3/8 Winch Cable Strength (Choose Correct Size Winch Line)

This article holds all information about 3/8 Winch Cable Strength. When your nearest anchor point is farther away than the length of your current winch rope, you can use 3/8′′ winch rope extensions.

The heavy-duty, lightweight 12-strand UHMWPE synthetic rope used to make 3/8′′ winch rope extensions has a minimum breaking strength of 20,000 lbs. For multiple ways of attachment, such as Soft Shackles or D-Rings, each rope contains soft-eye splices that are sheathed in nylon.

TRE the 8 feet of Heavy Duty Polyester Sheathing included with 3/8′′ Winch Rope Extensions can be adjusted to any location on the extension that might be irritated while winching. Many lengths are available, including 25 feet, 50 feet, 100 feet, and bespoke lengths.

3/8 Winch Cable Strength

The breaking strength of a 3/8″ diameter Classic winch line is 17,600 lbs. By choosing Superline, you can fit more lines on your drum and boost the breaking strength. A 5/16″ diameter Superline® is rated at 21,700 lbs.

Synthetic Winch Rope Is Stronger, Lighter, And Safer

Compared to steel winch wire of the same size, synthetic winch rope has a 30% higher breaking strength. Unique super high molecular weight polyethylene is used to make synthetic winch rope.

UV Resistant urethane is applied to each synthetic winch rope to shield the fibers from sunlight. UHMWPE is an incredibly high-strength, low-stretch rope (less than 5%) with strong abrasion resistance and great tensile strength. Unlike steel cable, synthetic winch rope does not rust and is resistant to most oils and chemicals.

Our winch ropes manufactured of UHMWPE are up to 85% lighter than steel cables of the same diameter. Because the synthetic rope is so light, it floats in water. When weight is a concern, synthetic rope is the ideal alternative to steel cable.

Steel cable is a riskier option than synthetic winch rope because of its low weight, stretch, and rebound. Our ropes weigh up to 85% less than steel cable due to their low stretch; less kinetic energy may accumulate during use.

Due to its twisted architecture, the 12-strand design of our synthetic ropes almost completely avoids the recoil present in steel wire. Steel cable breaks with a forceful, unpredictable, untwisting motion, making damage and injury more likely while winching.

Unlike cable, our winch rope does not burr or splinter. Synthetic rope is also simpler to handle and spool on a winch and can be easily repaired or spliced.

Working Load Limit Vs Minimum Breaking Strength

Working Load Limit (WLL) is the maximum weight permitted.  If that needs to be clarified, cable manufacturers tell you never to use this cable with more weight than X.

The Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS) calculates the Working Load Limit (WLL). The WLL for the wire rope used in winch cables is 1/50 of the Minimum Breaking Strength. In other words:

Minimum Breaking Strength = Working Load Limit x 5.

The Design Factor is represented by the “5” in the equation above. Design considerations in hoisting are made in case Kevin overloads a component and messes up the rigging. The design element ensures the falling I-beam Kevin won’t kill Bob wired up wrongly.

Many construction films on YouTube demonstrate how people still manage to exceed the MBS on basic rigging even with large design factors, in case you think “5” is a ridiculous quantity of design factors or that design factors sound stupid. A design factor of 10 is required for some hoisting procedures!

D-ring shackles, snatch blocks, cables, and straps all have design features to consider unfavorable circumstances and individuals doing foolishly (maybe like, oh, four-wheeling?).

Your winch cable’s Working Load Limit is much lower than whatever you’re using it for, which is the first thing you should know about. The WLL of a 5/16″ cable is 1980 lbs, while that of a 3/8″ winch cable is 2880 lbs.

Winch Cable Vs Shackle, A Little Crazy To Think About

Consider the D-ring shackle as an additional piece of four-wheeling recovery equipment. There are usually several 3/4″ shackles for four-wheelers. The Working Load Limit for a typical 3/4″ screw pin shackle is 9500 lbs. 57,000 lbs. is the Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS). The design factor is six. The Minimum Breaking Strength for a 3/4″ shackle is six times the WLL.

 The Working Load Limit of a 5/16″ winch cable is five times that of a 3/4″ shackle.  In case you forgot, the standard 5/16″ 7×19 aircraft cable has a working load limit of 1960 lbs. and a minimum breaking strength of 9800 lbs., giving us a design factor of 5. The WLL of a 3/4″ shackle is about 20% greater than that of a 5/16″ winch cable. Why isn’t everyone going insane?

This is just a major contradiction in the way we see recovery safety. We have all agreed to 3/4″ shackles with WLLs that are almost twice as much as 4×4 weights, but we have also agreed to winch cables with WLLs that are just half as much.

