Major progress on our ride to the Matt's off Road Wrecker Games! 

He did NOT test the APEX.

Yes, I saw it, and no, I’m not surprised at the results. Nothing against he guy, but that was nowhere near a fair comparison. Notice that the Badlands started off right on par with the rest, but then he bent the hell out of it (due to the mount failing, not the winch), and kept using the bent and obviously bound up winch for the rest of the test, which is when it started falling behind. Pretty much anyone can understand that if you put rotating shafts and intermeshing gears in a twist and bind, there’s going to be a major performance loss. Two things to note, first of all is that it continued to function even after being so badly damaged by the mounting plate failure. Just like that moron Wranglerstar’s badlands winch continued to function even after his bumper failed and damaged the winch. That says a lot about its durability when you’re in a situation where you absolutely NEED it to work. Second is that he compared the highest grade of the other brands, to the cheapest grade of the Badlands. Why didn’t he use the Apex?? Now all that aside, let’s look at real world use. I have used my Badlands winches FAR harder and FAR more often than 99% of people would ever dream of, and I’ve had exactly zero failures. And more importantly than that, I rely on these winches to be able to operate my business. So how the warranty is handled is probably the most important factor, and another one that he left out in that video. For all the other brands, you would have to box your winch up and send it back to the manufacturer to see IF they will warranty it, and IF so, wait for the repair and return shipping. For someone like me, that means I’m out of business for that entire time. With the Badlands winches, I can drive to any Harbor Freight store, unbolt the winch in the parking lot, take it inside, and walk right back out with a brand new one in the box. That ability to eliminate downtime is a massive factor for me, and is why I pulled all my Warn winches of my rigs, gave them away, and switched everything over to Badlands at full price out of my own pocket long before Harbor Freight had ever heard of me.

I agree with you on the damage done because of the bent mount. He cold have easily loosened the bolts on the winch body then mounted it on the straight mount then tighten the frame bolts. Granted this would take some time but it would have been a better comparison. On warranty work Harbor Freight can't be beat. Even if their products fail out of warranty, buying a replacement is cheaper than a Warn. Another thing I didn't like was that he let the cable get wound on overlapping itself. This can damage the cables, more on the steel than synthetic rope.

I watched it as well...but from the standpoint of someone like you who puts it through the real-life tests day after day...I am sold on the Badlands winch (and the Yankum ropes).

@@CaseyLaDelle I watched it as well...but from the standpoint of someone like you who puts it through the real-life tests day after day...I am sold on the Badlands winch (and the Yankum ropes).

My thoughts exactly. You took the words right out of my mouth, and apparently you took my name also. This is wierd. What number am I thinking of? Lol

@@danimal2013 Seven. Rhymes with Kevin. Respect.

@@danimal2013 haha 😂 great minds think alike. On a scale of 1-10, I go with 11 🤘

@@danjones1365 nailed it!! ✌️

That's ok. Other folks never stop talking.

So far it seems the Wrecker Games is more of a build off than anything else, not that I'm complaining. I actually prefer the build off part.

Deep end, sink or swim.

After the wrecker...

I think they did what they intened to do, took a basket case and sold it for more than it's worth without having to actually fix anything. The kind of shop that ruins the image of the hobby.

@@frotobaggins7169 I have to agree, this was just wrong.

@@frotobaggins7169 The F350 super duty Fummins that I bought a year ago was in much the same condition. I drove it home from another state, and hoo boy after essentially re-doing everything under the hood (sometimes 2-3 times iteratively, like the wiring), I am amazed that I made it home w/o a breakdown! The intent of the shop/person that did the swap was good, but their execution was not up to par in so many ways (janky wiring, horrendous routing of wiring/hoses, etc.). I've got so many hours into it now that I don't think I will ever sell it.

Sometimes even the “complete projects” are really not really complete 😂

The work speaks for itself.

Facts. When you need to absolutely make something happen, the Elite Fleet shop never disappoints!

Not the worst idea 😂

Not to mention money

That’s what I was thinking.

Same here. At least it looks that way from my keyboard.

Mainly a mechanic type bolt on shop, rebuilds a lot of land rovers, but has ventured into some fabrication recently

So long as everything is done properly (u-joint angles, etc.).

I was the second like. couldn't believe it myself