This 'God Winch' Can Haul a Truck Up a Mountain at an Insanely Quick Pace.

      Matthew Grieve

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      There’s a reason why all serious off-roaders equip their vehicles with winches: even the most capable vehicles can find themselves stuck at times. Winches come in various sizes, some compact enough for ATVs and others powerful enough to pull a heavy truck up a hill. The majority you’ll encounter on trails today are electric, although it’s not unusual to find PTO winches that utilize engine power to free vehicles. The God Winch falls into the latter category, but this one operates so rapidly that it might seem like the 4×4 is being whisked away to the clouds.

      When I first observed the God Winch in action, I was convinced the truck was climbing a sheer vertical incline effortlessly, without any wheel slippage. After watching it replay several times, I realized the engine was driving a spool at the rear of the device. “How does that even work?” I wondered.

      I contacted the creator, Matthew Grieve of Grieve Brothers Racing in New Zealand, to learn more.

      It turns out that there is a sport called winch racing down there, and it’s quite intriguing. Grieve explained that teams consist of a driver and a runner, where the runner connects the winch to trees and other durable anchors. Personally, I think that sounds far more exciting than autocross.

      Grieve and his brother Mark constructed a 1984 Suzuki Samurai for competition. It is powered by a 250-horsepower Nissan SR20DET engine paired with a Toyota automatic transmission and, crucially, features a Land Cruiser split case transfer case for power takeoff (PTO) output. Previously equipped with a Warn 8274 winch on the front bumper, the Grieve brothers were inspired by the impressive God Winches used in the Malaysian rainforests, leading them to believe this was the key to quicker pulling times.

      “To start, I bought an old lathe specifically for this project and learned machining skills through YouTube tutorials,” Grieve shared.

      The God Winch on the Samurai is mounted at the rear and constructed from a 7.5-inch independent front suspension differential with a 4.10:1 ratio. “The differential drives an axle through the center,” Grieve explained. “On the opposite side, there’s a Toyota free-wheeling hub for the air-operated drum disconnect (or free spool).”

      The setup shown above represents an advancement over the brothers’ initial version of the God Winch. They originally employed a Weston-style mechanical load brake to engage and disengage the system, similar to what is found in a Warn winch or a crane hoist, preventing a load from free-falling. While it functioned well initially, they eventually encountered issues with one of the transfer cases getting stuck in gear.

      “The gears would mesh, and I could not disengage the winch or shift the transfer case into neutral,” Grieve recounted. “I resolved this by using a three-disc race clutch that could withstand extreme torque, enabling me to relieve tension in the drive system by pressing the clutch. It also provided an alternative method to stop winching rapidly.”

      The setup is continuously refined as the brothers discover what performs effectively and what does not. There’s no straightforward way to gauge the system's limits, but they are certainly on a quest to determine them. Allegedly, the winch is potent enough to break a 12-millimeter Dyneema rope, which boasts a breaking strength exceeding 25,000 pounds. Incredible.

      Equipment like this seems more industrial than automotive, which is part of its appeal. Interestingly, Grieve has a background in that area as well, working as an electrician for Kone Elevators.

      This God Winch encapsulates a wealth of knowledge, with a clear goal: to escape the stickiest situations as swiftly as possible. As evident from the videos, it accomplishes this remarkably well.

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