What Size Winch Do You Need For Your 4×4 Vehicle?

What Size Winch Do You Need For Your 4×4 Vehicle?

First of all, you need to find out what`s your Gross Vehicle Weight?

Choosing the best 4×4 winch starts with figuring out how you plan to use it. You also need to determine your GVW, or Gross Vehicle Weight, which you will usually find on the riveted metal tag on your driver`s door.

Add any weight of accessories or modification to come up with your working GVW rating so you can decide on the sufficient amount of winch for your vehicle.

Once you have figured out how much of winch you need, add about 30 percent to your working GVW.

So, if you have a 6,700-pound GVW, you will be looking at a winch that gives you the working load capacity of at least 8,000 pounds.

To be even safer, look for a winch that has 50 percent added pulling power than your rig`s working GVW.

The Right Suspension

Another factor to consider is the weight on the front end of your vehicle.

Don`t go for a winch that weighs a lot if you do not have the suspension to support it, so it will carry an additional load easily.

If you have a winch with synthetic rope, you will increase the weight of your front end somewhere between 55 and 65 lbs.

If you also add a steel cable, you will add another 20 to 35 lbs (on top of what you would`ve added with a synthetic rope) and even though this may not sound like a lot, it can substantially impact the front suspension, and the handling of your rig.

The best 4×4 winches on the market can be chosen either with synthetic ropes or steel cables.

Make sure to remember that cables need to use roller fairleads, whereas synthetic ropes can be guided by hawse fairleads too