Things Maybe Someone Can Help Me Understand
- Thread starter D Chapman
- Start date
D Chapman said:Can someone explain to me why it's so common for folks to put their fairleads on up-side-down? Is this just a Rover-thing? Or do Jeepers do this too? If you just stop for a second, pay attention to what you're doing and think, it's pretty obvious there is a top and a bottom to a roller fairlead.
The bigger question would be "why use a roller fairlead with only 2 side rollers".
Its on a Defender of course its the best, wait until you see the Prolink X-TREME.
I was digging those Autozone Hellas
I was digging those Autozone Hellas
Daniel, this thread is not one of your best ideas. And remember this is me saying this, it's actually a bit fucked up, even for you.
I'll let you all know if it's a piece of shit or something that is actually useful after the Overland Expo next week. We'll be putting that and new winch line thru the paces on a vehicle recovery demo we are doing...
I actually like the idea...
I actually like the idea...
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Dan you bring up some good points.
BUT this is why I like a thimble over the shackel.
1 I can pull the thimble into the aluminum fairlead with our damaging the aluminum
1a I do this so I can lock the winch line. With pressure on the line you cannot put the winch into free spool. This protect aginst anyone coming along and stealing your line.
2 you can pull the thimble tight to the fairlead with out having a hand on it. This makes it much safer in my book.
3 sorry but I like the clean look over the shakel.
Pro link vs safety thimble.
The 2 things I see that are better on the link are
1 the rubber cap
2 the line is inside and not exposed
BUT this is why I like a thimble over the shackel.
1 I can pull the thimble into the aluminum fairlead with our damaging the aluminum
1a I do this so I can lock the winch line. With pressure on the line you cannot put the winch into free spool. This protect aginst anyone coming along and stealing your line.
2 you can pull the thimble tight to the fairlead with out having a hand on it. This makes it much safer in my book.
3 sorry but I like the clean look over the shakel.
Pro link vs safety thimble.
The 2 things I see that are better on the link are
1 the rubber cap
2 the line is inside and not exposed
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FIVESPDDISCO said:
Were you drunk when you posted this?
I'm not sure where you're coming from on all this. You did not even give any points to discus where the ProLink might be better than something else.
Is this a feature? Can this not be done with other options? I'm not sure where you're coming from here. But what I think what you're saying is that a bow shackle can and will damage an aluminum fairlead. I don't believe this to be true.
Synthetic line and hause fairleads have been around a long time. They are nothing new. But this ProLink item is a new product. So over the last 10 or 15 years where synthetic line and hause fairleads have been used, why has this never been a real problem in the past? Why has it taken 10 or 15 years for a product like this to become available? No one saw the need for it until now? Furthermore, isn't the ProLink made of aluminum, 6061 to be more specific? Since when does aluminum galled aluminum, anyway? Why is there even a need for a rubber bumper on the ProLink to protect an aluminum hause fairlead?
Regardless of that, I still do not understand your point. You claim you can pull the thimble into the fairlead without damaging the fairlead because you have a ProLink. Is this not possible when using a thimble to bow shackle set-up? Can you show me some damaged fairleads due to using a thimble to shackle set-up? I don't mean to sound suspicious of your claim or anything, but I've been around the block before and I've never seen this to be an issue before.
Why can this not be done with a thimble to bow shackle set-up?
Actually, I do this very same thing. The only difference is I leave my bow shackle on the thimble so it's ready to go when I need it. When you spool the winch line tight, it's also putting pressure on bow shackle pin, so there is no way someone can unscrew my shackle and steel it.
Why can't you do this with any set-up? Clevis, bow shackle, ProLink, Safety Thimble, whatever. How is this a feature of the ProLink?
Clean look? It looks like a pimple on the center of your forehead. And the anodized finish really looks great on any vehicle. How about all the advertizement printed 360* around the thing? The only thing this puppy needs now is some laser cutting to kotch out the brand name like Warn and Devon Off-Road does!
D Chapman said:
Dan
I am not saying your thinking is incorrect, Just letting you know why I like thimbles over the shackle.
One counterpoint
Your not using an aluminum fairlead so damage will not be an issue from the shackel.
One question
To you is if you are going to leave the shackle on the end of your line why don't you use a thimble to help protect the rope?
