Wow, that's what I love about this place - common sense. Not many places have it and not many people have it.
You're so right - don't know why I didn't think about it. Of course tire chains should be something I should always have in the truck, along with a snatch block and extra length of chain or cable or tow strap. Perhaps did not think of it because I try to avoid driving in the snow or ice.
And the winch mounting should be at least as strong as the truck's frame, if not stronger. That's just common sense. Just a few months ago I was a passenger in a new Subaru my friend bought just two months earlier. A deer jumped from hiding on the side of the road and did over $14k in damages to her new car. It took the dealer almost 3 months to repair. And a deer did massive damage to my brother's car too. But I do have a parts truck and my truck is made of metal, not plastic. So that puts to rest that concern - it will definitely be a strong winch mounting. Don't need anything pulling apart or breaking on a strong pull.
How do you feel about this winch:
https://www.smittybilt.com/product-skus ... nch-97517/ I was going to install a 200 plus amp alternator anyway when I rebuild the engine. Now I just need to decide if I want 2 or 3 batteries. I don't like power outages when camping. And I like the illusion I have free electricity when lighting the camp with battery-powered lights. And perhaps have electric AC or heat - but that's a topic for a different post.
Do all 3 batteries need to be exactly the same, or can I mix and match them? For example have a standard lead-acid battery for my starter, ignition and gas gauge but have one or two large, deep-cycle batteries to run all other accessories, including the winch?
What alternator/regulator do you recommend? Do they make a multi-voltage step regulator where the alternator puts out a higher voltage then drops down when the batteries become more fully charged? And being connected in parallel how does one prevent over-charging the one battery when big current draws are being made from the other batteries?
And/or another possibility - what about using a 24 volt alternator instead of a 12 volt? I remember once converting a 6 volt truck to 12 volts. The starter spun faster and I used a 50 ohm wire-wound resistor for the gas gauge, otherwise I don't remember anything different other than changing light bulbs. Everything is mechanical in my Loadstar except the radio which I won't be using (it just fills the hole in the dash), I'll be getting a new gas gauge and sender for the custom gas tank so that can be 24 volt as well, and I'll need some type of resistor for the voltage drop for the coil. Am I missing anything?
Or I'm thinking if I had 4 batteries - two sets of two wired like having two 24 volt batteries, I could tap off one battery for the starter, ignition and gas gauge and tap off the set for running the winch and everything else in 24 volt mode. I think I'm overthinking this, aren't I? No advantage to that over just having 2 or 3 twelve volt batteries in parallel.
Please excuse all my questions. Thank you again, Sir.