Cross-country core knowledge: winch use guide

As long as you are a cross-country enthusiast, you must always yearn for distant mountains and rivers. However, the road to the finish line will never be smooth sailing. Sudden mud and quicksand may put you in danger at any time.

At this time, getting out of trouble has become your primary task.

However, cross-country rescue has always been a technical activity, and simply "making great efforts to create miracles" will only bring additional dangers. Relevant data show that nearly 60% of off-road safety accidents occurred in the process of rescuing trapped cars. The accidental death of China's famous racing driver Xu Lang was also caused by the wrong rescue method.

Therefore, no matter when and where, safety is the first factor to consider. Outdoor cross-country driving is not more important than road driving, and how far you go and how dangerous you experience is far less important than going home safely.

Winch, as the ultimate rescue equipment of modern off-road vehicles, is often called the "fifth driving force" besides four-wheel drive. After all, no matter how big your displacement is, there are several differential locks. Once a truck is used, it is not as good as a winch.

But as everyone knows, the use of winch seems simple, in fact, there are many doorways, and improper operation will have many hidden dangers. Nowadays, many players have installed expensive winches in their cars, but after several years of installation, their understanding of this equipment is still at the stage of simple rope unwinding.

In order to give you a correct understanding of this "fifth driving force", today we will talk about how to use the winch correctly.

hope

When trapped in a car, once you decide to use a winch, remember not to "just do it".

You should first get off the bus to observe the terrain and environment, roughly calculate the tension needed to get out of trouble, and judge the required cable length. Please refer to the following formula for specific values. If it is an experienced old gun, it can also be operated intuitively.

There is one more knowledge point here. Only when the cable is placed on the last layer of the drum can the maximum tension marked by the winch be reached.

However, considering the possibility of cable disconnection, in practical use, it is necessary to leave at least 5 turns for the wire rope on the drum and at least 10 turn for the flexible cable.

If the tension provided by the winch can't get out of trouble, we should consider using pulley block to enlarge it.

Anchor point

After you have a basic understanding of traffic jams, you can start making plans to find anchor points.

If you use a tree as an anchor, you must hold it with a tree. If fixed on the same car, it is best to choose the original factory or the towing point fixed on the girder. Remember not to hang it directly on the modified metal front bumper, otherwise the huge pulling force will cause the metal bar to "fly freely".

At the same time, in order to prevent the cable from accumulating on one side of the drum, it should be dragged as straight as possible during rescue.

prepare

After the above operation, please wear protective gloves before operating the winch. This step is to prevent the palm of your hand from being scratched when taking up the rope, and also to resist the cuts of some sharp metal corners.

In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to whether there are sharp rocks or obstacles on the cable moving route, especially for soft cable users.

When the anchor point is ready, it will be the old-fashioned "flag raising time". Considering that most players don't buy special flags, clothes and woven bags filled with heavy objects can also prevent the cable from flying around when it is broken.

Remember, you can't be lazy in this step.

use

After everything is ready, you can start the real rescue work. The connecting wire of the original winch controller is generally long, so when in use, the wire should be as far away from the winch guide rail as possible to avoid being involved in the winch with the cable.

Before tightening the cable, the slack cable should be slowly stretched straight, and then the flag country, rescue route and anchor point should be determined again.

For safety reasons, all irrelevant personnel need to retreat outside the cable ejection radius during the rescue process, and the operator should choose to tighten the winch in the cockpit. During the rescue process, it is necessary to always pay attention to the winch load, the power reserve of the rescue vehicle and the state of the rescued vehicle, so there is no need to "rush for success".

At the same time, the rescued vehicle can slowly refuel the valve according to the current state, and must not "create a miracle", otherwise once the adhesion is instantly restored, the loose cable is likely to be involved in the axle, and it is not easy to solve this problem in the wild. (Don't ask me how I know)

end

I can understand your joy after getting out of trouble successfully, but please stop the car and put it into P gear before you finish the work.

Make sure that the cable is slack before loosening the winch hook. When taking up the cable, the direction should be changed regularly, so that the cable can be evenly and tightly wound on the drum to prevent the outer cable from getting stuck in the inner layer to form a mess.

When the distance from the cable to the guide port is consistent with the line length of the controller, it is necessary to use the "safety belt" for the next operation. Take WARN products as an example. The red safety belt at the front of the hook is used to prevent hands from being caught between the traction hook and the guide opening. If your winch does not have this configuration, you can use a rope or a long towel instead.

Pay attention to your health

In the actual rescue process, it is inevitable that the cable will be slack or unevenly wound. For the service life of winch and cable, it is suggested to loosen the cable and rearrange it once after returning to China. In addition, if the winch main body/control box is immersed in water for a long time during rescue, remember to contact the dealer for maintenance as soon as possible.

As long as you master the above operating essentials, you can give full play to the full strength of the winch in most cases. But I still want to remind you again that cross-country is not the whole of life. Only returning home safely is the last word.

* Some pictures are from the Internet. If there is any infringement, please contact to delete it.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.