I’ve decided to invest in a Hydraulic winch for my 1991 RR classic. If you’ve done this as well please give me some insight in to things I should consider. i.e. Will my stock Power steering pump suffice or will I have to upgrade? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. (I’m currently considering a MileMaker)

Thanks, Dinandan


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From most of what I have heard or read, you need to see what the winches hydralic requirements are and compare them to what your p/s pump will put out, then go buy either a stronger pump or a second one for the winch.
Can I ask why you want a hydralic winch???
Mike

 

Basically Hydraulic winches are far superior to electric winches except for :

No load line pull in rate
the truck has to be running (but a HW can run under water)
You may or may not have to upgrade the Power steering pump

But what makes a HW much better:

The costs for a used winch are comperable
The HW doesn't draw 300-400 amps Which means you can Winch with a Hydraulic system MUCH longer.
You don't have to run a dual battery setup
HW are lighter.

for more info go to
www.4x4winches.com

 

I am confused by your logic regarding the plus side of having a hydralic winch. You will have to up grade the pump or add a second pump, if your engine is dead, you will not be doing any winching and they are slower then a good HS electric winch.
I don't know if you have ever done any winching, but they are by far the least popular winch type out there. Go with a good electric winch.
Mike

 

Electric VS Hydraulic

First off, I’d like to apologize to the Hydraulic winching faithful. I’m sorry I did a poor job defending the Hydraulic Winch. I thought the Benefits of a Hydraulic winch were a little more obvious. The rest of this post is to explain why I want a Hydraulic winch.

The following is a full article from 4x4review.com. (http://www.4x4review.com/products/ac...es/mmwinch.asp.)

READ IT then come back to this post.

I don’t like to deal with electronics more than I have to ( especially since my system will see lots of water and mud). A hydraulic leak is easier to spot than an electric short as well. Of course an Electric winch is easier to setup. I don’t care how hard it is to install in my garage! I’m worried about how it will perform in the middle of nowhere!!! In addition to the Hydraulic winch itself being lighter you save the weight of a dual battery setup. Weight saving on an SUV may sound silly but It all adds up. (I’ll be trading in my steel roof-rack for a smaller aluminum version.) I’ve heard the only type of Winches on the Humvees in Iraq are Hydraulic But I Don’t know for sure.

You are right. I’ve not done much winching, but I have had to spend valuable daylight on the trail waiting for an electric winch to cool down. If I can prevent that waste of Time by installing a different kind of Winch; I WILL.

I didn’t want this post to turn into an Electric VS Hydraulic debate. If you are Really serious about off-roading the decision is obvious.

I just want to know what to look-out for as far as installation, what has worked or not worked, and what brands or models are the most durable.

Thanks,
Dan

www.4x4winches.com also has some good data on the matter.

 

OK, I read the the information, sounds good, and I am going to stay with my Warn and dual batterys, just my choice, as is yours. I would suggest you find out the specs. on the Rover pump to make sure you can generate 1500#s pressure.
Good luck,
mike

 

I'm looking up the figures for the stock RR power steering pump right now. I've heard the P/S pump is troublesome on the RRC and is prone to leaking. The upgrade may be worth it. That's what i'm trying to find out.

Regards,
Dan