Hickey Sidewinder Winch Install

[cleszkie]

I love the vintage 4x4 look that the first gen Blazers have, and I am always on the lookout for vintage accessories to go along with the theme. I have other trucks that I wheel with that have newer equipment that is purely functional, but my Blazer is the place that I hang all of my vintage stuff that just looks cool.

Well, I found a nice Hickey Sidewinder winch a while back, and I just got around to fabbing up the necessary frame mounts and winch plate. I had to do some trimming on the front bumber to move the winch forward enough such that the top if the winch fits snugly against the bottom of the core support without hitting the engine cross member and so that the engagement lever is accessible between the grill and radiator. I think it came out pretty clean, and works nicely. All I need now is to source out a spring loaded, hinged license plate mount to cover the fairlead. Any recommendations on this are appreciated. Anyways, I've attached some pictures.

[cleszkie]

Couple more pics.

[DPowers]

Looks good- you could use a magnet-type attached plate instead of a hinge type...

[71jimmy]

looks sweet, good job. Have you had a chance to pull anything with it? I know it's old tech but wondering how it really stacks up to a newer winch.

Do you have the install manual? I have the stuff available off the web but never did find an install manual.



Can't wait to get mine installed someday

[BLUE THUNDER]

Dude that is slick. The Blazer is dialed in. I bet you cant wait to test it out.

[Gary 70 Jimmy]

Saw this on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hicke...sQ5fLiterature

[71jimmy]

Thanks Gary, I've seen that listing. Been holding off buying it, seems a little pricey for a copy. I'm cheap

Just wondering if anyone had a copy of it and wanted to split the cost etc.

[Gary 70 Jimmy]

Originally Posted by 71jimmy

Thanks Gary, I've seen that listing. Been holding off buying it, seems a little pricey for a copy. I'm cheap

Just wondering if anyone had a copy of it and wanted to split the cost etc.

I bought one if you want I will make some copies.

[71jimmy]

AHA, found that somebody

Gary, that would be wonderful. Easiest way would be if you can scan into a .pdf file and email to me. If this works I can send you my email addy. I would be happy to make a donation of your choosing to your build fund.

[Gary 70 Jimmy]

I will try when I get it.

[71jimmy]

Cleskie, did you refurb/rebuild your sidewinder before mounting it? I've finally taken mine apart and am wondering if any of the seals and bearings are available somewhere. My insides actually look pretty good considering the age of this thing but if these parts are somehow available it wouldn't hurt to replace them. The bearing on the worm gear is the worst. The oil inside the winch was all dried up and quite a bit of dirt had found its way inside along with water at some time, but really not too bad for 35 plus years. I would guess it had never been taken apart before.

I really like the way you've mounted yours, I think it looks better than they were originally intended to be mounted. I may ask you for some detailed info when I get mine together again.

thanks

[cleszkie]

My winch was a working unit when I obtained it. I did open it up and check things out and everything looked and felt good. I have since winched several other vehicles with it with no issues. I also got a pile of other sidewinder parts with the winch, probably enough to build another complete unit, so I have spares of many of the bearings and seals.

[71jimmy]

Thanks for reply Cleskie. I think I can reuse my bearings since I will not be really using the winch, I do want it to work though. After all my work on the Jimmy I'm leaning more and more toward not trashing it anywhere I would possible need a winch. That said, winches are normally just used to pull others out of whatever!!

Since you reused your seals/bearings etc do you have any leaks?

My thought would be that even brand new back in the day they probably leaked a little. Tolerences etc where just not that tight back then.

[dazza]

71jimmy,
I just recently opened up two of them, one sounds about like yours, water, dirt, etc. Working on getting those gears cleaned up.

The other looks almost new inside, except the seal at the motor shaft was leaking... the motor was completely full of oil!
I believe the one that leaked is actually just an o-ring, so easily replaced.

I have an older Ramsey style(and probably built) Hickey winch that I did rebuild a few years ago and if I remember correctly, I was able to get the seals not too far from here, at a farm/tractor supply store in Stockton. I may head over there sometime in the next week or so, let you know what I find.

---

[cleszkie]

71Jimmy -

No leaks or wetness, and it is full of oil.

[Vandy5]

Looks great cant wait to get mine back on. Your bumper fits around it very nicely. My previous owner just chopped a sections out of the bumper to fit it. Did you customize that bumper or buy it like that?

[cleszkie]

71Jimmy -

I will get to my parts stash today and check for that spring. I don't have another solenoid cover. Mine is metal and basically just snaps over the metal base plate. the base plate has an "ear" on each side, and the ear fits into a slot on either side of the cover. No, the solenoid pack does not ground through the base plate. A separate grounding cable is run to the frame, so there is no chance of getting shocked by touching the cover.

Vandy5 -

I trimmed the bumper myself to fit sugly around the winch. It took a bit of trial error and little by little trimming to get it just right.

[cleszkie]

71Jimmy -

I checked my stash, and unfortunately it seems the only thing I don't have is a spare spring. Sorry to get your hopes up. Hopefully you can get the sample spring from Dazza and source out a new one.

[71jimmy]

[QUOTE=cleszkie;6314533]71Jimmy -

I checked my stash, and unfortunately it seems the only thing I don't have is a spare spring. Sorry to get your hopes up. Hopefully you can get the sample spring from Dazza and source out a new one.[/QUOTE



Cleskie, no problem, I do appreciate you taking the time to look. I will try Dazza. Any chance you could get me the dimensions of the cover for the solenoids? If you could post a pic or two of the sides and inside the cover and dimensions that would help greatly. Thanks