winch mount alignment question
02-12-2008, 07:45 PM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Member Since: Sep 2006
Location: San Mateo CA
Posts: 2,173
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
winch mount alignment question
i'm deciding where across the width of the trailer to place the winch. dead center might seem the smartest and most obvious, but i'll be transporting different cars and they all have different tow hook locations. even for the vette, the tow hook isn't in the center so i'm not so sure even if i only towed that car that the center would be the best winch location.
how big of a deal is it to be at an angle to the tow point? maybe a better question is how much angle is tolerable, and what happens if you exceed that? i'm worried about how the takeup of the winch cable is affected by an angle. obviously there's always some angle as the cable goes back and forth across the takeup reel, but that's minimal.
i was thinking of mounting the winch at the far side, facing the other side (instead of towards the back of the trailer), and using a pulley mounted to the front of the trailer to get a right angle to the tow point. i would mount the pulley on a sliding or movable track. even without the movable track, i would now always have a straight shot to the winch. the movable track would just be so that i could also get a straight shot to the vehicle tow point. would this just be a giant waste of time?
how big of a deal is it to be at an angle to the tow point? maybe a better question is how much angle is tolerable, and what happens if you exceed that? i'm worried about how the takeup of the winch cable is affected by an angle. obviously there's always some angle as the cable goes back and forth across the takeup reel, but that's minimal.
i was thinking of mounting the winch at the far side, facing the other side (instead of towards the back of the trailer), and using a pulley mounted to the front of the trailer to get a right angle to the tow point. i would mount the pulley on a sliding or movable track. even without the movable track, i would now always have a straight shot to the winch. the movable track would just be so that i could also get a straight shot to the vehicle tow point. would this just be a giant waste of time?
02-12-2008, 08:01 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
gdad im not the only one i was just designing a system where by the winch mounts in the forward center under the front and a bar with different holes adjusts a pulley left to right for just what your talking about ...
the winch i have works but the cable angles are severe works but could be better..
or i might just move all the tow hooks to the same side and offset the winch... but what fun is that???
the winch i have works but the cable angles are severe works but could be better..
or i might just move all the tow hooks to the same side and offset the winch... but what fun is that???
02-12-2008, 08:06 PM
#3
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Member Since: Sep 2006
Location: San Mateo CA
Posts: 2,173
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
sounds interesting, can you share your design a bit more? i don't think i "get it" at least not enough that i could reproduce it. (don't worry i will pay you a royalty 
)
)
02-12-2008, 08:59 PM
#4
Race Director
I would center it where your tow hook is. If you only use one car, I'd mount it exactly there. If you need to tow multiple cars, you might want a mobile setup.
My tow strap comes through the drivers' side fog light area, so that it where I mounted my winch....about 18" from dead center.
My tow strap comes through the drivers' side fog light area, so that it where I mounted my winch....about 18" from dead center.
02-12-2008, 09:06 PM
#5
Team Owner
make a mount that slides on a square steel tube and a drop pin or quick release pin.
Last edited by John Shiels; 02-12-2008 at 09:12 PM.
02-12-2008, 11:02 PM
#6
Burning Brakes
kinda what i was thinkin.. 2 inch heavy .120 square 5/8 holes for hitch pin and a winch block pulley.....two A frames on each side...
02-13-2008, 12:13 AM
#7
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Member Since: Sep 2006
Location: San Mateo CA
Posts: 2,173
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
02-13-2008, 08:24 AM
#10
Burning Brakes
Member Since: Nov 2004
Location: Brule County South dakota
Posts: 903
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Useing the ball on a swivel type setup will work on a far amount of applications until you reach a certain amount of pulling load though. The side puller that you had shown in a earlier post looks like it would work well. just need a couple mounting holes in your deck for it.
Granted i don't know what other veichles your towing over the vette. but for my vette i took a couple of the T-hooks and go in them normal mounting locations and then put a chain between them so then i can pull straight from the center of the trailer. Also with a short piece of chain and a couple hooks you could almost pull any car on from a straight point.
Granted i don't know what other veichles your towing over the vette. but for my vette i took a couple of the T-hooks and go in them normal mounting locations and then put a chain between them so then i can pull straight from the center of the trailer. Also with a short piece of chain and a couple hooks you could almost pull any car on from a straight point.
02-13-2008, 10:24 AM
#11
Team Owner
02-13-2008, 10:43 AM
#12
Pro
Member Since: Oct 2004
Location: Reno Nv
Posts: 619
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sounds overcomplicated to me. We use a winch with a roller fairing and don't care at all what the angle is. The winch doesn't seem to care either.
Pullin' in everything from Nascars to Formula cars.
Pullin' in everything from Nascars to Formula cars.
02-13-2008, 11:07 AM
#13
Le Mans Master
Useing the ball on a swivel type setup will work on a far amount of applications until you reach a certain amount of pulling load though. The side puller that you had shown in a earlier post looks like it would work well. just need a couple mounting holes in your deck for it.
Granted i don't know what other veichles your towing over the vette. but for my vette i took a couple of the T-hooks and go in them normal mounting locations and then put a chain between them so then i can pull straight from the center of the trailer. Also with a short piece of chain and a couple hooks you could almost pull any car on from a straight point.
Granted i don't know what other veichles your towing over the vette. but for my vette i took a couple of the T-hooks and go in them normal mounting locations and then put a chain between them so then i can pull straight from the center of the trailer. Also with a short piece of chain and a couple hooks you could almost pull any car on from a straight point.
This is what I was thinking as well. Use the existing frame holes. I was also just thinking of using my trailer straps themselves. So take one trailer strap in each frame mount (front mounts of course) and then simply pull them in the middle and snap them both on the winch hook and start pulling. I don't have any tow hooks and would rather not use suspension points to pull the car, so I was thinking this was the best, cheapest, safest method. The tow straps themselves are rated at something like 5000lbs. Is this not a reasonable method? Do the straps clear?
02-13-2008, 04:04 PM
#14
Safety Car
02-13-2008, 04:08 PM
#15
Team Owner
02-14-2008, 10:38 AM
#16
Pro
Member Since: Oct 2004
Location: Reno Nv
Posts: 619
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Valid point, John. Assuming that you're talking about the mount on the car you're pulling on to the trailer.
However, if the mount (Tow hook), attachment point, is that flimsy, I'd worry much more about a wrecker pulling the car out of a gravel trap or the mud at the track than I would about pulling the car on to a trailer.
However, if the mount (Tow hook), attachment point, is that flimsy, I'd worry much more about a wrecker pulling the car out of a gravel trap or the mud at the track than I would about pulling the car on to a trailer.