I decided we have too much invested in our Power Plant so I decided to add a winch lock in hopes of slowing down a thief. I am a little concerned about the fact that the lock is facing upwards. Surely rain and dirt will find its way into the lock and probably deteriorate it or make it inoperable over time. What do you think? If this is a possible problem do you have any idea how I might seal the opening from the elements where the key inserts?

 

A 1/2" heater hose plug might fit over that snugly.

 

Maybe paint it with that rubber tool dip stuff. If you ever need to remove it, just peel it off and redo! Maybe put a little bit of tape over the slot first and then do it.

 

yea dirt and rain might wear it out but than no one can take if off

 

An old farmer would slap a big blob of grease on it. Plastic dip, liquid electrical tape, RTV silicone, or even hot glue would form a skin. I'll bet if you lube it with lock lube at every oil change you won't need to do anything else.

That lock is good for show. If I was going to take your winch I would unbolt the four bolts (with held nuts) under the winch body. Are they easily accessible?

Can you weld one of the nuts to the shaft of the bolt on the plate also? I know it is a pain to have to grind off, but it may be a bigger deterrent for the thief that actually decides to go for it. The lock thing looks like it would not survive a swing or two from a big hammer. Granted that would make noise, but would the lock be better placed on the front bolt where the hammer swing would be more difficult?

I've seen some guys that just add one torx or allen to both the plate and the winch feet. Properly rated of course, but the idea is that it would be unexpected and your typical "easy target" thief would get stuck on it. I saw post on a TJ board a few years back of a winch with only one torx holding it on after a theft attempt. Unfortunately the thieves slashed his top, and hacked up his synth line too.


Another thought is to lock tite the bolts all the way down the shaft. It would all still come apart with hand tools, but it would take much longer because you would have to unwind it the whole way.

Your lock is a good idea anyway. It may deter some potential thieves just because they can see it.

 

With my 8274 on RubyDoo the bolts going through the winch to the plate and the plate to the bumper are going at all get tack welded to each other. It will make more of a pain to work on if needed to take stuff off but just need a angle grinder to remove the tack weld as needed.

 

agreed..a nice liberal coat of hardening silicone (just make sure it doesnt go inside the lock) over the entire lock portion. That way, you can tell if someone has tampered and you should be able to operate the lock whenever you want to take it off..probably wont be much or often.

 

My winch mounts with 4 bolts. One is standard, one is a torx, one is an American Allen and the last one is metric bolt. Was a bit interesting installing but might slow down someone that really wants it.

 

Thanks for all the great replies. I really appreciate them and will consider a few changes.