<$300 Winches vs $1000 Winches?

Good luck if you ever need support from one of the cheap brands. I had an openroad winch fail on me under warranty and I never really got a resolution that I was satisfied with.

Reliability. When you need a Warn, you need a Warn. (Just guessing... personally, I don't even have one. 😂)

Meh, most Warns are made in China just like the rest.. I have a Rough Country 12K synthetic on my Bronco and had one on my previous Jeep as well. Never had an issue.

Harbor Freight Badlands winches are also highly rated..

I mean if you want Warn quality you need to pay for one made in the USA and they can run twice the price of their Chinese made Warn's..

raqball

Meh, most Warns are made in China just like the rest.. I have a Rough Country 12K synthetic on my Bronco and had one on my previous Jeep as well. Never had an issue.

Harbor Freight Badlands winches are also highly rated..

I mean if you want Warn quality you need to pay for one made in the USA and they can run twice the price of their Chinese made Warn's..

May I ask what bracket you used to mount the winch?

Ford added a Warn to my Bronco from the factory. That said if I had to buy one I would probably get the HF Badlands, if Matt’s off-road recovery uses them and uses them daily they must be good enough for my occasional use. I have used mine twice I am glad I had it though.

SocalBonanza

May I ask what bracket you used to mount the winch?

Rough Country High Winch Mount..

https://www.roughcountry.com/product/configurable/high-winch-mount-51066c

Here it is on my Bronco:

raqball

Rough Country High Winch Mount..

https://www.roughcountry.com/product/configurable/high-winch-mount-51066c

Here it is on my Bronco:

Perfect! And to confirm, that is the Ford Modular bumper?

I just read the mounting instructions. It sounds like one has to cut out parts of the bumper. That does not seem so easy...

SocalBonanza

Perfect! And to confirm, that is the Ford Modular bumper?

I just read the mounting instructions. It sounds like one has to cut out parts of the bumper. That does not seem so easy...

I did not need to cut anything on my modular bumper other than a small piece of the plastic cover panel. That took all of 5 minutes with a dremel..

The install, not the cutting of the cover panel, was a pain though. I'd personally suggest you add some frame horns, no matter what winch you get, at the time of install.. I didn't add frame horns and wish I did as now if I want them, I need to remove the bumper and winch again to install them.

raqball

Meh, most Warns are made in China just like the rest.. I have a Rough Country 12K synthetic on my Bronco and had one on my previous Jeep as well. Never had an issue.

Harbor Freight Badlands winches are also highly rated..

I mean if you want Warn quality you need to pay for one made in the USA and they can run twice the price of their Chinese made Warn's..

How often did you use your Rough Country?

MIGeezer

How often did you use your Rough Country?

I have not used it on my Bronco but on my previous Jeep I used it like 5 or 6 times... Why?

Chinese made Warns are not the end all be all.. USA made Warns are what to get if you want that Warn quality they use to be known for. But you'll be dropping some coin to get a USA made Warn.

Warn does have a better warranty, even on their Chinese made models, I'll give them that.. A comparable Warn Zeon 12K winch with a synthetic line is like $1,800..

Zeon's are USA made and the VR's are Chinese made..

As far as RC customer service, I can tell you they answer their phone almost instantly and are always helpful. I called them about my winch control box as I have a BN badge superglued to it that has faded and turned silver. I told him I knew that it would not be covered under warranty but asked if they just sell the cover as opposed to the entire control box that was $100..

He said they did not but if I wanted to order a control box he would give me 20% off.. I passed but he gave me his name and told me to call back if I changed my mind.

If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably get the HF Badlands or the Ford Performance deal as they are absolute beasts and are very highly rated winches.. But I have no complaints with the RC winches either..

I know it is not cheap. But if I didn’t have the winch already attached. I would get one of these bumpers to put my winch in.
https://bodyguardbumpers.com/bronco-baja-front-winch-mount

I have scraped the snot out of that winch plate with it hanging way out there.

Jakob1972

I know it is not cheap. But if I didn’t have the winch already attached. I would get one of these bumpers to put my winch in.
https://bodyguardbumpers.com/bronco-baja-front-winch-mount

I have scraped the snot out of that winch plate with it hanging way out there.

135 pounds for that bumper plus the winch weight. The Warn Zeon (made in USA) 12K winch weighs about 80 or so pounds with a synthetic line. Even more if it has a steel line.

200 extra pounds is a lot of weight on the front end..

