Hey all, I am new to four wheeling having just recently acquired a old cj5 and have been looking at various O/R mags and such and have seen on numerous occasions references to the fair lead. I have an 8k pound Warn winch mounted to the front of the rig but am not overly familiar with the terms used to describe the various parts of it. Is the fair lead part of the cable, winch or an accessory? And what is it used for?
TIA for any info you care to share with a newbie.
Brandon
The fairlead is the roller head that the cable goes through. A roller fairlead has rollers, a regular fairlead has a curved steel block. The purpose is to guide the cable straight onto the winch spool. All loads will not be directly in front of the winch, and the fairlead prevents the cable from pulling against the sides of the spool.
Thanks... What then, are the articles and shows talking about when they say "so-and-so is taking the fairlead." They always seem to be referring to the person holding the winch cable, ahead of the trail rig.
Brandon
Much thanks for the links!
Brandon
Someone needs to be in the extreme danger area or at least be able to see the area where the cable goes through the fairlead to the spool.
On a long pull, the cable can stay to one side and jam up in the spool, sometimes it has to be backed off and pulled over and rewound by hand before the full load pull can continue.
Winches like warn have a long enough cable on the control head so you can stand to the side and watch safely if you don't have a spotter to do this.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >I've not heard the term applied to a person, but I agree with Mike that there needs to be a person standing near the winch to make sure the cable does not stack up on itself and bind the winch.
I do know that the cable (or rope) comes off of the spool and passes through a guide, this guide is called a fairlead. A fairlead can be of the roller variety, or can simply be a block of steel that has curved edges for the cable to rub against. A roller fairlead is better, if you are shopping and can't decide which to get.
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