This might be a little late for yours, but when I submerged mine out riding, I always took mine and free wheeled it out when I got home and winched it up my driveway hooked to the back of my pickup a couple time to make sure it got warmed up and dried out before I put it away. This also made sure I run the cables up real tight and aligned on the drum ready for the next trip. I had the steel cable on mine and would spray it with WD once a month if I used it alot.