SRW Question

How common is the Self Recovering Winch option? I've looked at 4-5 LMTV's in person and several through builds on this site and I've never seen one other than pictures in service manuals. Have people installed other winch options?

Not very commons

I have only seen a few trucks with it and I have hauled quite a few of them. I had to actually read the TM to test a winch on one.


I have recently found a source for 25,000lb 24v or 12v electric winches from a supplier for around $1100 shipped to my door. Doing trial tests on them now.

simp5782 said:

I have recently found a source for 25,000lb 24v or 12v electric winches from a supplier for around $1100 shipped to my door. Doing trial tests on them now.

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That's awesome

I think about 1 in 30 trucks have the SRW. Which is why NO SRW trucks should ever be "parted out". They are too desirable.

Because any self recovery would require a 2 part pull which would be a pretty short pull I don't see self recovery being very feasible. the cool part is the winch can be payed out to the rear to it could work a lot better for pulling you back out of something you shouldn't have drove in to in the first place.

My M1081 has the SRW and has helped me twice for certain! Once to move an empty 40' shipping container across the yard about 400'. Double pull using single snatch block on the container, the container weighs nearly 10,000 lbs empty. Second time was following weeks of rain and M1081 stuck itself in the yard, slid down a slope sideways into a tree. Was able to use the SRW to pull itself out of the yard, but made a terrible mess with very deep ruts.
The 300+' of cable is nice, and I carry a whole bunch of recovery gear. Can't wait for tree removal from the National Forests in Colorado, I've got several folks wanting my help!

simp5782 said:

....I have recently found a source for 25,000lb 24v or 12v electric winches from a supplier for around $1100 shipped to my door. Doing trial tests on them now.

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keep me posted please.

coachgeo said:

keep me posted please.

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This is in the 5 ton section. Page 9 and 10 has some pics of my setup. Swampdonkey will probably test his out first. About a 130 pound unit.

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?107961-Electric-Winch-Install/page9

Figured it was the Sherpa.

I always thought it would maybe work to mount such a beast on a lazy susan somewhere in the middle of the truck and to one side.


Open hatch in bed or camper box. spin winch to face rear or front and attach the pin(s) that lock it in. then :
. attach pull/feed out strap.. (this strap stays in place .. one in front , other rear... each one connected near winch on one end with other end to front or rear bumper..... ready to use)
. go to end of truck and use remote and tug on pull/feed strap to bring winch cable to out enough
. unhook pull/feed strap
. attach hook
. follow standard* winching process from there.
. reverse steps to put away when done.

*remember to jump in bed or camper to check winding layering for good stacking (could also us a cheap backup camera fed to your phone to watch layering?)

The SRW option is not very common at all. I was looking for a truck and with the SRW and found one a year ago. I remember reading somewhere the SRW option was only on 5% of the trucks. A short while ago there was a group of FMTVs sold at auction in Washington state and I remember a surprisingly high percentage of those trucks had the SRW option. An easy way to quickly see if a truck has the SRW from an auction listing is to look for the hydraulic tank behind the front left tire in the photo.

I used to have a medium duty truck with an 12,000lb electric winch mounted on the headboard for dragging cargo into the bed. I was never happy with how quickly the electric motor would heat up even when pulling loads much less than capacity. The ambient air temperature will play a big role in temperature build-up and cool down. Electric winches draw a lot of amps so make sure you design for that if you go electric. I used a very large deep-cycle battery dedicated for the winch. After having owned both electric and hydraulic winches I won't go back to electric.

Oddly enough, I noticed two that came thru GP in Aug. One out in Barstow on the 15th and one out of Campbell on the 29th.

I did a quick review of past GP FMTV auctions from Washington State and North Carolina. In North Carolina I counted a total of 6 FMTVs with SRW option out of 100 units sold (1 MTV and 5 LMTVs). Easy math says 6% SRW option!
In Washington State I found 13 of 91 FMTVs sold had SRW option (4 of 61 LMTVs and 9 of 20 MTVs) note 2 of the MTVs were M1084 and not counted as having SRW. So 16% of total sold had SRW option in Washington State. It is interesting that of the 18 M1083s sold in Washington State, 9 had SRW! That would be 50%!
I chose these states because they are on opposite sides of the country, had sold a fairly large number of FMTVs and I expected to see a big difference between the two locations based on what seemed to be a high concentration of SRW trucks being sold in Washington State.

I did this by looking for the hydraulic tank located behind the left front tire. If you reviewed other states I would expect the numbers to be similar to North Carolina.

I looked at another state. Indiana.
61 FMTVs sold
9 LMTVs
52 MTVs (many are M1088s)
ZERO have SRW option

I bid on one in WA in August... The one I won didnt have one though...

Alot of winch trucks I have noticed are on GSA and Gov deals as state and county law enforcements picked them for recovery and rescue operations and figured they would be more useful. Much like the 1084s so they show up on there more often than not.

I managed to purchase the SRW winch, but have none of the rest of the components like hydraulic tank, pump, controls etc. So if anyone can provide some leads that would be great.
I'm primarily looking for the tank and cable stuff. I have a wrecker pump that will get engine mounted vs the transmission setup.

Was just browsing and came across this thread, and had a question. Were non of the m1084s equipped with a SRW? If not, what was the reason.

I purchased a complete winch setup for my 1079, it was a huge amount of work to install.
These trucks are built from the inside out, when putting it on from the outside in everything is in the way.
You would not believe how many parts are different and how hard the PTO is to install.
Not to mention all of the huckbolts you get to cut off and replace.
Much of the work would be easier with the bed removed.
It does work very well though, the 300 feet of cable is unbelievable. The winch is rated at 13000 on the last wrap. The correct snatchblock must weigh 100 lbs.
Helicool's Helipad on YouTube is working on a video series of the install, with what parts are different and what not to break.
It should be available soon.
Mike

MrMikey4026 said:

I purchased a complete winch setup for my 1079, it was a huge amount of work to install.
These trucks are built from the inside out, when putting it on from the outside in everything is in the way.
You would not believe how many parts are different and how hard the PTO is to install.
Not to mention all of the huckbolts you get to cut off and replace.
Much of the work would be easier with the bed removed.
It does work very well though, the 300 feet of cable is unbelievable. The winch is rated at 13000 on the last wrap. The correct snatchblock must weigh 100 lbs.
Helicool's Helipad on YouTube is working on a video series of the install, with what parts are different and what not to break.
It should be available soon.
Mike

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Every pto is a pain to put on, especially those with backlash.

You have to remove the whole cab of a M1070 HET to install the PTO on that Allison.