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Mods, sorry if this is in the wrong forum...please feel free to move if necessary
After a recent acquisition of a 16' car hauler, I am in the market of finding a winch to pull a 2800lb car onto the trailer. I know I will need to find a spot to mount it and may have some additional welding and add a box to keep the winch protected from the weather. I'm looking at winches on both amazon and at Lowes, but not sure what rating I really need, understanding that I need something that could pull the car up on an incline.
What rating should I be looking at? is a 4000# winch enough, or should I be looking at something higher?
Mods, sorry if this is in the wrong forum...please feel free to move if necessary After a recent acquisition of a 16' car hauler, I am in the market of finding a winch to pull a 2800lb car onto the trailer. I know I will need to find a spot to mount it and may have some additional welding and add a box to keep the winch protected from the weather. I'm looking at winches on both amazon and at Lowes, but not sure what rating I really need, understanding that I need something that could pull the car up on an incline. What rating should I be looking at? is a 4000# winch enough, or should I be looking at something higher? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001TQNS1C...I2CHXE9JZ0YWDRhttp://www.lowes.com/pd/Keeper-4-5-H...Winch/50331875 Huge price difference between these two, but both seem to have good reviews. Should a winch have it's own dedicated battery, or will hooking it upto the truck's battery suffice? Thanks for the suggestions and education. I've done some googling on the subject, but wanted some real world advice.
The 4000# rating should be enough, as long as the winch is a good one. I have a pretty long set of jumper cables that I hook up to my truck battery. But it's not ideal. I have been thinking of doing something different for getting power to it but haven't decided yet on the best way.
The 4,000 lb should be enough to pull an 8,000 lb vehicle up a typical car hauler incline. Remember it will roll downhill. That could be forward or backward. I recommend a wireless remote so you can be in the vehicle you're loading to prevent it from getting away.
I ran 2X #2 through my frame and used large electrical connectors to hook it to the battery. Be sure to use a fuse or breaker.
I like this setup! That should be some really good wire and the price is more then reasonable. What kind of winch do you have? I have a 4,000# winch and it struggles to pull my 6,000# 64 Coupe Deville up the trailer at times. I don't even recall the brand I have.
I think 4,000 lb should be plenty if no flat tires, brakes not dragging, etc.
I have an Engo 12,000 lb winch. What does your wiring look like? If you are getting a lot of voltage drop, the winch may be seeing only 6-9 Volts which would really hurt performance. Check your specs. Probably around 200A or so.
A 4000# is lots. A 2500# with a ****** block would do it with ease considering your 2800# vehicle, assuming it is free rolling.
We routinely winched race cars up onto trailers with a 2500# winch and ****** block. Most guys found it a good investment as a cheap winch can be found easily at 2500#. Even if it died it could be replaced multiple times for the cost of a bigger one.
I still have my 2500# winch from my race days, $50 on sale at Harbor freight and sitll going strong today. I use it to winch much heavier stuff onto my trailer and keep expecting to replace it but it just keeps going.
FWIW I winched a 6000# tractor onto my open bed trailer with that little winch and a ****** block. It struggled but it did it.
Well worst case scenario the vehicle may be without a wheel or four...so I need to be able to drag it onto the trailer no matter what. I think the 8000# will do the job. Just got to get it mounted, wired, and powered.
06-27-2016, 06:23 AM
Winches
