I'm shopping right now for a new bigger winch.
My friend, after looking at my setup, told me that my winch got torn because the strap goes out from the top instead of the bottom.
He says that it puts a pulling (tilting) force on the bolts and winch base, compared to as if I have the strap going out from the bottom, there will be only a sheer force on the bolts and no tilting force on the winch frame.
BUT, when I look at images on internet, almost all of them have the strap going out from the top.
Is it only because it is easier to route to the hull?
I will have to re do the winch support (cutting and welding) so I will make it to accommodate the winch and strap.
Top or Bottom for the strap?
EDIT: when I was younger, I was in off roading a lot. All the winches on the trucks had the wire coming out from the bottom especially for that reason, not to twist the winch support and bumper/frame rails.