I see a couple guys have recently went with synthetic rope instead of wire.

School me please.

There is certainly a weight savings but I think the bigger reason people go with synthetic is safety. If a cable fails it will do so with a lot of energy potentially damaging vehicles or hurting anyone in the area. Synthetic rope will basically just drop to the ground on failure.
Since most things are a trade off, synthetic is more sensitive to dirt and UV light and not likely to last as long.

Some winches generate too much heat & will damage the synthetic line. I think the new winches specifically state if they are ok with synthetic line, mine did.

The maintenance of synthetic rope is a little more but Wight and safety are much better also a synthetic rope usually has a greater strength rating. You want to make sure it's not stored wet as it can rust the winch drum. Other park you can splice a damaged synthetic rope . You also should have a drum protector to guard against rope damage from drum heat.

I went with rope mostly because of weight savings. I believe 150' of wire weighs about 30 lbs. 125' of rope around 5 lbs. plus the aluminum haus fair lead saves even more vs the steel rollers. The strength and safety are pluses. I am working in a cover for the drum/rope as uv (sunlight) can weaken the rope over time but would assume that's quite a long period of time.

I was trying to save as much weight as I could, I'm pretty heavy up front with the engine I have as you know

All the kool kids are doing it...

For me, it was safety, weight, and rope is smaller diameter for the same breaking strength as wire, so you could pack more on the drum or get higher strength for the same length. I also have a cover on mine to protect from UV. Another thing you can do is wrap the last layer with a sleeve to protect it as well, which you'll want a sleeve anyway to protect from abrasion.

I learned early that you really need to put grip tape or something on the drum because my first pull just yanked the end of the rope out if it's grommet.

I did it because it looks cool

What is the minimum weight/diameter do you go with? 8000, 11,000...

For me, I like a good safety margin. You won't see an 8,000lb winch on my bronco. yes, it weights half that, but I have seen an 8k winch stall trying to pull a near stock xj out of a snow bank. And that rating is at the drum, so the more winds, the less power it has. I apply the same logic to winch line. I'd do 100-150% what your winch is rated for. I have no scientific reason behind this, but if 5/16" line is rated for 12,000lbs, you've got a line that is 1/16" smaller diameter than your standard 3/8" wire rope, and just as strong, if not a little stronger.


Another word on the winding. I know it looks neat and tidy to wrap it around the drum like you would wire cable, but since synthetic can squeeze down much easier, you really need to wind it back and forth across the drum much quicker to keep it from getting pulled in a few wraps and getting stuck.