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

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While HF is comparing their new which to Warn's Zeon series, it seems to me that it's most direct competitor is Warn's VR winches. The VR's can be had at the same price as the HF ($600) and are backed by a limited lifetime and 7 year electronics warranty. If we're comparing made in China vs made in China winches, Warn seems like the clear winner here unless I'm missing something.

Thoughts?

So are the Warn winches made in China as well. Or, are the parts made there and "assembled in USA". ? I would like the WARN people to chime in and respond to if, the WARN winches are sourced , and made in USA and NO components are made elsewhere ? Let see the response.
 
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So are the Warn winches made in China as well. Or, are the parts made there and "assembled in USA". ? I would like the WARN people to chime in and respond to if, the WARN winches are sourced , and made in USA and NO components are made elsewhere ? Let see the response.

Warn has a few different grade of winches ranging from the VR to the Zeon. I'll let our Warn rep weigh in on the specifics. However, the VR series is 100% made in China to Warn's specs.

I think the HF Apex is probably a solid winch, especially if you can get it when a good sale is going on.
 
You can find the Warn answers in their specific thread. The vendor here answered those questions already. ;)
 
Screen shot from the search results.

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So are the Warn winches made in China as well. Or, are the parts made there and "assembled in USA". ? I would like the WARN people to chime in and respond to if, the WARN winches are sourced , and made in USA and NO components are made elsewhere ? Let see the response.

For clarity, the WARN VR EVO winches are made in China. The rest of the WARN truck (and powersports) winches have a final point of assembly in Clackamas, OR USA. We use premium parts from around the world, and that includes the USA. Some parts of our winches (there are hundreds if you count each one) are made in-house, like our gears. Much like a car or truck, not all the parts are sourced from one country. I will say that we employ 400 American workers in Oregon, and some of our products, like the vast majority of our bumpers, are 100% made in the USA. Raw steel comes in, finished goods come out. I hope that clears it up.

Andy
 
For clarity, the WARN VR EVO winches are made in China. The rest of the WARN truck (and powersports) winches have a final point of assembly in Clackamas, OR USA. We use premium parts from around the world, and that includes the USA. Some parts of our winches (there are hundreds if you count each one) are made in-house, like our gears. Much like a car or truck, not all the parts are sourced from one country. I will say that we employ 400 American workers in Oregon, and some of our products, like the vast majority of our bumpers, are 100% made in the USA. Raw steel comes in, finished goods come out. I hope that clears it up.

Andy
What is your knowledge of the Badland winches and how they compare to Warn winches? Are they copies? Licensed? Business partners or fraudsters? Did they copy the Warn design or are they sourcing parts from the same suppliers etc? It's probably no surprise to you that the Badlands Apex 12k is listed with all of the same specs as your VR EVO like cone brake, IP68, and has a similar style and basically exact same footprint. This is a thread specifically about the Badland after all and we've read this same spiel before, no offense, and someone like you may know more than they let on...
 
What is your knowledge of the Badland winches and how they compare to Warn winches? Are they copies? Licensed? Business partners or fraudsters? Did they copy the Warn design or are they sourcing parts from the same suppliers etc? It's probably no surprise to you that the Badlands Apex 12k is listed with all of the same specs as your VR EVO like cone brake, IP68, and has a similar style and basically exact same footprint. This is a thread specifically about the Badland after all and we've read this same spiel before, no offense, and someone like you may know more than they let on...

I don't have any knowledge about how they compare to our products personally. I'm certain we've likely lab tested them to see how they perform, but that's not something I can talk to. I can tell you they're definitely not licensed by Warn and we are most certainly not business partners. I also do not know who their suppliers are. It most certainly isn't surprising to see their winches look similar to ours, either ...

Andy
 
Are you trying to stir something up, or are you just not aware of design and patent infringements by the Chinese companies?
 
I would be extremely surprised if it was an original design. At the same time I don't expect WARN to investigate how good of a copy Badland is. What materials they used for each component, estimated lifespan, etc.

I know how it feels.
We want inexpensive products and we demand high quality too at the same time.
If those products are made in China, we tend to point virtual fingers on the internet.
If they are made in US, we point virtual fingers again because they are more expensive than the Chinese counterparts.

Our minimum wage is different than the Chinese minimum wage, the quality control is different, the materials used is different.

