How to Install a Winch Rope

1). Lay out the winch rope as straight as possible. If you don't have room to stretch out the wire rope, you may need to lay it over itself in as large a loop as possible.
2). Thread the end of the winch rope with the eyelet on it through the fairlead on the front of the winch. You are going to attach this end to the winch drum.
3). Remove the rope retaining bolt and washer from the drum. Coat the bolt with the thread-locking compound and thread it through the eyelet on the rope. Make sure the washer is on the outside of the winch rope.
4). Thread the retaining bolt back into the winch drum and tighten it securely with the ratchet and socket. You don't need to torque the bolt or over tighten it, as there will be little load on it.
5). Wind the winch rope onto the drum so that the rope feeds out from the bottom. Keep the rope tight and the winds close together as you wind the rope.
6). Place light tension on the wire rope to help keep it tight as you wind it. Hooking the cable to a pole or other stable object and winching the vehicle in while it is in neutral is a good way to accomplish the needed tension
7). Continue to wind the winch rope onto the drum until the hook at the end of the rope reaches the fairlead.