Ram 1500 2013 Owner's Manual

Winch Accessories
The following accessories are necessary to attach the
winch to anchors, change direction of pull, and for safe
winching.Gloves:Wire rope, through
use, will develop barbs
which can slice skin. It is ex-
tremely important to wear
protective gloves while oper-
ating the winch or handling
the wire rope. Avoid loose fit-
ting clothes or anything that
could become entangled in
the wire rope and other mov-
ing parts. Snatch/Block Pulley:
Used
properly, the multi-purpose
snatch block allows you to (1)
increase the winch’s pulling
power; and (2) change your
pulling direction without
damaging the wire rope.
Proper use of the snatch block
is covered in Before You
Pull.
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Clevis/D-Shackles:The
D-Shackle is a safe means of
connecting the looped ends of
cables, straps and snatch
blocks. The shackle’s pin is
threaded to allow easy re-
moval. Tree Trunk Protector:
Typi-
cally made of tough, high-
quality nylon, it provides the
operator an attachment point
for the winch rope to a wide
variety of anchor points and
objects, as well as protect liv-
ing trees.
Operating Your Winch
WARNING!
Failure to observe any of these warnings regarding
proper winch usage may result in severe injury.
(Continued)
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WARNING!(Continued)
•Always use supplied hook strap to hold the hook
when spooling wire rope in or out.
• Never use as a hoist.
• Never use to move persons.
• Never exceed winch or wire rope rated capacity.
• Always wear heavy leather gloves when handling
the wire rope.
• Never touch wire rope or hook while in tension or
under load.
• Never engage or disengage clutch if winch is under
load, wire rope is in tension, or wire rope drum is
moving.
• Always stand clear of wire rope and load and keep
others away during winching.
(Continued)
WARNING! (Continued)
•Always keep hands and clothing clear of the wire
rope, hook and fairlead opening during operation
and when spooling.
• Never wrap wire rope back onto itself. Always use
a choker chain, wire choker rope or tree trunk
protector on the anchor.
• Never attach a recovery strap to the winch hook to
increase the length of a pull.
• Never attempt to tow a vehicle with the recovery
strap attached directly to the winch hook.
• Never use bungeestraps that develop tremendous
and potentially dangerous amounts of force when
stretched.
• Always disconnect the remote control when not in
use.
(Continued)
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WARNING!(Continued)
•Never winch when there are less than five wraps of
wire rope around the winch drum.
• Always pass remote control through a window to
avoid pinching lead in door, then using remote
inside a vehicle.
• Never leave the remote control plugged into the
winch while free spooling, rigging or sitting idle.
General Information
Practice using your winch before you get stuck. Some key
points to remember when using your winch are:
1. Always take your time to assess the situation and plan your pull carefully.
2. Always take your time when using a winch.
3. Use the right equipment for the situation. 4. Always wear leather gloves and do not allow the wire
rope to slip through your hands when handling the
rope.
5. Only the operator should handle the wire rope and remote control.
6. Think safety at all times.
Vehicle Recovery Using The Winch
CAUTION!
• Always Know Your Winch: Take the time to fully
read and understand the included Installation and
Operations Guide, and Basic Guide to Winching
Techniques, in order to understand your winch and
the winching operation.
(Continued)
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CAUTION!(Continued)
•Always inspect winch installation and wire rope
condition before operating the winch. Frayed,
kinked or damaged wire rope must be replaced
immediately. Loose or damaged winch installation
must be corrected immediately.
• Always be sure any element which can interfere
with safe winching operations is removed prior to
initiating winching.
• Always keep remote control lead clear of the drum,
wire rope and rigging.
• Inspect for cracks, pinches, frayed wires, or loose
connections. Replace if damaged.
• Be careful not to pull the Winch Cable Collar
through the rollers. Watch and listen to Winch for
proper snugness. 1. Inspect the winch, winch mount, and wire rope for
damage. Do not use the winch if the mount is loose or
rope shows excessive wear or damage.
2. Put on gloves.
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3. Disengage the clutch to allow free spooling of thewinch drum, rotate the clutch lever on the winch to
disengage. Freespooling conserves battery power.
4. Free the winch hook and attach the hook strap. Free the winch hook from its anchor point. Attach the hook
strap to the hook (if not attached). 5. Pull the wire to the anchor point. Pull out enough wire
rope to reach your anchor point. Be sure to keep a
certain amount of tension on the wire as it can become
twisted and over-wrapped when slackened, leading to
wire rope damage. To prevent losing the end, hold the
hook strap while you work.
Free Spool
Hook Strap
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6. Secure to the anchor point. Once you have establishedyour anchor point, secure the tree-trunk protector or
choker-chain around the object.
CAUTION!
Always be certain the anchor you select will with-
stand the load.
Tree Trunk Protector
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NOTE: How to choose an anchor point:A secure anchor
is critical to winching operations. An anchor must be
strong enough to hold while winching. Natural anchors
include trees, stumps and rocks. Hook the cable as low as
possible. If no natural anchors are available when recov-
ering another vehicle, your vehicle becomes the anchor
point. In this case, be sure to put the transmission in
NEUTRAL, apply the hand brake and block its wheels to
prevent your vehicle from moving. Ideally, you’ll want
an anchor point that will enable you to pull straight in the
direction the vehicle will move. This allows the wire rope
to wind tightly and evenly onto the spooling drum. An
anchor point as far away as possible will provide the
winch with its greatest pulling power.
7. Attach the Clevis/D-shackle and Tree Trunk Protector. Attach the shackle to the two ends of the strap or chain
and through the hook loop, being careful not to over
tighten (tighten and back-off 1/2 turn). 8. Lock the clutch. Lock the winch drum by rotating the
clutch lever on the winch to engage.
NOTE: Always ensure the clutch is fully engaged or
disengaged.
Clevis/D-Shackles
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9. Connect the remote control to the winch control box,located behind the front bumper. Be careful not to let
the remote control cord dangle in front of the winch. If
you choose to control the winch from inside your
vehicle, always pass the remote through a window to
avoid pinching the cord in the door. Always discon-
nect the remote control when not in use. 10. Put wire rope under tension. Using the remote con-
trol switch, slowly wind the wire rope until no slack
remains. Once the wire rope is under tension, stand
well clear of it and never step over it.
11. Check your anchor. Make sure all connections are secured and free of debris before continuing with the
winching procedure.
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12. Check wire rope. The wire rope should be neatlywound around the spooling drum. Improper wind-
ing can cause damage to the wire rope. In certain situations you may
decide to throw a heavy blan-
ket or similar object over the
wire rope. A heavy blanket
can absorb energy should the
wire rope break. Place it on
the wire rope midway be-
tween the winch and the an-
chor point. Do this before the
wire rope is put under ten-
sion. Do not approach or move the blanket once tension
is applied. Do not allow it to get pulled into the fairlead.
If it is necessary to move or remove the blanket, slack the
tension on the wire rope first.
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