Poor Man's "REAR Winch" for the FJ

[LandCruiserSteve]

I posted part of this in another thread (Please Do Not Flame..rear Winch?), but I thought I'd drop it in here as well.

Circumstances may arise where you may need to do your winch recovery from the rear of the FJ, rather than from the front (where most of us have our winches mounted).

Often times, it's easier to pull yourself back out the same way you came in. And many times, the only winch anchor point may be behind you.

If you're really lucky, you might have a fantastic rear winch set-up like FlyNdrive's . . . .






Unfortunately, most of us have to suffice with just our trusty front bumper winch.





However, in a pinch . . . . . . when there's literally no other way out of your predicament, the front winch can temporarily become your rear winch, with the help of one of these.

Receiver hitch D-shackle mount.



If you're not buried up to your frame in mud, the front winch's cable can be fed underneath your front winch bumper, down the center of the underside of the FJ, and routed out through the rear D-shackle.











Keep in mind, your front skid plate(s) and the bottom of your rear axle are likely to get significantly scratched during this limited-use procedure. But, that sure beats waiting for an anchor point to eventually sprout up in front of your FJ if there isn't one there to begin with.

[Nevada_FJ]

LandCruiserSteve previously said:

I posted part of this in another thread (Please Do Not Flame..rear Winch?), but I thought I'd drop it in here as well.

Circumstances may arise where you may need to do your winch recovery from the rear of the FJ, rather than from the front (where most of us have our winches mounted).

Often times, it's easier to pull yourself back out the same way you came in. And many times, the only winch anchor point may be behind you.

If you're really lucky, you might have a fantastic rear winch set-up like FlyNdrive's . . . .






Unfortunately, most of us have to suffice with just our trusty front bumper winch.





However, in a pinch . . . . . . when there's literally no other way out of your predicament, the front winch can temporarily become your rear winch, with the help of one of these.

Receiver hitch D-shackle mount.



If you're not buried up to your frame in mud, the front winch's cable can be fed underneath your front winch bumper, down the center of the underside of the FJ, and routed out through the rear D-shackle.











Kind in mind, your front skid plate(s) and the bottom of your rear axle are likely to get significantly scratched during this limited-use procedure. But, that sure beats waiting for an anchor point to eventually sprout up in front of your FJ if there isn't one there to begin with.

Good idea I might not try this with synthetic line due to the rubbing. I just make sure the guy behind me has a winch at all time what are friends for?

[FJCamel]

that really cool, when i first saw it i was wondering what were you thinking. But its really cool

[RocKrawler]

Nevada_FJ previously said:

Good idea I might not try this with synthetic line due to the rubbing. I just make sure the guy behind me has a winch at all time what are friends for?

You can always get additional anti abrasion covers for the synthetic rope that canbe placed anywhere the rope would rub & it will just glide through - I have a spare I take along that has a velcro strip so I can add it anywhere I need it along the length of the pulled rope.

[magnumpi]

but if you are burried to your frame in mud how are you going to feed that winch cable underneath your truck all the way to the rear?

[Fjamming]

magnumpi previously said:

but if you are burried to your frame in mud how are you going to feed that winch cable underneath your truck all the way to the rear?

Works for most other situations.

btw Steve, I would rep, but I need to spread some rep as the forum says.

[BellyDoc]

It would be a REALLY BAD IDEA to run synthetic winch rope over HOT EXHAUST PIPES, and the stock position of the exhaust crossover on the FJC puts it really close to where this is being pictured.

I strongly recommend NOT doing that.

Additionally, there are SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES in the forces being applied to the front bumper and the winch fairlead when you do THIS, relative to what goes on with standard (even standard-ly off axis) winching.

If you FIX the far end of the winch cable to an anchor, and you're ROLLING BACK on the uptake of line over the fairlead, you will have created a simple 2-part "fall", block and tackle system. This increases the force being applied by a factor of 2 since it doubles the amount of line take-up per distance travelled. This means that twice the force of the "pull" is being put on the fairlead.

Normal operating conditions do NOT apply massive forces to the fairlead. A straight pull puts almost NO force on the fairlead. Small to moderate angles of pull increase the force on the fairlead in proportion to the sine of the angle (which is a comparatively small amount).

The bumper typically holds the winch near to the plane between the frame rails and serves primarily as a bracket onto which the winch tension can be transmitted to the frame through hardened bolts. This pull scheme instead uses the BUMPER ITSELF as a fulcrum over which a block and tackle is assembled. The fabrication *may* be strong enough to take this in some situations, but if there is anything that will be TOO much for a bumper, it will be something like this! The bumper could conceivably be levered completely off of the vehicle.

Although conditions might arise that NECESSITATE doing something like this as a measure of desperation, I believe that it should be used as a LAST RESORT long after multiple other methods fail.

In fact, this is an EXCELLENT opportunity for using the Hi-Lift jack as a winch/come-along. I have done this on multiple occassions with 100% success, as have many other people.

I have posted crude illustrations of how to do this on other threads in the past, and I'll add them here for your consideration:









The principle is to use chain and tow straps to "jack" yourself toward a fixed anchorpoint 4 feet at a time. In between 4' pulls, there is a need to support the rig against sliding back down while the system is tightened up and the jack is re-set. Something else must support the weight of the vehicle at this time if the situation is unstable. I usually set up a second anchor chain, but in this case, running the winch cable out from under the vehicle is a feasible alternative FOR HOLDING, though I'd counsel against using it for pulling, due to the reasons mentioned above.

Another alternative, if you're in a REALLY BAD SITUATION is to deflate a rear tire completely (consider unseating a bead, even) and then using the flat tire as a winch reel to wrap chain or tow line around, and run to a fixed anchor point. Then, with REAR DIFFERENTIAL LOCKED, you can "winch out" by driving into reverse.

[san antonio fj]

damn I never would have thought of the rear tire winch hopefully I'll never need it but it could be a life saver thanks

[ISLAND FJ CRUISER]

What kind of bumper is that in the rear?Do you have detailed pictures on the instalations and instructions.That is an awsome bumper.By the way nice Rig.

[LandCruiserSteve]

Nevada_FJ previously said:

Good idea I might not try this with synthetic line due to the rubbing.

Very good point that I should've mentioned in the first post. RockKrawler's suggestion of anit-abrasion covers for the synthetic line is a good idea.