Badlands Apex 12 / steel oem bumper

[Maximus1967]

Has anyone mounted a harbour freight Badlands Apex 12 in their stock steel Rubicon bumper? And if so, what winch plate did you use?
Please and thank you.
Photos would also be killer if anybody has any

Sponsored

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Has anyone mounted a harbour freight Badlands Apex 12 in their stock steel Rubicon bumper? And if so, what winch plate did you use?
Please and thank you.
Photos would also be killer if anybody has any

Bulldog winch plate - love it. Really tough, reinforcement on the bottom of the plate. Great fit and it fits behind the frame's bumper mounting "ears".

Not much to see in these pictures....

This is looking up at the bottom of the plate -you can see the rib notched in and welded to the bottom of the plate.

 

[slim chance]

warn winch plate

 

[Dougstdig]

Warn plate, Mopar winch guard and factor 56 ultra hook and fairlead.

Bobbed the aluminum engagement lever so it wouldn’t make contact with the top of the left winch opening.

She fits low and tight limiting the blockage of airflow. There was no need to re-clock the auto disconnecting sway bar mechanism for space.

Ensure you make sure the winch line ONLY contacts the fairlead. I had to foster a little encouragement from the lower lip of the bumper.

 

[Jaxmax]

I don't have one but that combo might be the most common setup on this forum! Great winch no postings of any problems with it, about cheapest winch you will find on sale. Things you need to be aware of going in, might have to trim the frame horns a little, might have to trim a little off the clutch handle to allow it to swing, and it is probably best to redo the wiring coming out of winch to the side for more room, also a member here sells 1/4" and 3/8" spacers in the marketplace, I would recommend getting a set of the 1/4" ahead of time, easy to just move the whole bumper and winch out to give more room between grill.
Lastly it is a big heavy winch, bumper and plate so you might see a bit of sag in the front, I can't say you will feel it or have any problems just a bit of sag.......Jack

 

[Rainman519]

I used the warn plate....

 

[ShadowsPapa]

No need to trim anything but the lever on mine. But yes do watch bottom of rope opening in bumper to ensure rope doesn't drag or rub on it. Otherwise as seen in my pics the winch fits fine.

 

[Dhilt]

Hi Guys. Just bought the HF Apex 12k for my Gladiator Rubicon w/steel bumper. I see folks mostly are using the warn winch plate. Can anyone tell me which plate exactly. I see a couple of options. Prices are all over the place. I'm not sure which one I should be ordering. Thanks in advance.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

I just installed mine last week using the Rock Hard 4x4 plate. The holes that come drilled for mounting the winch to the plate placed it just a smidge too far back for my installation, it hit the grill when the bumper was tightened into the frame. What I did was shim the rear of the winch with a thick washer on each side and got some longer bolts for the rear two mounting points. (I think the ones that come with the winch are 20mm and I replaced with 40mm but I'm not positive) I'm not an engineer, so I don't know if that really compromises the mounting or not, but the bracket seems strong enough and it perfectly centered the winch in the cutout. Another option I suppose would be slotting the mounting holes in the winch plate or shimming the bumper further forward, neither of which I liked.

The Rock Hard plate does a good job of placing the winch in the perfect position height wise. Handle swings clear and it looks fit and finished. I opted to route the wiring out the left side of the top of the winch.

A couple other points, if you read the forum everybody says the bolts that come with the Rock Hard bracket aren't long enough for the Badland fairlead - they are now. Rock Hard is including longer bolts. I also flipped them around so the bolt head is facing forward instead of the thread. I have no idea why they'd instruct you to thread them the other way aside from maybe ease of installation, but I managed to mount the winch in bumper on the workbench and lift the whole thing up as one piece onto the frame horns with no assistance. It's about 150 lbs as a single unit, bumper+winch+plate

Stock mounting position with the Rock Hard mount, note contact with grill:

Winch indexed forward using washers as shims- this is the final installation position:

Added a grommet and additional heat shrink to the wiring to hide the damaged conduit from the packaging and to better protect the leads.

 

[Dougstdig]

She’ll fit in there snug…not tight. You’ll have to bob the control lever just a bit (1/2 to 3/4”). STRONGLY recommend plumbing the wiring through the side of the control box. Be mindful of items when you remove it. The Bluetooth little black box fits in there just right.

 

[Kezzy]

I went with the Grimm Offroad plate for my Badlands 12k. Very well made and I got a good price on it. It was my first ever winch install. Got bumper off, winch plate installed and winch mounted with no issues. But when I tried to put the bumper back on it hit the winch. So had to push the winch back as far as it would go on the plate which resulted in the power cable rubbing on the grill. I plan to move that cable to exit the side of the winch as others have done. Another issue that I ran into was with bolting the fairlead on. The bolts are supposed to go through the fairlead, the bumper and then through 2 holes in the winch plate (see pic - not mine just for reference). Problem is there is not enough clearance for me to get the nut up behind the winch plate. I only have about .5" on clearance between the bumper and the winch. The fairlead bolts are also too short but I'll get new ones for that. Right now the nuts are sandwiched between the bumper and the plate. So my question is is it really necessary that bolts run through the winch plate?

 

[Dougstdig]

I went with the Grimm Offroad plate for my Badlands 12k. Very well made and I got a good price on it. It was my first ever winch install. Got bumper off, winch plate installed and winch mounted with no issues. But when I tried to put the bumper back on it hit the winch. So had to push the winch back as far as it would go on the plate which resulted in the power cable rubbing on the grill. I plan to move that cable to exit the side of the winch as others have done. Another issue that I ran into was with bolting the fairlead on. The bolts are supposed to go through the fairlead, the bumper and then through 2 holes in the winch plate (see pic - not mine just for reference). Problem is there is not enough clearance for me to get the nut up behind the winch plate. I only have about .5" on clearance between the bumper and the winch. The fairlead bolts are also too short but I'll get new ones for that. Right now the nuts are sandwiched between the bumper and the plate. So my question is is it really necessary that bolts run through the winch plate?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Use spacers made by forum member tp space bumper forward to clear the winch.

As far as those front bolts... I'm not familiar with that plate but it may get part of its strength from that.

My bulldog winch plate had zero issues.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Mine isn't nearly that tight to the grill....or the bumper.

 

[GetnLostnCO]

Finished installing Badlands with JCR winch plate. Plate is solid, but mounting holes were 1/32" too small. Not the cleanest drilling, but it's solid. Fun project!

Sponsored