HOT! Alternative to the Ford Performance Winch at less than half the cost???

[BlueKilla]

If I did that my customers base would be nonexistent and I couldn’t sleep at night. I have a very high over head with a couple of million dollar laser and still can produce things for less than a lot of shop are willing to do and I also make parts for some very well known places so I know the cost of what they pay and what they sell them for and it’s in line. It just pains me to see people taking advantage of others.

I have a similar experience working with my buddy who owns a PC/fab shop and subs out his laser cut parts to a local shop with a nice laser machine/metal brake. Cost to laser cut is very cheap in large quantities and the quality is top notch if the cad files are clean.

I engineer and build affordable fiber lasers. Much, much less expensive than $1M, which is allowing home type shops to convert away from plasma and get into lasers much cheaper than the 'big boy' name brands.

PM me your company info, will pass along to someone who may be interested.

I have two Amada 3k and Amada 9 k , your garage laser isn’t going to keep up with my fiber laser I can assure you there for creating a lot lower cost.

Garage laser or pro laser, the thing that is really expensive is the R&D time required to produce this kits and the equipment depreciation allocated to each part produced. Figure so many hours x $150/hour for R&D alone. I'm guessing OP's price is OK providing he is recouping R&D amortized over a low production volume since this is a niche kit for a niche product that imho will likely get redesigned in a year or two as most HF parts are (this is under the assumption only badlands apex works with the kit).

On the other hand, if you have the capacity to produce for cheaper, and OP is willing to sell his files to you for mass production, then be my guest. I'm all in at 50% of the OP's price point. I'm guessing if you spent the time to design, proto, test, pack, ship it will probably cost us as much as OP is charging.

 

[ThreeLRanch]

I have a similar experience working with my buddy who owns a PC/fab shop and subs out his laser cut parts to a local shop with a nice laser machine/metal brake. Cost to laser cut is very cheap in large quantities and the quality is top notch if the cad files are clean.



PM me your company info, will pass along to someone who may be interested.



Garage laser or pro laser, the thing that is really expensive is the R&D time required to produce this kits and the equipment depreciation allocated to each part produced. Figure so many hours x $150/hour minimum. I'm guessing OP's price is OK providing he is recouping R&D amortized over a low production volume since this is a niche kit for a niche product that imho will likely get redesigned in a year or two as most HF parts are (this is under the assumption only badlands apex works with the kit).

On the other hand, if you have the capacity to produce for cheaper, and OP is willing to sell his files to you for mass production, then be my guest. I'm all in at 50% of the OP's price point. I'm guessing if you spent the time to design, proto, test, pack, ship it will probably cost us as much as OP is charging.

I wasn't by any means trying to step on anyone's toe's or get in their business at all and maybe i should have worded a little differently and that's my bad . I fully understand what goes into R and D and FA parts as that is what i do for a living and do pretty dam good job at it , my main thing was that it seems way way to high and if i was to quote those i would be a lot cheaper and i guess i should have PM'ed the OP and discussed that with him and not in the open . If he wants to give me shout i would give him a good price even whit the price of steel right now .

 

[04sshd]

Seriously $675 ??? That’s is absolutely ridiculously over priced ! I would be able to produce those at half the cost easy. It’s amazing how people take advantage of others these days.

I'm sorry you feel that these are over priced, and to be honest we try to keep the price as fair as possible considering there are hundreds of hours into the design, the fitment, trial and error, etc. We originally intended on having these kits priced at around $500. Throw another $500 at a Harbor Freight Winch and you're at 1/3 the cost of the Factory Warn winch. That price very quickly hit $600 once we realized that 1/4" plate was not strong enough to handle the winch, we re-designed the kit in 3/8" plate and that added to the cost of material. Even at current costs, you're still way under HALF of what Ford Performance charges for their Winch kit, so I think there is still value there.