My RC 12K winch comes in at like 60 pounds and the mount is like another 35 pounds.

The bumper you linked to is a sweet looking unit though..

I went with Warn because well, that's what I had one my 2020 Colorado ZR2 Bison diesel. The ZR2 was much more off-roadable then my BB but I had to have the Bronco! Why Warn? Warranty service beyond reasonable expectations! My "professional" installer butchered my winch and the install on the Colorado. I mean why read the instructions when you can guess and fudge it up. They broke the winch because they didn't understand that the part they pull off had teeth that needed to mesh with the groves or it will break the housing. I called Warn expecting to pay for a new housing and they sent it off to me. Well, I read the instructions and still fudged it up on my own. So I called Warn back fully expecting to pay for the second one, and they sent it to me gratis even shipping was free. They did suggest that I be careful this time. I told them I was going to practice on broken one! Companies buy Harbor Freight? Sure, why not, if they fudge up they can expense a new one on their taxes. LOL I did go with the Rough Country High Mount. I ditched the plastic BB bumper for the "HD" version. Main reason for that the HC mount? Well, I had just bought the RED Ford Performance d-ring mounts.

smittybuilt 10K worked great on my tacoma, $600.
Got a badlands apex 12K on the bronco. Also $600.

No issues with either yet, aside from the fact that the wireless controller won't stay connected to the apex.

BobN

Companies buy Harbor Freight? Sure, why not, if they fudge up they can expense a new one on their taxes. LOL

Matts OffRoad Recovery uses only Harbor Freight Badlands winches. They make their living off of recovery (read: winches).. Having one fail in the field, when they are miles and miles out in the middle of nowhere, would be a no bueno..

If it's good enough for a professional recovery service to use daily, and under very harsh recovery conditions, then it's more than good enough for a casual 4 wheeler..

The HF Badlands winches are reliable workhorses and they come in at about 1/3 rd the price of a Warn Zeon.. Like I said before, if I had to do it all over again, I would get a HF Badlands 12K with synthetic..

I am not hating on Warn, as they do have a stellar warranty, even on their Chinese made winches, but you are also paying twice as much for their Chinese made winch to get that warranty.. The Zeon line? You are paying 3 to 4 times more for it.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather buy made in the USA but at 4 times the cost for a Zeon, I'll pass.

My recommendation to anyone who asks me now about Chinese made winches is get the Badlands and don't look back..

My .02

Polaris425

smittybuilt 10K worked great on my tacoma, $600.
Got a badlands apex 12K on the bronco. Also $600.

No issues with either yet, aside from the fact that the wireless controller won't stay connected to the apex.

I really wish Ramsey was still a player in the consumer winch industry.. I had a Ramsey REP 8000 on my old Jeep YJ back in the 80's to early 90's and that thing was an absolute beast! I probably used that thing 25 times and it never missed a beat..

They were made in the USA and were on par, or better, than Warn at the time. Price wise, they were about the same as a Warn. Back then all Warn's were made in the USA..

Well I carry a 8000# hand come-a-long, (CAL). I'm not one that puts myself into mud or rocks, etc. I don't like the way a winch fits on a Bronco. That's one thing they didn't engineer properly, IMO. It reminds me of a big wart growing on your neck, for most of them. I've played with my CAL on the trails. Pulled up some steep hills in Montana, takes awhile, but it got me up/out. The feedback in this thread is interesting. I looked for a slide mount winch, but the the few out there are not very big. My 2¢.

MIGeezer

Well I carry a 8000# hand come-a-long, (CAL). I've played with my CAL on the trails. Pulled up some steep hills in Montana, takes awhile, but it got me up/out.

As I am sure you are aware, be very careful with those. The same goes for the peeps who use high lift jacks as winches. You are in a direct line with the cable and shackles and if anything fails, you run the risk of serious injury..

BobN

Companies buy Harbor Freight? Sure, why not, if they fudge up they can expense a new one on their taxes.

I work for a fab shop with millions in equipment in the shop. We get HF tools & things all the time.
The shop has probably 250k worth of Miller welders. The owner has a HF machine in his garage.
Says it works just as well as the Millers for garage projects, biggest difference is duty cycle.

I've been using a HF Apex 12k winch, same as the MORR crew uses on their vids & it's been great. Used it to drag downed trees, used it drag myself up a muddy hill during a rally event, no issues at all.

Is it as great as the top of the line Warn, probably not.
But I can buy it a few times over before I spend the same as that Warn.