I would love to buy a WARN winch similar to this APEX at the same low price, but that would never happen. That's the reason I don't have a winch... besides the fact that I don't need one (as I never needed one in the past 5 1/2 years since I had my 80). I rarely take it off road and never in a situation in which I am not comfortable.
So... I opted for the cheaper alternative.
 
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I would be extremely surprised if it was an original design. At the same time I don't expect WARN to investigate how good of a copy Badland is. What materials they used for each component, estimated lifespan, etc.

I know how it feels.
We want inexpensive products and we demand high quality too at the same time.
If those products are made in China, we tend to point virtual fingers on the internet.
If they are made in US, we point virtual fingers again because they are more expensive than the Chinese counterparts.

Our minimum wage is different than the Chinese minimum wage, the quality control is different, the materials used is different.

I would love to buy a WARN which similar to this APEX at the same low price, but that would never happen. That's the reason I don't have a winch... besides the fact that I don't need one (as I never needed one in the past 5 1/2 years since I had my 80). I rarely take it off road and never in a situation in which I am not comfortable.
So... I opted for the cheaper alternative.
Saying you haven't needed a winch because you haven't been in a hairy situation is like saying you haven't needed a circuit breaker because you haven't had an electrical fire.
i just picked one of these up locally. thanks for the tip and the coupon!

what do y'all with experience think of their wincing accessories? like snatch block, d rings and tow straps?
Can't answer your question as I haven't handled any of them myself. However, I'm sure the rest of us would be interested to see/know what YOUR experience is with this winch. Feel free to post pics and give updates! :beer::D
 
Bumping this up with the question for anyone who has the badland and has used it more than a handful of times. How's it holding up? Price is great and has solid reviews, but no warranty kinda sucks.
 
Bumping this up with the question for anyone who has the badland and has used it more than a handful of times. How's it holding up? Price is great and has solid reviews, but no warranty kinda sucks.
Harbor freight tried to sell me a 2 or 3 year warranty for 120 bucks or so. About the cost of my 20% coupon. I declined it. We'll see if that was a good decision or not.

Sorry I can't answer how it's holding up since I'm in the middle I'd installing it, but I HAVE learned that you cannot clock the housing to make the clutch face upward when the feet mount forward such as my 03+ ARB bumper. You cannot reach the clutch from the top. My current plan is to cut a 3 or 4" hole in the ARB splash shield and operate it by reaching from below which actually isn't that bad. I'll post some pictures and possibly a video of how the install went when I'm finished. Should be done tomorrow morning.

Ok. Here's a few pictures
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Oh interesting, I didn't realize that the arb had you mount the winch with the feet out. I do like that it comes with the solenoid relocation kit, great little bonus. Still the standard 90 day warranty is scary to me, since I'll likely not push it to the limit in the first 90 days. Hell, I used my recovery boards for the first time last weekend, and I've had them for 10 months, and one cracked... (Amazon cheapos)
 
I’d like to know how these winches work out for you guys. Realistically I’ll never use it but having the fantasy of taking my car off-road and having equipment for it is nice. I hope to one day try off-roading and have fun out there.
But until then, for $480 this badlands winch looks good.
 
So I finished up the install today. Took way too long but I really wanted the details to be right.
As said before the housing won't rotate so you have to access the clutch from below. I cut a 4" hole in the splash guard for access and fitted a 50 cent 4" knockout plug from home depot as a cover. It just snaps in.
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I wanted the control box to sit on top. The bracket they give you to relocate it is more cumbersome than the box itself. And the box is plenty strong so I got some 50mm/2" long m6 bolts and some 3/4" spacers and I drilled the bumper where I wanted the box mounted. I then used m6 rivet nuts so I didn't have to through bolt it which would be a pain. The spacers keep the box from touching the bumper and rattling or wearing through the powder coat. Though you shouldn't mount it quite so far back as I did since the back bolts ran into a verticle support on the bumper that was inconvenient.
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The fairlead needs to be mounted right through to the winch mounts and the bolts they give you are the wrong size. I got some m10 1.5 50mm long class 10.9(grade 8) bolts at Oreillys.
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I fitted the battery cut off switch (provided with winch) both to protect my circuits and to prevent unauthorized use of the winch when I'm not around. The switch is next to the battery under the hood.
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I also used some 3/8ths hose to protect the heavy battery cables as they passed by or through body panels etc...

If it rotated this would be nearly a turn key deal. The synthetic rope, hook, relocation kit and wireless remote included are a fantastic bargain. About 10 bucks in extra bolts to make it work. If you didn't have a riv nut tool you could make due with through bolting.
 

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