RAM 1500 Owner's Manual page 500

498 STARTING AND OPERATING
• What to look for under load: The wire rope must
always spool onto the drum as indicated by the drum
rotation decal on the winch. As you power-in, make
sure the wire rope winds evenly and tightly on the
drum. This prevents the outer wire wraps from draw-
ing into the inner wraps, binding and damaging the
wire rope. Avoid shock loads by using the control
switch intermittently to take up wire rope slack. Shock
loads can momentarily far exceed the winch and wire
rope ratings. During side pulls the wire rope tends to
stack up at one end of the drum. This stack can become
large enough to cause serious damage to the winch. So,
line up pulls as straight ahead as possible and stop
winching if the wire rope comes close to the tie rods or
mounting plate. To fix an uneven stack, spool out that
section of the rope and reposition it to the opposite end
of the drum, which will free up space for continued
winching.
15. Secure vehicle. Once recovery of the vehicle's is
complete, be sure to secure the vehicle's brakes and
put the transmission in PARK. Release tension in the
wire rope.
16. Disconnect the wire rope, and disconnect from the
anchor.
17. Rewind the wire rope. The person handling the wire
rope should walk the rope in and not let it slide
through the hand, control the winch at all times.