Now for the additional costs, I'm not sure where you live but where we are at and I'm sure the rest of the United States, the costs of Raw material has skyrocketed during this pandemic. US steel and lumber costs have increased over 20% since this time last year, and over 40% from this time 2 years ago. As the material costs rise, so does the price of this kit unfortunately. I do actively adjust the price based off of market costs. As material costs rise and fall, the price of this kit will do the same. I can tell you that my material and cutting costs alone significantly exceed your $300 assertion. There really is not much profit margin in these kits, I'm not trying to make a living selling these, I do have a normal job that pays my family's bills.

I promise I have no intent to take advantage of anyone, it's simple economics. The cost of this kit covers raw material, shipping, hardware, and the development costs that I paid out of pocket to get to this stage.

 

[ThreeLRanch]

I'm sorry you feel that these are over priced, and to be honest we try to keep the price as fair as possible considering there are hundreds of hours into the design, the fitment, trial and error, etc. We originally intended on having these kits priced at around $500. That price very quickly hit $600 once we realized that 1/4" plate was not strong enough to handle the winch, we re-designed the kit in 3/8" plate and that added to the cost of material.

Now for the additional costs, I'm not sure where you live but where we are at and I'm sure the rest of the United States, the costs of Raw material has skyrocketed during this pandemic. US steel and lumber costs have increased over 20% since this time last year, and over 40% from this time 2 years ago. As the material costs rise, so does the price of this kit unfortunately. I do actively adjust the price based off of market costs. As material costs rise and fall, the price of this kit will do the same.

I promise I have no intent to take advantage of anyone, it's simple economics. The cost of this kit covers raw material, shipping, hardware, and the development costs that I paid out of pocket to get to this stage.

I totally understand all that goes into it but this but to me it’s pretty simple but that’s probably because I’ve been doing it for so long. If honestly like to quote you the parts , sometimes I can bet prices and even with shipping it’s less than some can get it done local not always but more often than not. Yes Steel has gone up but i haven’t went up as much as some because I buy truck loads to get the price where I need to be at. I wasn’t trying to be rude in any way by the way , it looks like a good fit and works well. Any way feel free to shot me a PM if you’d care to get a quote and I would sing a NDA i do that all the time.

 

[04sshd]

I totally understand all that goes into it but this but to me it’s pretty simple but that’s probably because I’ve been doing it for so long. If honestly like to quote you the parts , sometimes I can bet prices and even with shipping it’s less than some can get it done local not always but more often than not. Yes Steel has gone up but i haven’t went up as much as some because I buy truck loads to get the price where I need to be at. I wasn’t trying to be rude in any way by the way , it looks like a good fit and works well. Any way feel free to shot me a PM if you’d care to get a quote and I would sing a NDA i do that all the time.

Yeah, I'm not a big player in the steel warehouses. I pay street prices as I have no intent to purchase by the ton. If you can beat my Laser Cutter's prices on material and labor lets talk. I'm more than happy to pass the savings to the end users.

 

[oops]

If ya'll can figure out how to get this welded and shipped under $1000 I think you'll make a killing. ~$1500 with the winch is just too good of a deal relative to the OEM Warn kit. (And if it leaves the bumper better fitting than the OEM kit does it's a no brainer!)

 

[04sshd]

If ya'll can figure out how to get this welded and shipped under $1000 I think you'll make a killing. ~$1500 with the winch is just too good of a deal relative to the OEM Warn kit. (And if it leaves the bumper better fitting than the OEM kit does it's a no brainer!)

I can definitely get these welded and shipped for under $1000.

 

[oops]

I can definitely get these welded and shipped for under $1000.

Package it up! I'm in. I bet so many would be.

 

[04sshd]

Package it up! I'm in. I bet so many would be.

I'm guessing it would be about an additional $200, that would cover being welded by a certified welder, and the price difference in shipping. If you're interested shoot me a PM and we can work out the details.

 

[oops]

I'm guessing it would be about an additional $200, that would cover being welded by a certified welder, and the price difference in shipping. If you're interested shoot me a PM and we can work out the details.

Will do. But you should organize a group buy for this. Even if its the same price. ?

If there's not pent up demand for this there should be. The Apex winch is a very solid unit. Is so much less expensive than the Warn. It doesn't have the same dual battery / 397-amp alternator requirements. And it's easily replaceable. I don't know why most of us wouldn't pick one up if we didn't get the factory winch. (Which most here didn't.)

