Ram 2500 2019 Owner's Manual

STARTING AND OPERATING 339
Understanding The Features Of Your Winch
Winch Components
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340 STARTING AND OPERATING
1.Motor: The winch motor is powered by the vehicle
charging system.
2. Remote Socket: The remote socket (which will be located
on the bumper assembly) allows the remote control to be
attached to the control pack to allow the winch to func -
tion.
3. Winch Drum With Integral Brake: The winch drum
allows the rope to be stored on the winch and transmits
force to the rope. The winch is equipped with an integral
brake that will stop rotation of the winch drum if the
winch motor is stopped.
4. Synthetic Rope: The synthetic rope allows the winch to
be connected to an anchor to provide a pulling force. This
synthetic rope is highly flexible, lightweight, and it floats. 5.
Clutch Lever: The clutch lever allows the winch drum to
be disconnected from the winch motor to allow the rope
to be pulled from the winch by hand.
6. Remote Control: The remote control provides the inter -
face between the winch operator and the winch. The
remote control provides the ability to power the winch in,
out, and stop the winch. To operate the winch, the toggle
switch is pressed down to power the winch in and up to
power the winch out. The winch will stop if the switch is
left in the neutral (center) position.
Fairlead: The hawse fairlead acts as a guide for the synthetic
rope and minimizes damage to the rope. CAUTION!
If not installed, the hook strap must be placed on the
hook.

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(Continued)
Winch Accessories
The following accessories are necessary to attach the winch
to anchors, change direction of pull, and for safe winching. Gloves: It is extremely important to wear protective
gloves while operating the winch or handling the
winch rope. Avoid loose fitting clothes or anything
that could become entangled in the rope and other moving
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 winch rope.
Proper use of the snatch block is covered in "Before You
Pull."
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 removal.
Tree Trunk Protector: Typically 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 living
trees. Abrasion Sleeve:
The abrasion sleeve is provided with the
synthetic rope and must be used with the synthetic rope at all
times to protect the rope from potential abrasion wear. The
sleeve has a loose fit so it can easily be positioned along the
synthetic rope to protect from rough surfaces and sharp
corners.
Operating Your Winch
WARNING!
Failure to observe any of these warnings regarding
proper winch usage may result in severe injury.
• 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 synthetic rope rated capacity.
• Always wear heavy leather gloves when handling the synthetic rope.
• Never touch synthetic rope or hook while in tension or under load.
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342 STARTING AND OPERATING
(Continued)
General Information
Practice using your winch before you get stuck. Some key
points to remember when using your winch are:
• Always take your time to assess the situation and planyour pull carefully.
• Always take your time when using a winch.
• Use the right equipment for the situation.
• Always wear leather gloves and do not allow the synthetic rope to slip through your hands when handling the rope.
• Only the operator should handle the synthetic rope and remote control.
• Think safety at all times.
• Never engage or disengage clutch if winch is under
load, synthetic rope is in tension, or rope drum is
moving.
• Always stand clear of synthetic rope and load and keep others away during winching.
• Always keep hands and clothing clear of the synthetic rope, hook and fairlead opening during operation and
when spooling.
• Never wrap synthetic 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 bungee or kinetic straps that develop tremendous and potentially dangerous amounts of
force when stretched.
• Always disconnect the remote control when not in use.
• Never winch when there are less than 10 wraps of synthetic rope around the winch drum.
WARNING! (Continued)
• Always pass remote control through a window to avoid
pinching lead in door, when using remote inside a
vehicle.
• Never leave the remote control plugged into the winch while free spooling, rigging or sitting idle.
WARNING! (Continued)

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(Continued)
Vehicle Recovery Using The Winch1. Inspect the winch, winch mount, and synthetic rope fordamage. Do not use the winch if the mount is loose or
rope shows excessive wear, frays, or damage.
Winch Rope
2. Put on gloves.
CAUTION!
• Always know your winch: Take the time to fully read and understand the included Installation and Opera -
tions Guide, and Basic Guide to Winching Techniques,
in order to understand your winch and the winching
operation.
• Always inspect winch installation and synthetic rope condition before operating the winch. Frayed, kinked
or damaged 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, synthetic rope and rigging.
• Inspect for cracks, pinches, frayed rope, or loose connections. Replace if damaged.
• Be careful not to pull the winch rope collar through the rollers. Watch and listen to winch for proper snugness.
• Never power hook through fairlead. Could causedamage. CAUTION!
(Continued)
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344 STARTING AND OPERATING
3. Disengage the clutch to allow free spooling of the winchdrum, rotate the clutch lever on the winch to disengage.
Freespooling conserves battery power.
Free Spool Lever 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).
Hook Strap
WARNING!
• Never touch winch rope or hook while someone else is at the control switch or during winching operation.
• Never touch winch rope or hook while under tension or under load.

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5. Pull the wire to the anchor point. Pull out enough wirerope to reach your anchor point. To prevent losing the
end, hold the hook strap while you work.
Pulling Synthetic Rope 6. Secure to the anchor point. Once you have established
your anchor point, secure the tree-trunk protector or
choker-chain around the object.
Tree Trunk Protector
CAUTION!
Always be certain the anchor you select will withstand
the load.
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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 recovering 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 synthetic 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, being careful not to over tighten
(tighten and back-off 1/2 turn). Clevis/D-Shackles
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.

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9. Connect the remote control to the winch control box,located on 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 disconnect the
remote control when not in use.
Winch Box Remote Control Connector 10. Put synthetic rope under tension. Using the remote
control switch, slowly wind the rope until no slack
remains. Once the rope is under tension, stand well clear
of it and never step over it.
Pulling Synthetic Rope Under Tension
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 synthetic rope. The rope should be neatly woundaround the spooling drum. Improper winding can cause
damage to the synthetic rope.
Synthetic Rope Neatly Wound Around The Spooling Drum Heavy Blanket Over Rope
In certain situations you may decide to throw a heavy
blanket or similar object over the rope. A heavy blanket
can absorb energy should the synthetic rope break. Place
it on the rope midway between the winch and the anchor
point. Do this before the rope is put under tension. 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
rope first.