Badlands zxr 9000

Yeah... I'm going there ... So I got this HF sale mag in the mail today. The above mentioned winch is $249. (Almost disposable price right?) Comparable in many ways to one of the Warn 9000lb winches, but with the cable straightener thing and less amp draw (likely due to slower line speed).

I have a 15 year old Warn xd9000i on my Jeep that works great. It was around a grand back then IIR.

I have also owned a HF 9000 lb winch. It was slow, but it worked hard the whole time i had it on the 4runner. It was on for about 4 years before i sold it with the truck.

This "zxr" is relatively new. There is little info on it, but I'm sure I'm not the only cheap bastard that's curious. Does anyone know anything about these specifically? I know opinions vary on the older models. I mean... could they really be that much different than all the other budget winches that people are buying up? Smittybuilt, etc...

 

Smittybilt gets a lot of bad reviews. Haven’t read hardly any terrible reviews about the Badlands. Wish there was more on it.

 

Depends on where you look. There are bad reviews of Warn winches too.

Smitybilts might be cheap, but they aren't harbor freight cheap... If you search around here, you'll find plenty of people who are happy with the Smittybilts.

Probably the reason you don't see bad reviews of HF stuff is because, well, you get what you pay for and most people understand that.

The chop saw I bought from HF sucks something fierce, but I'm not going to bother giving it a bad review because it cost $59, lol. Frankly, I'm happy it made 6 cuts without imploding.

 

If we were talking about typical HF tools, I'd agree 100%; but the HF winches are the same price as the Smittybilts, only you can usually get them about $40 cheaper with a 20% off coupon. From what I've read, that is one thing HF puts a lot of effort into, keeping their Badlands stuff good quality for the money. I don't know, at this point, I'm leaning more toward Superwinch or Rough Country.

 

Meh, even if the badlands cost as much as a Warn or a Superwinch, it's really hard to trust them. They don't exactly have, nor will the ever have, a reputation for quality.

Plus there's the whole 90 day warranty thing. Six monkeys with screwdrivers could build something that lasts 3 months.

I'll be heading to 4wheelparts after work today to pick up a VR10...

 

Touché, I hear ya. That’s why I ultimately wouldn’t buy a Badlands either.

 

Had the old version of the Badlands 9000 harbor freight special. Was shit. Upgraded to an X20 which isn’t a warn but a lot better

Harbor freight one had bad control, bad pull strength, and kicked the bucket within a year

 

Different "levels" of reasoning behind buying/installing a winch...

There's "filling a blank space behind the bumper"..

And There's "buying the cheapest thing that has a hook on it"

....All the way up to buying "an electric insurance policy"...

Who has room in their world for cheap marginal insurance?

Buy the Warn...

I own 2 Warn VR12S..... I love making it home to sleep in my own bed.

 

With that reasoning, you’d buy the best of everything. Who has room in their life for cheap marginal insurance? Most people on the road actually. People buy what they need & can afford. I might use my winch once a year. I’m not going to install a $1,000 winch. My life does not depend on it. What’s going to kill someone is a line snapping, or standing in the way of a rolling vehicle, both of which should always be taken into consideration with the proper precautions. If I could afford a Warn, or the best insurance money can buy, I’m sure I’d do it, as would everyone. It’s just not reasonable. So we have discussions like this to narrow down the best solution.

 

I have had a badlands 9k and it worked great

Now I have an even cheaper xbull 13k (250$ synthetic line) has done many hard pulls. Also had wireless remote

Saved the day when my buddies brand new warn shit the bed first use out...

 

My "$1000 winch" was about $575....

I prefer NOT to waste money just to maintain lowered standards.

YMMV

 

It's all about cost/benefit.

While a winch isn't quite to the same standard as a climbing rope in that if it fails you WILL die, it's still a pretty important piece of equipment.

And I'm not talking about getting super expensive synthetic rope or soft shackles to make it "safer". All those are merely convenience pieces, IMO.

However, depending on where you go wheeling, a failed winch absolutely can be the difference between life and death. If you're buggered in the snow or deep sand out in the middle of nowhere, getting unstuck is pretty freakin important. Just refer back to that young couple in the Tahoe area that got stranded in the snow, and the girl ended up staying overnight while he went for help. She peed on herself in a (failed) attempt to keep herself warm. They were lucky they weren't further out and he didn't get lost looking for help. But a winch, traction boards, chains, or even a stupid shovel could have easily made the difference between a few minutes delay, and death.

I had been eying the $299 smitybilt 9.5k winch for a while. But I read enough reviews of it that gave me pause. It's a good company and they stand behind their product with a relatively good warranty, but their warranty replacement doesn't do me any good if it doesn't work when I need it to, and I remain stuck.

For me, the cost benefit of getting the steel rope vs. the synth rope wasn't there. I didn't feel a need to spend another $150 just for a synth rope, but I was going to spend another couple hundred for a much more well respected winch. I have my limits, though, I wasn't about to cough up for a Zeon, lol.

 

Very valid points. The only thing keeping me from a synthetic rope is mine would be in the engine bay (behind the bumper), and in combination with the TX heat, once they get above 150 degrees, they start breaking down. They also must be kept very clean, they fray easy, and must be replaced every few years. That's a lot of negatives for something I might use once a year. It's just not cost effective enough for me.

 

Exactly. That, along with me being a cheap bastard, are why I went with a steel cable. I don’t want to have to worry about not draging it along he ground, and it’s on my truck, outside, all the time. In the imortal words of Ron Popeil, I want to “set it and forget it”.