Mounting winch upside down

I've got a Thor worm gear winch, and with the power steering box there, there isn't really room for it between the frame rails. I've got it mocked up upside down, with the winch motor over the steering box, and the main part of the winch just a few inches off center of the jeep. It actually fits pretty well this way.

Will the winch being upside down cause any problems? Does it matter that the wire spools off from the bottom of the roll instead of the top? I'm thinking no, but I just want to be sure before I spend a bunch of time making the mount.

Thanks.

 

If it is a worm drive I recommend against it. It has lubrication in it that it needs to have a long life. I dont think it would be at the proper level for the lubrication to work. Just my opinion

 

Hmmm. What kind of lubrication does it have in it? Is it actually a liquid, like some sort of gear oil? Or is it just grease? I haven't noticed any fill spots on it besides zerk fittings, but ill look closer at it tomorrow.

 

If it uses gear oil it should have vents. Unless thay are pluged you should see the oil dripping.
I have a ramsey worm gear and it uses Gear oil. It doesn't have any Grease fittings on it.
You might want to look at the gears. If they gears are Helical cut it might not be able to pull the full load.

 

Ok, so I just got a chance to go look at it, and it does get filled with gear oil, so I'm not going to be able to use it upside down.

Hopefully I'll be able to find a good way to mount it right side up, other wise i might be in the market for a new winch... we'll see.

Thanks for the help.

 

After asking around some more, I think I'm going to give it a shot. There are no vents, so with it upside down, the gear oil wont leak out. The fill plug is half way up the side of the winch, so it will still have the same amount in it, it will just be in the opposite half of the winch.

 

will the worm be under oil or above oil level??

JB

 

From what I can tell by eye-balling it, the both the worm gear and worm shaft will be half way under oil, which looks to be about the same as it was right side up.