4x4 SCENE
How an under bonnet winch arrived for survival.
By Peter Symons, AKA Mr Winch
“P
ETE, it’s Tom Jones here. You fitted a winch to my new 4x4 a few years ago and on a recent trip up to Moz I noticed it didn’t seem to have as much power as usual. I’m going to Sodwana in two weeks’ time ... can you look at it for me?” I get literally hundreds of these calls every year, and my stock answer is largely as follows: “Sure Tom. When
26 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2020
was it fitted, what winch is it and what vehicle is it on?” Bear in mind that I fit at least 100 vehicles a year and can’t remember every fitting I have ever undertaken. In addition, most modern 4x4 vehicles used by the ski-boating fraternity have their winches mounted in such a way that they are virtually hidden from view behind the vehicle’s front grille with only the fairlead rollers and winch hook visible. For this reason I first try to establish
when the fitting took place as that’s usually just after the vehicle was purchased. “Ja, Pete, it’s a XXX double cab that I purchased in 2014 so it must have been fitted soon after that. I don’t know what model winch it is … it’s the one you recommended. To be brutally honest I have never even seen the winch and I can’t find the handbook you must have given me. All I see is the hook and the remote toggle and cable to make it work.”