What exactly are we saying? That all of your winching to be upgraded to 9/16″ cable? No. If you do the math, switching to a significantly larger wire rope size would result in a loss of 30–60% of the length of your winch cable.

Therefore, no thanks; having more than 50 feet of winch line is good. We’re trying to imply that you might want to be a little more careful with your winch cable.

Instead of expecting it to get dirty for you takenven’t been taking care of its requirements, perhaps you could keep it a bit ricated, keep it neatly wrapped on the spool, and occasionally buy it flowers. When using it, show a little more respect for it.

How Can You Prevent Your Winch Cable From Breaking?

There is little room for safety with a winch cable in pristine condition, as we can see in our charts above. We’re not suggesting that you switch to a larger winch wire. You’d be left with a frail switch cable you couldn’t utilize on the route. But you may take some steps to prevent your winch cable from breaking.

Use A Snatch Block

A snatch block practically doubles the strength of your rigging and virtually doubles the power of your winch. Additionally, it reduces the length of the available winch line by half, although a winch extension strap can make up the difference.

You can double-line a double-line pull over a shorter distance or a single-instance single-line pull. It’s more adaptable than merely having a thick, short winch cable in any event.

Maintain Your Winch Cable

Keep it properly wrapped on the drum first. Recall how it appeared when you first received your winch—nice, even, tight wrapping. The winch cable should be spooled out and rewrapped because it wasn’t tight when it left the factory. Ensure it’s tidy when you spool it in with a line weight of at least 50 to 100 pounds.

You can also lubricate your winch cable second. The movement of the strands and wires within the winch cable causes internal friction. For the oil to reach the strands and wires, the easiest way to lubricate it is to bend it around a surface like a snatch block. Use a thin lubricant, such as fresh motor oil, rather than a sticky lubricant, such as wheel grease, which will retain dirt.

Third, avoid keeping it bent in strange ways for an extended period. For instance, many individuals reel their winch cable in after attaching it to a recovery point on the bumper. The winch cable will eventually weaken due to this deformation, where it loops around the fairlead. 

Fourth, avoid wrapping the winch cable around an anchor before using the winch hook to fasten it to the cable. This is still done today; we recently witnessed it in Kentucky. Is this 1995? If the hook breaks the cable, the anchor may also harm the cable, and if the anchor is a tree, the tree is damaged as well.

As a result, public lands are shut down, and eco-warriors point out the tree damage. Congratulations, Kentucky! Your winch cable should be attached to the shackle after you have secured a tree strap around your anchor. Boom!

Get Out Your Shovel And Your Hi-Lift

Never be slack. We are aware that winching out is simpler than digging out. But occasionally, you find yourself in a bind and must get the shovel out immediately.

You can fix various issues by digging in front of your tires, choosing an alternative course of action, or jacking up a tire and piling rocks and logs underneath it. If you don’t take action to break the suction of the mud, you’re likely to have difficulty and snap a winch cable if you become seriously stuck in it.

Don’t Jerk The Line

A recovery strap is not a winch line. Repeat. A recovery strap is not a winch line. Winch lines are designed to handle static loads, such as slowly guiding your rig up a slope.

Your winch cable will snap if you hook it to another vehicle and allow it to try to pull you out. Cables are made to withstand steady loads, not sudden ones. Due to the significant forces produced during a snatch recovery operation, it is simple to exceed a winch cable’s Minimum Breaking Strength.

Switch To A Synthetic Winch Rope

Synthetic winch lines offer higher Minimum Breaking Strengths than steel cable if you wish to boost your safety factor. MasterPull’s 5/16″ regular winch rope breaks at 12,300 lbs instead of the steel winch cable’s breaking point of 9800 lbs, a respectable strength improvement.

However, their 5/16″ Superline breaks at 21,700 lbs, which is more than twice as much as the steel winch cable and significantly increases safety.  Using a 1/16″ larger winch rope with a little shorter length will also result in significant strength gains. There is little doubt that the synthetic winch line will be safer for the majority of four-wheelers.

Conclusion

Therefore, if you need a new 3/8 Winch Cable Strength, you have two choices: buy one created by the maker of your winch, or buy some bulk cable and make your own.

For cables 3/8″ and higher, you should choose 7×19 galvanized WCS manufactured of IPS or EIPS if you want to purchase in quantity. Another name for this is airplane cable.

Although it may be referred to as wire rope, winch rope, or many other titles, the official name is aircraft cable. It is oddly frequently marked as not for use in aircraft. Oh, right. A galvanized 6×19 IWRC will do the trick for wire rope larger than 3/8″. Choose a material with a strong breaking point.

Frequently Asked Questions