Image credit: Drive
This is going to rub a chunk of four-wheel drivers the wrong way, but here it is… Storing your winch rope outside your bull bar is foolish. Stop it.
If you’re off-roading in difficult terrain and expecting to use your winch repeatedly, having a few feet of your winch line run out and tied to one of your bull bar hoops for easy repeat access is one thing, but as you’ve probably seen, there are plenty of 4×4’s driving around the town with their synthetic rope stored like this; either run out and connected to a recovery point underneath the vehicle, or tied to their bull bar.
What’s the problem?
Synthetic ropes, such as Dyneema, have very high tensile strength but are far from indestructible.
Dust, dirt, and other debris that find their way into the rope fibers will create abrasion, gradually damaging the rope over time. If your rope is attached to one of your chassis recovery points under the vehicle, any brush, branches, or earth you push through will also be scratching against the rope.
If beach driving is part of your routine, salt water can also have the same effect. As seawater evaporates from the rope, salt crystals will be left behind adding more abrasive material to the rope fibres.
UV light will also degrade the rope, leading to premature failure; Dyneema, for example, can lose 30%-40% of its strength over 5 years with regular UV exposure.
There is simply no reason to have your rope outside your winch spool when not off-roading. You don’t need quick access to your winch around town, and for those that drive around with the cable visibly mounted for ‘the look’, or to show off your winch, I’m afraid I have bad news… nobody cares, sorry.
If routinely storing your ropes exposed to the elements on the outside of your 4×4, at best you’re going to waste money replacing them prematurely, at worst your rope is going to snap when it’s needed, leaving you stuck, where a more appropriately stored rope would have lasted you several more years.
Of course, some dust will still reach your rope when fully wound in on the winch spool, but with a simple cover in front of your bull bar winch cradle, like a flip-up license plate bracket like the one below from Kaon, debris abrasion, and UV damage will be mitigated as much as is reasonably possible.
If you have an externally mounted winch that is completely exposed, as is common on various Jeep models, for example, buy a fitted cover for it. It will significantly extend it’s lifespan.
Treat your equipment right, and it will treat you right.
