We first reviewed the Warn ZEON 10-S Platinum winch back in 2015. We thought highly of the ZEON series of winches then, and we still do now. So in one of our latest builds we got a good deal on a Warn ZEON 10-S from On Point Off-Road and found an opportunity to do a guide on how to attach a synthetic winch cable.
Steps
1. Safety first, disconnect the negative cable from the battery, so you don’t risk losing any fingers during this process.
2. If your synthetic winch rope came with an abrasion sleeve (and we highly recommend having one with any synthetic rope), slide it over the end. Starting from the rope eyelet side down to the thimble slide (where the rope hook attaches).
3. Take the rope eyelet and run it through the fairlead and then around the winch drum from the bottom. We didn’t have the bumper or fairlead mounted in this guide to make it easier to see what we are describing.
4. Now take the wire and put it through the rope eyelet before placing the assembly through the rope anchor pocket (hole in the winch drum).
5. Once the rope has been partially pulled through the pocket, grab the wire ends with a set of pliers and begin to wrap the wire up and pull the rope eyelet through the pocket. We recommend a long set of needle nose pliers that allow you to grip the pliers on each end with your hands to make pulling the eyelet of the rope through easier.
6. Once pull the rope throught the pocket enough to allow the rope puck to sit in the center of the loop remove the wire and install the rope puck.
7. Pull the rope away from the drum (which pulls the puck into the drum), being careful not to let the puck slip out of the loop. The puck will lodge itself into position in the drum. You will know when it’s properly seated when the eyelet no longer protrudes from the drum surface and, everything is held securely.
8. Reconnect the negative cable for the winch to the battery.
9. Turn the clutch lever on the winch to the “Engaged” position if it is not already.
10. Wind the first layer of rope onto the drum. Apply light pressure while running the winch line in.
11. From here you can spool the remainder of the line under moderate to heavy tension from a fixed anchor point such as another vehicle or tree (with a tree saver strap).
