AEV American Expedition Vehicles Winch Hook Isolator

It's a good little isolator. It fits well in the fairlead and holds the hook in tight. What else could you want?

There was some question as to if this worked only with a roller fairlead. It works perfect with my synthetic rope and a Hawse fairlead. I have a Warren Epic hook and was worried it would mar up the fairlead with the hook retracted right up against it. It took countless internet searches to figure out a solution and discover this product. Seemed to be priced a bit high for what it is, but there was nothing else out there. I was going to go with a Factor 55 Prolink just because of it's rubber backing, but I didn't like the look of it. This product puts the rubber backing in place and should with most hook styles.

Correspond to the description. It is foreseen for cable (with roller) more than synthetic rope.

Can't believe this isn't a factory item. Looks and fits as if it is. Installation is super easy, remove the cotter pin on your winch hook, remove hook, install isolator, reinstall hook. Secures in place well, back side has a contour to match the fairlead. Looks great. Super happy.

Used this on a Jeep JK with a Rock Hard bumper and Smittybilt X2O Winch. This jeep is often towed behind an RV, and the breakaway cables conveniently attach to the shackles. The problem is there really isn't enough room on the shackle for the breakaway cable hook and the winch hook at the same time. This looked like a very clean looking, reasonable solution for a lot less money than a Factor 55n hook. So right off the bat I realized this would not work with the stock Smittybilt hook because the hook attaches with a loop which is oriented 90 degrees from a hook with a pin. If you use the stock hook it sticks straight out and does not fold. I could see from the pictures it is designed to work with a hook that has a raised, round profile around the pin. I don't believe a flat hook will work. Almost every picture you see has this isolator used with a Warn hook, either stock or the Warn Epic. I wanted to make sure it would work, so I went with an Epic. So, cut off the old hook, install the isolator and new hook, reel it in, and am dissapointed to see the rubber isolator deform and not allow the hook to lay flat. If I dinked around with it enough, I was able to get just enough tension on it to hold the hook up straight and not drastically deform the isolator, which left it certainly not flat, but not sticking way out either. I realized that the isolator was not fitting into the narrow slot in the Smittybilt Hawse fairlead, allowing the isolator to easily deform. Maybe it fits a Warn, I don't know. So, I spent an hour pulling it back off and trimming the back down with a utility knife until it sort of fit in the fairlead slot. The hook now sits better but not perfect, it looks like the rubber is going to deform to a certain extent no matter how well the isolator fits the slot. Bottom line, if I spend some time bumping the line in and out, in search of the perfect line tension, I can get where it sits not too far from flat with enough tension to hold the hook up straight. So yeah, it's not perfect like the pictures, but it's pretty close. I think if the isolator had a denser/harder composition, and the cup area was a little shallower (If it was shallower it could deform slightly and still let the hook lay flat), and if it fit my Smittybilt fairlead without trimming, it would work better and I would be happier with it.