Badland 12,000 lb Winch

[JEBar]

to install it, I need 5 more parts from Amazon .... 1 was shown in short supply so it has been ordered and should be here shortly .... apparently they have a pretty good supply of the other 4 .... we should be able to file our taxes on the 17th .... if that is the case we will order the needed items after the 25th .... she will be installed once those parts arrive

 

[JEBar]

learned something today .... I was looking at the Badland winch and decided to turn the lever (shown below) that throws the winch in and out of gear .... one of the selling points of their Apex line of winches is very smooth lever operation ....I turned the lever throwing it in gear .... when I tried to turn it back, it was locked in place and could not be moved ..

... reread the manual a few times and couldn't find anything .... got on their website and reread everything I could find, no help .... figured I must have gotten a bad one so I drove something over a half hour to take it back .... walked in, paperwork in hand, and found the manager .... she had it brought in from the Trailblazer .... I told her I wanted her to try turning it but she said it wasn't necessary .... I insisted, she tried and couldn't budge it .... she had a replacement brought to the checkout counter and redid all of the paperwork .... I told her that I wanted to try the lever on the replacement before leaving the store .... unpacked the winch to where I could reach the lever .... turned it and just like the one I had just returned, it locked in place ..

.. the store manager was even more shocked than I was .... she said that in the just under 4 years she has worked for Harbor Freight, she has never had a Badland Winch of any type returned due to any problem whatsoever .... they pulled yet another out of stock and before doing anything else, tested the lever .... it locked just the same as the others .... at that point she called two fellows and told them to take the winch in the back and figure out what was going on .... it took them about 30 minutes to do so .... during that time they checked every bit of info they have and found nothing .... finally one of them cut the wire tie that was holding the cable tightly on its spool.... after cutting it, he pulled the cable out an inch or so and BINGO .... the lever released and operated as it should .... talk about relief ..

.. .... lesson learned for them and for me

 

[Coss]

Hmmm read all instructions and undo all packing material for it to operate correctly. Standard SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)
Or in other words ..................DUHHHH!!!!

 

[JEBar]

actually, this was one of the few times I've done just that .... as noted, nowhere and I do mean nowhere do they tell you to cut the wire-tie and loosen the spool to be able to operate the lever

 

[JEBar]

yesterday while wandering around Harbor Freight as they were trying to figure out what was going on with their Apex winches (see 22 above post) I happened to see their Badland Foldable Utility Shovel ===> https://www.harborfreight.com/foldable-utility-shovel-57703.html .... they had it on sale for $11.99 and after handling one, I brought it home .... it has the feel of a heavy duty piece of equipment .... its one of those things that will be packed in our truck with the winch accessories that I sincerely hope will never be needed ...

 

[JEBar]

the first of the 5 parts of the Westin Winch Mounting Plate arrived today ... a Mounting plate with a the stainless Faceplate is shown in the the first picture below .... the second shows a picture of our stainless faceplate that arrived today

 

[Coss]

Watch, the last piece to get there will be the one you need the most........<sigh> Frustration...

 

[JEBar]

for this project today has proven to be a significant one .... we just placed an order with Amazon for all of the remaining parts needed to install the Badland 12000 on our Chevy truck .... in addition, all of the accessories we need to use in connection with the winch are included in the order .... per Amazon, all of the install parts should be here on or before March 2nd .... we hope to have it installed shortly thereafter

 

[Coss]

Don't forget series of pictures, you know, before, during, during, during and finally DONE!!!

And toss in start time and when it's all done. Should be a one maybe two-day project, what do you think?

 

[JEBar]

before and after pictures won't be a problem but the actual install is a very different story.... we will be paying a local garage to handle the install .... 20 or so years ago I'd of installed it myself but those days are history ..... way too much heavy lifting and crawling around under the truck for me now days .... with them having a lift the install should take a couple of hours .... the only mod I have in mind for it after the install is to install some LED lights .... can't do that until we get it mounted and can measure the holes in the Bull Bar