CrustyJeep
Well-Known Member
Does this mean you've personally seen cable snap and go flying, to such a degree that Travis' account can be called ridiculous?
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Help Support Hardline Crawlers :
Winch line: Steel vs synthetic
- Thread starter CrustyJeep
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Binder
Well-Known Member
Yes I have. Both steel and synthetic but steel is worse. My sarcasm was aimed at the comment of the straight pull from one vehicle to the other. The straighter and longer the cable the more recoil.
It's a proven fact that cable stretches when a load is applied at both ends. When something stretches, it becomes a spring or rubber band if you will. If you were to load and stretch the cable to the point of failure, it then has to spring back to its original length. Therefore it cant just merely drop harmlessly to the ground.
84Toyota4x4
Well-Known Member
I personally have seen a steel cable snap and go flying. I however have not seen a synthetic rope break. Just tossing that out there.
~T.J.
~T.J.
By falling to the ground I mean it drops in about the same line it was strung. It won't likely go whipping off to either side. The one I was reading about (with pictures) the cable didn't even go flying through the air it just dropped to the ground and recoiled back a little.
I also agree - the more cable the greater the affect.
If the cable is coming out at an angle from the fairlead or has been bent around something (tree, rock, pole, doesn't matter) it's going to have a much greater tendancy to whip out than if it was a straight pull from the winch to an object in front of it.
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I've seen the exact opposite. One of the times I wish I could have wrote it off as old rope but it was brand new.
Snapped right at the fairlead on an offangle pull trying to pull a rig up a steep wall. The suspension wasn't even loaded down before it snapped.
CrustyJeep
Well-Known Member
I don't see your reasoning here. The cable should follow a straight line when it snaps and recoils.
Binder
Well-Known Member
And this is rigged right? You think a steel cable needs to be rigged right but not required for rope?
Imagine running the cable out, then making a 90 degree bend around a tree and tying off to your winch point.
If the cable breaks near the hook it's going to go perpendicular (straight line) to your rig until it passes the tree then it's going to start taking the rest of the cable between that tree and your winch with it too.
So, instead of a theoretical damage path 10-20' wide and the length of the cable (straight pull) and ideal worst case stopping at the front of your vehicle or below it. It's now 10-20' wide to that tree, then potentially a big arc the length of the cable after the tree.
If you ran your winch cable 90 degrees off your fairlead you are potentially ringside for the cable going right past you or wrapping around your rig.
I'm not saying the cable whipping out wide on a straight pull isn't going to happen, its just that the odds increase alot the second the cable is pulled against something, tree, edge of fairlead, etc.
No, it's not rigged right.
But what I am saying is that two vehicles before it, both steel cables one newer and one "ok" condition and hawse fairleads didn't have that issue.
For that, I'm just saying the steel cable put up with more abuse than the rope. It wasn't even that the rope broke that bothered me, it broke before the suspension was even loaded down, certainly a lot less than the 5/16" rope was rated for. I was about 20' away when it happened.
:redneck:
you offering up you truck/trailer/rig for the test~?:redneck: I understand those fancy windshield frames are heavy.:haha:
You can make 16000 pounds pretty easy with a snatch block. That should break a fresh piece of 5/16". Try not to stand too close
you offering up you truck/trailer/rig for the test~?:redneck: I understand those fancy windshield frames are heavy.:haha:
Binder
Well-Known Member
Then you should read through the rest of the useless crap because this is BS.
crash2
-Oh no I picked a side-
Really-----what planet do you live on?
I have seen both break--both have stored energy when they stretch--the only difference is cable has more wieght and there for is more dangerouse.
The question you gotta ask is----if both were to break when you are not ready for it---which one would you like to be close to?
I have ran rope for a # of years--will never go back...
Pook
Well-Known Member
I got Cisco's old rope last spring and put it on for the goldendale comp. I'll never go back to wire.
So much nicer to handle, doesn't weight a ton and its easy to work with.
So much nicer to handle, doesn't weight a ton and its easy to work with.
CrustyJeep
Well-Known Member
Cascade_Crawler
Well-Known Member
thanks for adding pertinent info to this thread
I dont see how anyone could think a rope just drops when its broken. Both stretch and store energy, when that energy is released the cable or rope will recoil
Thats a great description of a oxymorphon(and i bet i spelled that wrong)
Ive seen 4 ropes break, In different ways. Its always dropped. Ive seen wire rope break twice and it damaged crap(widshield once and the side of a rig the 2nd).
Everyone should be ready for a rope of any kind of breakage if they are doing heavy riggage(patented quote by bunk) so be prepared.
Dont be a dumb ass, Winching aint for the weak...although the weak always winch. (is that a oxymoron?)
Consider that NOT all synthetic winch rope is made of the same stuff. Some types may stretch more than others or break easier than others. Working load may be the same on paper but a superior brand may have a higher ultimate tensile strength.
There is alot of grey area in plastics with the same "type" name. One company might invent a formula for something super bad ass and patent it. They sell the sell the crap out of it resulting in other companys coming along and copying it, but the new guys have to change the formula to get around the patents and they dont neccessarily know the trade secrets about how the original stuff is manufactured. Most of the time, the stuff is cheaper and not as good although sales people will tell you it its the same stuff.
There is alot of grey area in plastics with the same "type" name. One company might invent a formula for something super bad ass and patent it. They sell the sell the crap out of it resulting in other companys coming along and copying it, but the new guys have to change the formula to get around the patents and they dont neccessarily know the trade secrets about how the original stuff is manufactured. Most of the time, the stuff is cheaper and not as good although sales people will tell you it its the same stuff.
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Nuzzy
Well-Known Member
Run cable if you want.
It won't be on mine or any of my loved ones' rigs.
It won't be on mine or any of my loved ones' rigs.
