Today I installed a mechanical brake on my Warn 2.5 today and it was the best $70 I ever spent. The purpose of this kit is to mechanically "lock" the winch cable so the line does not automatically unwind under load (plowing, Swisher bucket, etc) Since I've been helped so many times on this forum, I decided to post some step-by-step directions on how to do the install in case anyone was interested in doing this modification.

Step 1. Remove winch from mount and ensure your cable is attached.
Step 2. Place your winch in the freespool position before taking anything apart.
Step 3. Remove the 4 allen screws on the motor-side of the winch.
Step 4. Pull to seperate motor from drum housing.
Step 5. Pull 1st stage Carrier gear and small sun gear from motor-side housing. These parts will not be reused.
Step 6. The directions call for the removal of the large washer that they show to be between the old carrier gear and the side of the spool housing plate, but my winch did not have this.
Step 7. *****Very Impt*****place duct tape to secure the motor cap to the motor housing and then remove the two motor bolts, place the two lock washers that come with the kit onto the ends of the bolts. Retighten bolts to motor cap.
Step 8. Insert the new provided thrust washer into the inside of the motor housing, insert the new gear/brake and reattach everything to the drum housing. Make sure everything realligns.
Step 9. Reattach winch to ATV.

That's the whole process. Very easy. I believe I have covered everything. Warn provides pretty good instructions. I have posted them on my picture site: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/crazykayaker89/my_photos

 

i thought they couldnt unwind...they use the worm and wheel gears right?...dont they lock it...

 

Me too I thought they could only unwind if you put them to freespool.

 

Nope, the Warn 2.5 comes with a "dynamic" brake. If 150 LBS (from what I hear) is placed on the cable it will automatically release cable. I found this out the hard way because I had to keep taking in cable when moving loads of dirt with my Swisher bucket. The mechanical brake replaces the old gear and truly locks the winch into position. I think the new Warn 1500lbs winch comes with a mechanical brake but the 2000, 3000, and 2.5 all have the dynamic brake, unless you order them with the brake already installed.