ok so I tore the winch down yesterday.
first a couple things:
I think it was my 1st or 2nd time using it, but the cable got wound up all on one side(thanks spotter
), and put pressure against the connecting bar that goes across the top, and snapped the mounting ear off. OOPS. totally my bad.
I have been using it like this for a few years now, and haven't noticed any separation, or any other issues. which means the rear bar, and base are doing a good job keeping things in place.
the other thing, since new free spool worked, but it took quite a bit of effort to pull the cable off, and there was also a bit of a hard spot. it was just a PITA. I just kept it locked and powered it out. its fairly quick, so hasn't been an issue.
a buddy has the same winch, and said his free spool has never worked since new, and asked me about mine. last weekend while wheeling, I tried to use it, and NO GO. even with my foot against the bumper, pulling as hard as I could I couldn't budge the drum.
now to the tear down to find out WHY.
start by removing the 10 4mm cap screws, with a 3mm allen wrench.
once the screws are out, the cap just pulls straight off.
leaving you with this.
the inside of the cap, showing the heavy grease, and free spool lever.
there is the small gear at the end, its just sitting there, pulling it straight out.
then there are 3 sets of planetary gears.
this is with the first(smallest one) removed.
oh, I didn't get a pic of it, but after you remove the first gear set, you can then easily remove the outer main gear. the one with the scallops around the outer edge.
and here with the last, largest removed.
apparently I forgot to get a pic with the second one.
and lastly there is a smallish gear right in the center, you can see it in the last pic.
here it is removed.
now we can see inside the drum. what a mess!
I tried to used a flashlight and get a pic down inside the drum to show how bad it was. its hard to see in the pic, but the entire inside of the drum is coated. probably 1/4" thick all the way around.
anyway, as I pulled the parts out, I layed them IN ORDER, and in orientation on a rag.
I found out as I was cleaning things, that this wasn't entirely necessary, as it will really only go together one way. but, its good practice just in case its not so simple.
down to the cleaning. this "grease" was terrible. I would say it was closer to glue than grease. I cut the bottom off a plastic antifreeze jug, and soaked the parts in brake cleaner. then transferred them to the parts washer, and then one more time in the brake cleaner. it was a bit of work, that is nasty, sticky grease.
but finally, clean parts!
before these were cleaned, I could barely turn those individual gears. the grease had them glued in position.
cleaning the inside of the case was a bit more difficult, as I couldn't soak it, and those gear teeth in there were a *****. I ended up using a small screw driver and scraped one spline at a time.
now, as to why it wouldn't free spool, I had an idea that the pin in the lever had bent/broken/fallen out.
once cleaned up, you can see things are as they should be.
the pin is intact, and the lever turns freely.
i had read other threads online, that said the pin was bent, and this caused the issue. for the hell of it, i removed the pin. it slid easily, out so far, then stopped. weird.
i finally used a pin punch and removed it.
sure enough, it was bent.
except, its more CURVED then bent. i think this is done purposely to prevent the pin from sliding out during use.
i didn't realize this at the time, so for piece of mind, i replaced the pin with a roll pin. it went in with a bit of force, as a roll pin should. theres no chance it will just slide out. i believe a roll pin should have been used originally.
so the free spool lever turned, but it still wouldn't free spool. mechanically, that's not possible due to the design.
the free spool lever has a small, just over half circle on it, this locks into the scallops on the outer gear, thus locking them together, TO the outside case. letting the motor drive the gears, which turns the drum.
when in the free position, the half circle turns into a void, placing the flat spot in the scallop, and leaving the outer gear free to move/turn, thus allowing free spool. the motor is no longer engaged to the drum.
quite genius in design really. it takes very little pressure, due to the compound gearing, to lock that outer gear to the body of the winch.
also note how small the drive shaft is. i didn't measure it, but id guess its 5/16". this is with a 5.5 hp motor, and a 8500lb rating. again, this is due to the compound gearing.
i greased everything back up with some NLGI EP #2 grease. basically its wheel bearing grease that we had here at the shop. most places online suggested aeroshell #17, or moly1. but, any EXTREME PRESSURE grease should be fine. and really, just about ANYTHING will be better than what was in there. i didn't get any pics of this, obviously i was covered in grease.
oh also, most places say to "not use too much grease" because it will make it hard to free spool. well, i packed that ish in there. anything that moved, turned, touched, or rubbed got a liberal coating of grease. i made sure to spin all the gears until they spun freely.
install is the opposite of the tear down, the only thing id like to note is the 2 plastic shims.
seen here.
they go over the center gear, top left.
that's pretty much the only thing that can be put in incorrectly.
ok, so i mentioned when new, free spool had a hard spot.
one of the 3 gears on this set was hard to turn. it would turn about 75% of the way easily, then get hard. i think the pin is slightly bent. i was able to turn it with my fingers, but it got pretty hard. i think that explains the hard spot.
one last thing,
i haven't torn down many other winches, so i cant say if this is an extra feature, or standard for this design. but in the pic, the upper middle and left gears, you can see a large C-clip.
the center gear is staked into the plate, that C-clip prevents it from backing out. a pretty good idea, makes it that much more durable.
ok, so this ended up longer than i expected. but at least i had pics.
also, even tho i had the camera IN MY POCKET i still forgot to take pics of some things...
later today im going to tear down my new rugged ridge 10,500, and clean and regrease it.
i think this is something that should be down to ALL winches when new. regardless of brand, or price.
its a bit different design, so i'll take pics again. i'll try to keep the write-up shorter tho.
Linear Mode
