BADLAND APEX Synthetic 12,000 Lb. Wireless Winch Review
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Winches are important tools for off-road lovers, and it does a great job in recovery, ensuring you make it back home in good time. Yes, even if you have a powerful 4×4 vehicle, you need a winch. But in this case, you need a powerful winch like the BADLAND APEX Synthetic 12,000 Lbs Wireless Winch.
In the spirit of honesty, Harbor Freight winches have not always wowed off-road enthusiasts. Sure, they are decent, but very few of their tools take their breath away – that is until Harbor Freight Tools (HFT) introduced the 12 000 lb Badland winch model.
The electric winch is built for extreme conditions and has many features that make its usage a breeze. In case you are skeptical and think it’s all hype, here’s a deeper look at what this BADLAND Apex has to offer.
Last update on 2025-10-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Unboxing the Badlands Apex Winch
When you open the box, you get the following:
- A Badland guide to winching. This explains the proper winching techniques, complete with images to visualize the explanations better.
- The owner’s manual and safety instructions for your Badlands Apex winch. Now, even if you’ve operated a winch before, it’s crucial to read through this.
- Sticker sheets. Off-roaders love stickers, so the stickers are a pleasant addition.
- A beefy alloy steel hook with a cotter pin holding the main pin. The hook is larger and stronger than regular winch hooks. Also, the actual hook has a nice spring keeping it in place.
- The remote control has a dust cover to protect it from water and dust, and it has wired and wireless modes.
- A strong aluminum fairlead.
- Remote winch cable to use with the Apex 12000 winch.
Unlike most standard winches, the BADLAND Apex winch comes with the option to relocate the top control pack. So if you have a thin bumper or would prefer to mount the winch elsewhere, you can. The additional tools provided for this include:
- Relocation mounting brackets
- Electrical brackets
- Mounting hardware accessories
- Extra wires – a long, medium, and short ground wire.
It’s interesting to note that the BADLAND Apex comes with a battery disconnect switch. With most winches, you wire the winch directly to the battery. With the battery disconnect switch, you can control when the winch has power and avoid parasitic power loss.
The winch is well built and has good seals. The free spool handle is strong and sturdy, and even better, the cable is already spooled into the winch, so you’ll spend less time installing the Badland winch.
Power
The BADLAND Apex has a 12,000 Lb rating that can pull trucks and SUVs from tough and extreme terrains without breaking a sweat. This power is enough to pull your vehicle across a river with a fairly strong current and when you are stuck in a mud pit that’s hub deep.
With such high power, you’d think the winch overheats. On the contrary, it remains cool and quiet throughout winching. This is courtesy of the series-wound motor designed to optimize power delivery.
Note: just because it has a 12,000 lb power rating, it doesn’t mean it can pull this much throughout its cable travel. The different layers have different pull capacities in a straight line pull. The 12,000 lb capacity is available on the first layer of the drum, after which the strength starts dropping.
Wireless Remote
On the side of the removable controller pack is a wireless switch that you can opt to turn on and off when you need it. Alternatively, you can leave it on throughout, and it’ll not drain the remote control’s battery.
The remote control has a dust cover that protects it from water and dust, improving its lifespan. It has sturdy in/out buttons and a wired and wireless mode. To activate the winch remotely, press down the mode button for three seconds, and it turns on automatically.
While using a wireless remote is convenient, you never know when the batteries will die on you so, it’s great to have the option for wired operation.
Note: The batteries can last over a year without replacement.
The wireless remote also features a magnet on the back that allows you to place it anywhere on your car’s body as you attend to something else.
Synthetic Cable
Harbor freight opted to include a synthetic cable with this powerful winch. Most off-roaders swear by steel winch cables, so noticing a synthetic cable on such a beast could be disappointing. If so, you might have a look at Badland’s ZXR 12000 winch (that also features an automatic load holding brake) instead. But this doesn’t have to be the case. Generally, synthetic winch cables are lighter than a steel cable, reducing the fatigue of handling lines when winching.
Moreover, synthetic cables have 30-90 percent more breaking strength than steel cables. Because of this, Harbor Freight can use thinner but longer winch lines. The BADLAND Apex synthetic cable is 3/8 thick and 80 feet long.
But on the flip side, synthetic rope is subject to abrasion on contact points when winching. For protection, the rope comes with a chafe sleeve. You can move it along the rope’s length to any point of contact to avoid failure and a break.
Note: always place a weight on the rope when winching. The weight will prevent a whipping projectile when the rope snaps.
Waterproof
The BADLAND Apex 12,000 Lbs has an IP68 and IP69K rating. This means that the winch is dust and water-resistant. The IP68 rating is now the standard for most winches and denotes the winch can withstand submersion of up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes. On the other hand, the IP69K denotes the winch is protected from high-pressure jet sprays (up to 1450 PSI).
The addition of these ratings shows that Harbor Freight is listening and responding to the needs of its users. You’ll have to cross streams and rivers, mud pits, or operate it in the rain from time to time. Therefore, dust and water-resistant properties come in handy.
Winch Line Speed
Some off-roaders use line speed as a yardstick to determine which winch is better. Line speed refers to how fast a winch spools a cable (described in feet per minute). Most manufacturers prefer advertising the line speed without a load. The BADLAND Apex does about 31.5 feet per minute which is 2X faster compared to BADLAND ZXR 12,000 winch’s line speed.
A quick test winching a jeep on a slanted garage across 60 feet revealed it could pull in 2 minutes and 21 seconds.
- 80 ft. synthetic rope
- Large alloy steel hook
- Wired and wireless operation
- IP68/IP69K rating
- Removable control pack that you can relocate
- Fast winch
- Replacement parts are available on the official Harbor Freight website. At the moment, you have to call to order the specific replacement parts.
- It’s an oversized item and cannot be shipped to some countries
Harbor Freight Winch Reviews – Is the BADLAND APEX 12,000 Lbs a Good Choice?
Last update on 2025-10-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