 

[04sshd]

Will do. But you should organize a group buy for this. Even if its the same price. ?

If there's not pent up demand for this there should be. The Apex winch is a very solid unit. Is so much less expensive than the Warn. It doesn't have the same dual battery / 397-amp alternator requirements. And it's easily replaceable. I don't know why most of us wouldn't pick one up if we didn't get the factory winch. (Which most here didn't.)

Those are my thoughts exactly on the winch! I actually picked up a 2nd one already to go into my 72 GMC

As for the group buy, I can actually lower the cost via group buy. The Cutter will start discounts if I can guarantee at least 10 kits.

 

[ThreeLRanch]

Yeah, I'm not a big player in the steel warehouses. I pay street prices as I have no intent to purchase by the ton. If you can beat my Laser Cutter's prices on material and labor lets talk. I'm more than happy to pass the savings to the end users.

I think I really could save you and as far as welding I could definitely be under 200$ I’m 100% sure of that. If you get 20 or more I think that’s where you would really start to see the price come down.

 

[BroncOh]

Those are my thoughts exactly on the winch! I actually picked up a 2nd one already to go into my 72 GMC

As for the group buy, I can actually lower the cost via group buy. The Cutter will start discounts if I can guarantee at least 10 kits.

As a product developer, start with 100 kits. You will easily sell that. Bump up to 500 after that based on your demand forecast from the first 100.

 

[oops]

As a product developer, start with 100 kits. You will easily sell that. Bump up to 500 after that.

My thoughts exactly. I don't see why you couldn't easily sell 100 of these if you're getting down under ~$300 for the bracket (and when the Winch is ~$500 before discounts.)

 

[Sludgemonkey44]

My thoughts exactly. I don't see why you couldn't easily sell 100 of these if you're getting down under ~$300 for the bracket (and when the Winch is ~$500 before discounts.)

Just to add a little to an already great conversation, I believe starting on 21’s and definitely on the 22’s, all Super Dutys (not only Tremors) are going to be able to fit the factory winch. With that thought in mind, I would assume that the bumper profile, mounting points, dimensions, etc. would also be the same and could also accommodate this design. That would expand the potential customer base exponentially.

 

[Duke]

I can definitely get these welded and shipped for under $1000.

I can definitely get these welded and shipped for under $1000.

add me to your list Brother when i ordered my truck in oct 2019 the winch wasn't available. i much rather use the badlands winch anyway because i had one on my 13 raptor and one on my 1990 fullsize bronco they both worked great . plus a lot cheaper then the warn. LMK THANKS

 

[04sshd]

add me to your list Brother when i ordered my truck in oct 2019 the winch wasn't available. i much rather use the badlands winch anyway because i had one on my 13 raptor and one on my 1990 fullsize bronco they both worked great . plus a lot cheaper then the warn. LMK THANKS

Shoot me a PM if you're looking for a welded one and I can get you sorted out!

 

[BlueKilla]

Yeah, I'm not a big player in the steel warehouses. I pay street prices as I have no intent to purchase by the ton. If you can beat my Laser Cutter's prices on material and labor lets talk. I'm more than happy to pass the savings to the end users.

I have a buddy in MI I can set you up with too if this doesn't pan out who can laser cut/weld/and powdercoat these so they are not bare. Send me a PM if interested.

 

[Disownedpenny]

My thoughts exactly. I don't see why you couldn't easily sell 100 of these if you're getting down under ~$300 for the bracket (and when the Winch is ~$500 before discounts.)

I don't really need a winch, but for $300 I would absolutely buy one of these brackets and put a winch on my truck. I love the idea, but I can't see myself dropping $1500 or more on one.

 

[Big_Ed]

I received a 12,000 lbs Badlands winch for Christmas last year. I am torn between mounting it on a 2 inch receiver or inside the bumper. I would probably not use it more than a couple times a year, so cost is my primary driver. I can buy something like this or have a hitch mounted on the front. At 600, it is a no brainers to go with a hidden hitch like the eco. At 300, it makes the decision a little more challenging.