You get what you pay for. If you want to trust your life and your car to HF junk than don't be surprised when it breaks.
I've seen that on regular socket head screws as well. The hex is too deep and there is almost nothing holding the head on.
It appears as if the hex was broached too far into the fastener causing a weak point. I have seen this before. The second I inspected the broken fasteners, I knew the cause of the failure. Deep broaches mean less chance of rounding off the hex but greater chance of fastener failure. I know someone asked what FHCS was. Flat Head Cap Screw.
That is just how lawyers think when drafting contracts. It's a good practice. Lot of good ideas and suggestions in this thread.
Agreed, there is no need for HF or any no name stuff when moving thousands of dollars worth of steel. I used a cheapo but name brand X3 winch for years on my trailer, it was only around $300 brand new. Just picked up a good used superwinch 9000 pound unit to replace the X3 for the huge sum of $220, and they are only $450 new. There is really no need for junk winches, I would use a comealong first. Glad your car is ok and I am amazed at the amount of guys using the HF winch. I am not a HF hater, it is one of my favorite stores, but not when saving a little could cost a whole lot.
I have never had a problem with my Warn 8,000 lb. But i did have a winch cable on a Mack winch truck (3/4" ) break winching a mixer truck out of a basement, the cable took out both windshields and the air horns off of the cab. Glad you and your wife are ok,and the car. Lee
I always use an 8"x8" or at least a 4"x4" wood block behind the wheels and move them as the car goes up or down the trailer, I don't care how good a winch I still don't trust any! I have a heavy duty "Mile marker" brand 10,000# winch with a 3/8" cable that's never let me down. Drug a car on the trailer one time that didn't have any drive train on it, drug it on its frame rails up on the trailer!
Here's a couple of sites that indicates there are Chinese parts in the "W" brand: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/warn-made-china-388335/ http://www.wranglerforum.com/f5/warn-vr8000-vs-superwinch-lp8500-116549.html Most of the stuff from HF is junk but I am quite happy with 8000Lb winch I got for a couple hundred bucks versus the 2X or 3X price for the "W" brand. I didn't do any research or probably would have gone with "S" brand at a similar price point because the stuff Northern sells seems to generally be better quality. I always use a safety tow strap or 20 ft logging chain plus move my large wheel chocks every 6 to 12 inches when loading/unloading by myself because things can go wrong. ( I do need to put the movers blanket back in the truck to throw on the cable when it's under tension.) I have shredded and snapped the smaller cable used in the 2000Lb winches and it can be ugly when it breaks.
The idea of putting a towel / jacket / blanket, etc. on the line is correct. If it does break, the loose line will wrap around that item and kill the recoil.
The Jalopy Journal