Mongo said:
I'll try and get a picture of my current safty thimble and then you'll understand why I like the link over the safety thimble
FIVESPDDISCO said:
My rope is over 4 years old. It might even be over 5 years old, can't remember. It's been exposed to the sun, winter time salt and chemicals, countless recoveries, and as of late I've been winching rocks, trees, and stumps around a new property we bought. The winch, and the rope, get used and used often. I'm not saying I winch tandem axle RV's or semi trucks out of ditches in 10-foot snow storms, but the winch gets used on a regular basis. To date, I'm not having any issues with the line fraying, breaking, or otherwise being damaged. So, IMO, I'm either doing something right, or wrong; or there is no need for a product such as this.
It is 100% inevitable that one day my winch rope is going to break. Sooner or later it's going to happen. But I'm willing to bet that when my winch line does break it will not break at the thimble.
First of all, I use a roller fairlead because it's better.
Many folks think that a roller fairlead and winch rope are not compatible. That's a myth. We've all heard the stories about how synthetic winch line gets pinched in the roller fairlead rollers and cuts the rope. Yawn. Actually, I could see this happening if the roller fairlead became damaged, such as the plastic bushings inside the rollers either wearing our or breaking and creating slop in the rollers leaving a gap. But personally, I have not seen this.
I think the roller fairlead is better simply because it creates less drag. It's pretty obvious as to why this is and I don't think there is any sense in explaining it. I wouldn't drag my line across a tree or a rock without protection and I'm not going to drag it across a chunk of metal.
But since you bring it up, again, I'll ask you, again, to provide me some examples of a thimble, or shackle, causing damage to an aluminum fairlead. I honestly do not think I'm being an asshole by requesting this. If this product was designed to safeguard aluminum fairleads from damage caused by thimbles or shackles, there must have been a problem with thimbles and shackles causing problems in the first place. Seems pretty straight forward to me...??? Teach me something I did not know.
It seems to me that you've been talked down to a single selling point - it protects aluminum fairleads. If that's the case, why not just buy one of these winch line idolaters and save yourself $125?
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It seems to me that Dan really doesn't have a beef with the product, he is just picking on the marketing.
I once owned a Safety Thimble equipped winch line simply because it accepted the largest diameter pin of any thimble I could find. I believe the Safety Thimble has clearance for a 1” Pin for my Dixon Bate Tow Jaw, whereas most other thimbles barely clear the pin on a ¾” shackle. I wanted my winch line to connect directly to my Dixon Bate Tow Jaw without having a shackle between them.
From the looks of it the Safety Thimble has a large ID than the ProLink, making the ProLink unsuitable for my use. However, there are some great benefits to the ProLink. Some of them were probably incorporated so that they did not infringe on the Patented Safety Thimble design.
What I like better about the ProLink is that it:
A) Protects the rope at the thimble unlike the Safety Thimble, which exposes it to environment and the ground if dragged like Danny mentioned earlier.
B) It is removable , should I want or need to take it off the line, for any reason.
There are other things that I dislike about the ProLink, but all and all I don’t think It is that bad of an idea. Especially in the unannodized natural silver color.
With all that said, I now have a Masterpull Superline XD winch line with a hook on the end and I find it to be both functional and pleasing to look at, and I can connect it directly to my Dixon Bate tow Jaw.
I once owned a Safety Thimble equipped winch line simply because it accepted the largest diameter pin of any thimble I could find. I believe the Safety Thimble has clearance for a 1” Pin for my Dixon Bate Tow Jaw, whereas most other thimbles barely clear the pin on a ¾” shackle. I wanted my winch line to connect directly to my Dixon Bate Tow Jaw without having a shackle between them.
From the looks of it the Safety Thimble has a large ID than the ProLink, making the ProLink unsuitable for my use. However, there are some great benefits to the ProLink. Some of them were probably incorporated so that they did not infringe on the Patented Safety Thimble design.
What I like better about the ProLink is that it:
A) Protects the rope at the thimble unlike the Safety Thimble, which exposes it to environment and the ground if dragged like Danny mentioned earlier.
B) It is removable , should I want or need to take it off the line, for any reason.
There are other things that I dislike about the ProLink, but all and all I don’t think It is that bad of an idea. Especially in the unannodized natural silver color.
With all that said, I now have a Masterpull Superline XD winch line with a hook on the end and I find it to be both functional and pleasing to look at, and I can connect it directly to my Dixon Bate tow Jaw.
Tugela said:
This is great , had the same thought while reading it..
go for it Dan, your the Man..
I vote vote chapman disco web Man of the Year.