Warn Winch vrx45s fairlead broken

[Bo_Darville]

I have the VRX45s on my Talon 1000r and over the weekend when I was winching out of a mud hole my warn fairlead broke. That resulted in my cable rubbing the mounting bar and then my cable broke as well. The fairlead is just cast fairlead, but I didn't think it would break so easy. I noticed that the winch sits below the fairlead that's mounted to the stock front bumper. I wonder if I changed the rotation of the drum if it would help with the angle? The current rotation is the bottom side of the drum is in, which is the way it was shown to install it in the instructions. I'm going to order the fairlead with the rollers to help with the pressure that gets put on the bottom of the fairlead. I'll post pics tomorrow.

The winch.
VRX45s
The fairlead I'm going to purchase.
Roller fairlead

 

[helimech]

wow, that sucks. I have the same winch on my pioneer and was not real happy with the angle of the rope through the fair lead.
Write warn and complain, maybe it will help

 

[Bo_Darville]

The first photo is to show you the angle that the rope has to take leaving the drum to the fairlead. The second photo show the broken fairlead with the rope lying on the brace that broke the cable.
Has anyone used the drum in a reverse manner? Instead of the rope going down on the drum retrieving the rope it would go up on the drum.

 

[Bo_Darville]

I just spoke to Warn customer service. They said you can't reverse the rope because of the internal brake. The customer service rep was really nice and understanding about what happened. Warn is going to send me a new rope and fairlead once I send them pictures of the broken fairlead and rope. Now that's customer service!!! Thank you Sommer!!

 

[PaulF]

Now I see why the KFI mounts the winch upside down, it always bothered me until now. The way the Talon bumper is configured, it causes the cable to come off at an angle if the winch is mounted normally. When mounted upside down, the cable comes off the top of the drum straight out the fairlead.

Now my upside down winch doesn't bother me so much anymore

 

[CMB]

Maybe it could be raised up some to lessen the angle without making it weak ?

 

[Bo_Darville]

I'm going to take a look at the winch mount tomorrow and see what if anything can be done to get the alignment fixed. Warn has been great about replacing the broken parts but I might have to get the KFI mount now.

 

[CMB]

I was concerned about that when I installed it on my Talon. I have the 45rc on mine

 

[PaulF]

I'm going to take a look at the winch mount tomorrow and see what if anything can be done to get the alignment fixed. Warn has been great about replacing the broken parts but I might have to get the KFI mount now.

I believe that there might be one or 2 other mounts that mount upside down (or allow an upside down mounting like the L&W). The thing I like about the KFI is it all mounts up to the bumper (winch and all) with the bumper off the machine and then you slide the entire assembly onto to car. Real easy to install.

If you go this route, keep in mind you will have to move your wires on the other side.

 

[CaptArn]

I installed a Tarra 45 using a L & W winch mount in my Talon. I was able to mount the winch in an upside down position allowing the cable winch in on the top of the drum. This put the motor was on the left side and the drum lock on the left. The cable still has a small angle but much much better than it would have been the other way. This is the way I installed it on my 2016 Pioneer and have used the winch many time with no problems