“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” These are some wise words, and many of us take this quote quite literally.
For many of us, day-to-day driving has quite become tedious. It’s just an endless cycle of driving to work, getting stuck in traffic, dealing with other driver’s tendencies, and trying to obey every single road rule. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, but wouldn’t you want to get away from it all?
Where was the spark that we all once had? We used to enjoy driving when we first learned it. Where is it now? It probably died, didn’t it? Wouldn’t you want to bring back the joy of driving? I know I would! Luckily for you, there is a way to enjoy driving once again!
At a Glance
Go Off-Road Driving!
Going off-road is a good chance to shake off the monotonous routine. Time to get out there—out of your comfort zone—and start experiencing a whole new experience of driving! If you manage to do off-road driving right, I guarantee you that it will refresh your mind!
Off-road driving is a whole new experience. Gone are the comforts of plain asphalt and the tediousness of traffic rules. There is only you and the car. You have full control and unlimited freedom. Now you might not be driving some 100mph, but every turn, there is a purpose.
You need to be cautious and active. Remember, you are no longer driving mindlessly on a smooth road. For every step of the way, your moves need to be precise. Otherwise, you might find yourself in an get yourself in an accident or get bogged down. But this is part of the fun! Challenging yourself in difficult scenarios will force you to think on your feet.
Beyond the experience of off-road driving, there are also other advantages. Namely, you will also learn some important survival skills. Once you try going off-road, you will be experience difficulties. It will allow you to learn to plan, remaining calm when under pressure, and learn how to handle emergencies.
To prepare yourself for some of these emergencies, you need to bring some extra set of tools. One of these tools is a winch. The winch is the ultimate accessory you can add to your vehicle. No matter how bad you are bogged down in the mud, a winch can help you get out of it.
Getting A Winch
Before we get into getting a winch for you, let’s first understand what winch does. A winch is a mechanical device that can pull or lift heavy objects. It is a drum with a cable or rope spooled around it. It then uses a motor to give itself a spin, thus spooling the cable in and out.
For winches that are in vehicles, they do the job of pulling the car out. As long as you have an anchor, like trees or rocks, to hold to, you can safely pull yourself out.
As much as beneficial winches are, they are quite an expense. Not only are they expensive to buy, but they are also expensive to maintain. The maintenance itself can be quite complicated too. There are so many parts that you need to maintain properly.
That said, it does not apply to all winches. Many winches in the market are cheap and reliable. One of these reliable winches is a Bush Winch.
Bush Winch?
Bush winch is not like your typical winch found installed on many vehicles. It’s more like a DIY winch rather than a full-made winch. But hey, if it works, it works! And am not complaining about that.
Bush Winch is portable and light. You can install the winch whenever you want. All you need to do is do a few simple steps to make it work. You can keep the winch at the back of the trunk and only use it when you are stuck. They are that amazing!
So how do they work? It’s fairly simple. A typical winch is usually permanently housed at the front of the vehicle. Plus, they are also powered by your battery for the motor to run. On the other hand, bush winches use your car’s engine power to lift themselves out.
To use the bush winch, just simply install the winch either at the rear or front of the vehicle. So as you start the engine and the wheel rotates, the winch winds itself. As a result, your vehicle is pulled out.
How To Install the Bush Winch
To install most winches, you need to do all sorts of complicated tasks. You need to connect the winch to the battery, installing the solenoid, welding or drilling the winch mount, and bolting the winch.
However, for the bush winch, there is nothing complicated about it. All you need to do is follow this series of steps to install a bush winch. Here is how:
Installing Wheel Nuts: Remove the stock wheel nuts in your vehicle and replace them with supplied Bush Winch wheel nuts and secure them tightly. Here are some notices:
- Make Sure The Wheel Nuts Fit: Ensure the wheel nuts supplied by Bush Winch can fit perfectly into the wheel rim. The same way the stock wheel nuts fit perfectly with the wheel rim.
- Bush Winch installation Requires The Wheel Nuts: The wheel nuts will be the anchoring point for the installation of the Bush Winch later on.
- Permanent Bush Winch Wheel Nuts: The Bush Winch wheel nuts can be installed permanently, just make sure to regularly check their tightness.
Installing Bush Winch: Align the holes in the Bush Winch base plate then push and twist.
- The bush winch is twisted in the opposite direction to the wheel direction.
- Only attach the Bush Winch when required.
Attaching Winch Rope: Weave the winch rope through the cutouts in the spool and then put on another three wraps onto the spool. Friction is used to keep the winch rope in place. The extra lengths of the winch rope can be added to the winch line. The spool can accept up to 60 meters or 197 feet of rope.
- Do not tie the end of the winch rope to any cutouts of the Bush Winch. Do not use any knots or shackles when attaching the winch rope to the Bush Winch.
- Only use the supplied winch rope provided by Bush Winch.
Anchoring: Bush Winch works best with anchor points located parallel or at an acute angle from the side of the vehicle. Find some stable positions to anchor the vehicles in.
- Pulling from several anchor points spreads the load from the pulling.
- Do not pull from the same anchor point, there could be risks of running over the winch rope
Bush Winch Problems
As good as the Bush winch sounds, there are some cons you need to consider. Here are some Bush Winch Problems you might encounter when using the winch.
- Bush Winch Rope: A typical winch has either metal cables or synthetic topes to use as a winch line. For the Bush Winch, however, their ropes need some serious consideration. Their ropes might not be up to spec with your car. So before buying, be sure to tell them what the weight of your vehicle is and if their ropes can handle them. Otherwise, you might need third-party stores to look for a strong rope.
- Wheel Nuts Might Not Be Able To Handle: The main feature of this winch is that it is easily attachable to wheel nuts. However, are the wheel nuts able to handle it in the first place? Wheel nuts are not designed to handle winching, so you might want to reconsider that option,
- Safety Is Compromised: You need to be absolutely sure that you are good at driving once you start winching. Typical winches have a remote control to precisely control the winch. So you can drive and winch at the same time.
But for bush winches, you are doing two tasks in one control! So be very careful about controlling the bush winch. Otherwise, the rope might snap and you might lose control.
Conclusion
There are many problems associated with Bush winch. However, don’t let it derail you from the fact that it’s cheap and reliable! Just remember to use the winch carefully and properly. Once you keep that in mind, you should have no problems handling a bush winch.
What do you think about bush winches? Do you think I miss something? Or do you have anything to add? If so, comment on them below! Also, we have other guides about winches such as:
- How To Fix Scratches On A Plastic Dashboard? Steps And What You Should Do
- Are Jeep Wranglers Cold In The Winter? You Better Be Ready For It
- Mile Marker Winch Problems
- How Does A PTO Winch Work?
