Warn Winch VR Evo10 Woes

[WrangleDangle]

Bought my first winch to put on my Mopar Steel bumper.
I had it installed yesterday and so far I have never used it or any other winch ever.

I notice that I can not see the spool with the synthetic rope on it.
It is completely hidden by the bumper.
I seem to remember everyone else's winch that I see, the rope is clearly visible.

What is going to happen when I finally need to use the winch and when I spool the rope back in
I will not be able to put in in evenly and there will probably be problems getting it all spooled back in.

Does anyone have any advice what I should so about this?

Thank you in advance.

Sponsored

 

[JesseT]

I'd be more worried about putting a burr on your fairlead from cinching the steel hook and pin up against it.

That looks right for the OEM steel bumper. It protects the line better, but it's not ideal for seeing what's going on. Honestly, as long as you're not pulling at an angle when you pre-tension your winch line it should spool up right. You can watch the line as it enters the fairlead to make sure it's moving across at a steady pace for peace of mind.

 

[fourfa]

Feature, not bug. UV is very bad for synthetic line; better to be covered up. You can see through the fairlead whether it’s bunching up on one side or the other. And sometimes there’s no choice, you’ll be winching at an odd angle and get it stacked very badly and just need to clear the trail quickly. Plan on always unspooling and respooling evenly with proper tension after every trip where you end up using it.

 

[silverooby]

Exactly why I changed my bumper to one in which I could see the rope. I’ve winched more than once and believe me, if you can’t see the rope it will bunch up on you and jam. Then you look for a tree to get it unjammed. All pulls aren’t straight. And no, you can’t practically see the rope through the fairlead unless you’re at the winch bent over looking straight through it. Not where you want to be if that rope fails.

 

[YBABRAT]

I'd be more worried about putting a burr on your fairlead from cinching the steel hook and pin up against it.

That looks right for the OEM steel bumper. It protects the line better, but it's not ideal for seeing what's going on. Honestly, as long as you're not pulling at an angle when you pre-tension your winch line it should spool up right. You can watch the line as it enters the fairlead to make sure it's moving across at a steady pace for peace of mind.

That I noted on the picture... a rubber hook stopper is needed. I prefer hooking up on the tow hook or fairlead stay if it has the two mounting posts.

 

[YBABRAT]

After a second look... did you use a WARN winch kit? My kit does not look like that.

Here is what I have... waiting on my EVO VR for its installation.

My fairlead mounting plate has no extra mounting holes on each side of the fairlead. But it does have mounting holes for license plate right under.

 

[RubiDukkie]

I have the Warn VR EVO 12s and the OEM steel bumper. Had the same issue as you. I recently installed the following winch light and it really helps with being able to see the rope when spooling back in.



The only issue I encountered during the install is that the mounting holes in the light bracket were too small for the fairlead bolts that come with the Warn winch. I had to drill them bigger. I think the bracket is made of aluminum and for some reason the stepper bit wouldn't cut through it. Tried a second stepper bit and same problem, so I recommend trying a regular steel drill bit to make the hole large enough. I didn't have a larger bit handy so just kept going at it with the stepper bit on a drill press and some cutting oil. Eventually the hole opened enough the screw the fairlead bolt through it.

Sponsored