Winches and Doorlocks

[jmbrodsky@domain.elided]

     About winches, I've had an RE8000 on my scout since I bought it.  
     The problem with them is that the clutch t-lever on the side is a 
     devil to use if it gets old/dirty.  Make sure it's been greased, 
     and make sure the rack/cable, and housing look ok.  Most people 
     sell winches 'cause they've banged them HARD!  Mine is the 
     wormdrive type, that uses a GM/Delco Starter motor for the drive.  
     It'll run solid all day, with the truck running.  I don't know 
     about if the truck is dead/off, luckily I've only needed it for my 
     recovery once.  Got stuck in some 2 foot deep mud/glue/gumbo, and 
     pulled 3 other people to me, before it pulled me out.  Damn scout 
     is freakin' heavy.  Anyway, I've recovered everything from 
     corvettes (Dad's in the mud near my house) to Full Size F@^d 
     Supercabs that thought they could turn off the road at any time.  
     The winch has 'I believe' 100ft cable, and I've never really needed 
     it all.  Make sure they'll give you the controller with it, 
     sometimes, they are tough to come by.  
     Again, with that clutch thing, you pull the t-bar and twist 90deg. 
     to lock it in the 'out' position which meens freespool.  Pull out 
     the cable to where you need it, loop/hook/etc, then walk back and 
     turn/push the t-bar back in, thus locking the spool to the drive 
     again.  Pull to your heart's content.  It'll drive in and out, so 
     you can lower things back if you need to.  I leave the power lead 
     to mine disconnected, and screw it on an extended terminal bolt 
     when I use it.  Just keeps my piece of mind that I'll elminate one 
     GIANT short from Murphy's list of Scout woes.
     
     
        About the doorlocks, I opened the doors in my T'all last 
     weekend, and lubed the locks, tumblers, window guides, window 
     regulator gears, and shaft, scissors, and the entire latch 
     assembly.  I soaked most of the latch in gas to get that old crap 
     out, then used Mobil1 Synth lube (tube/gun) for the grease.  When 
     it used to get cold, I had to damn near twist the key off to open 
     the door.  Now I can unlock the door with my teeth holding the key. 
      Also the windows rolls up-down like greased lightning, smooth as 
     silk, any other cliche you want to add!  Basically the things work 
     great when you lube them, just make sure to clean as much as 
     possible first.  Also, I've become quite adept and making my own 
     springs for the lock post, which means no more getting locked out 
     of the F*@^!#& truck when it's cold.  The posts would drop to 
     'lock' if you looked at them wrong.  A little spring steel rod, 
     needle nose pliers, and grease and good as new.
     
        Just $0.02
     
           -Joel Brodsky   '76 Scout II 345/tf727
                           '75 T'all 150 4wd 392/tf727