[Aaron]

what are the advantages to an air free spool in a winch? i am always hearing about it but i dont know what it does hahahahah. if anyone could shed some light on it that would be great. Thanks,

Aaron.

[pezz]

it disengages the drum from the gears to allow the rope to be pulled out with ease, to the navi can run the rope out quicker and easier

[fordem]

OK - so now we know what the free spool does, what does an air free spool do, and how is an improvement over the normal free spool handle on the winch?

[Gwagensteve]

Primarily for competition winching- the driver doesn't have to get out of the cabin and the winch wench doesn't have to come back down to the car- they can stay at the attachment point.

Time saver only really.

Steve.

[Zook_Fan]

Depending on the make of the air free spool it is generally considerably lighter than changing it at the drum and yes the added benefit of being able to change it with the flick of a switch from the drivers seat is the other major benefit. If you're not doing comps there is basically no need to spend the extra grand unless you can fabricate it yourself.

[31zook]

Do you remove the disengage lever?

I was thinking about this just cause I don't want my rope sitting on my bar only held on by the flick of a switch...

[Zook_Fan]

It's only held on by the flick of the disengagment lever normally which is already outside the car and on the winch..

But no, the original stay there and the air free spool defaults to lock. Without air it's locked up so if you blow a solenoid/air line/whatever the winch will still work and you just use the disengagment lever.

That's for lowmounts anyway, the high mount free spool is a different animal but they still keep the disengagment toggle but it is normally bolted or pinned shut.