) to the cable clamp thread to prevent loosening of the screw. Tighten the clamp screw (but be careful not to overtighten).
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If you are replacing your wire cable with synthetic rope, push the end of the rope into the hole in the drum. Pull the rope through the hole, wrap it around the underside of the drum and over the top, tuck the rope underneath itself where it exits the drum, and then depress the end of the rope back into the hole in the drum. You may need to use a screwdriver to force the end of the rope into the hole.
- Respool the cable in the underwound direction so that the winch spools in and out correctly. Respool under a load of at least 500 pounds so that the outer layers will not draw down into the inner layers.