These are D&L (Dutton-Laison) Brake Winches. If you wish to review how they are assembled I would highly recommend you go to their web site and download their instruction manual. With that being said, I would not try to repair a brake winch for fear of damaging the brake mechanism. To replace a winch you would simply remove it from its mounting brackets and swap a new one in place. You should also know that problems are few and far in-between with this quality winch.