Would it hurt to put something like WD-40 or PB Blaster on my winch cable to help keep it from surface rusting?

 

I'm no expert but I can't see how it would.

You could do what I did, go with a synthetic winch rope. It is MUCH easier to work with, and they are plenty strong enough. I bought mine from Gorilla Winch website. It's minimum rated for 8500#. I've used it plenty with a 15 year old "hey you all watch this" and his quad.

http://www.gorillawinches.com/...c-winch-rope-cable.htm