New Badland Apex 12,000 lb. Winch (2 Viewers)

[krice118]

@krice118, Warn did not say that. What he said was you can buy the Zeon for less $$ than what HF states is the price for the Zeon.

In their ad, HF quotes the price for the Zeon as $1731.99.

Whoops read too quick and thought I saw half. Thanks for the correction

 

[Brizzman]

I've read good things about the cheap Badlands 12,000lb winch. The one that's usually "on sale" for $300. I picked one up a while ago and just replaced my old no name brand 7,500lb winch with it. The old one I bought used over 10 years ago and it worked pretty well until this year. I haven't used the $300 Badlands winch yet, just tested it out. It seems solid though.

I don't think I could bring myself to pay $600 for a HF winch though.

 

[UnbendingMetal]

I have one experience ordering a Badlands winch part. Called HF customer service with the part number from the exploded parts diagram in the back of the owners manual.
The part was cheap, and easily ordered.
The downside was that it took months to get to me. HF did not stock the part in the US and the rep told me it would be put in the next shipping container headed from China to the US.
When I was trying to find anyone who stocked the part I found a lot of retailers stocking Warn winch parts, but NONE stocking HF winch parts.
So I was actually impressed that I was able to get the part, and at a good price, directly from HF. The turn around time could be a real issue though if time to repair mattered at all.
-rube

I spoke to a rep at the Harbor Freight booth in SEMA that said that they are starting to stock (in the US) the more common replacement parts for the truck winches. So this may be changing, don't hold your breath though.

 

[Zero Emissions]

 

[Dragos80]

To summarize this video, don't get a Jeep off road.

 

[Funner]

For recreational, occasional use the Badland winch is pretty solid, mine is now 7 years old and still going strong. The new Apex line of HF winches will be a significant jump in performance and quality.
HF has put out a premium line of products, Vulcan, Predator, and Apex branding and quality and are much closer to competing with Honda for inverter generators, Lincoln welders and now these Apex winches can compete with the better Warn winches. Apex is better built than the cheaper line of Warn VR winches.

 

[sean2202]

A little side note on the 4 runner in the video with the winch, saved from the junkyard with just under 500k miles. 4.7 V8 engine

 

[Dmi]

deleted

 

[Dragos80]

 

[MountaineerLC]

View attachment 2244929

I noticed that myself the other day. Much more competitive price. Their regular 12k winch is on sale for $289, BTW.

 

[tlin]

View attachment 2244929

Looks like I missed the boat on this one - back to $749.....

 

[Dragos80]

Looks like I missed the boat on this one - back to $749.....

You're welcome...

 

[purdytj]

I'm assuming / hoping this could be mounted in an ARB bumper? With the bolt in "feet" to the front?

 

[Dragos80]

Just by looking at the picture it seems you need to clock it. If that is even possible.
And some spacers.

 

[landwagon]

Was anybody able to find the bolt pattern for this?

 

[tlin]

@Dragos80 - thanks for the coupon!!! - bought it - install "soon".....

@landwagon - the Owner's Manual doesn't show a bolt pattern at all. I haven't fully un-boxed it yet but will share dimensions once I get going with this.

 

[landwagon]

I just found it 10x4.5
Thanks
I also ordered one.

 

[Funner]

I'm assuming / hoping this could be mounted in an ARB bumper? With the bolt in "feet" to the front?

The original badlands winch fits, you remove the actuator portion of the winch and clock it, ie rotate it 90 degrees so the selector is back on top of the winch and accessible. I would expect the same from the improved winch too.

 

[J1000]

I got my new Apex 12000 installed over the weekend in my LX470. Like others have said HF is hit or miss but their winches are a definite hit and their top-tier brands are surprisingly good quality.

I needed to remove the control box and mod it to fit my Dissent front bumper but other than that it bolted in just fine you can see how I did that in the video below. All in all I think it's great value for a 12k winch alone, then add in synthetic rope, nice hook, fairlead, wireless control, waterproof, etc it is really good. With the COVID situation HF might be taking a big hit on their manufacturing and supply chain so we might see products like this disappear or go up significantly in price so that's why I decided to go for it now. Thanks for the coupon @Dragos80, I got mine for $549.

 

[J1000]

Maybe others have figured this out but looks like the HF Apex 12000 is a rebranded/parallel version of the Warn VR EVO 12-S winch: VR EVO 12-S - 103255

They have all of the same features; IP68, synthetic line, cone brake, faster line speed, etc etc. The HF winch actually looks like it has a nicer hook and remote.

HF does this with lots of brands like Snap-On and Dewalt and it has even lead to lawsuits: Snap-on, Harbor Freight settle floor jack case