Traction Board Review... Tred, Maxtrax, Traction Jack, Maxsa

Maxtrax already does this.

 

Just a heads up for anyone in the Northern Virginia area:

Just saw an unused set of black MaxTrax boards for sale for $200 in Ashburn. Nice deal!

 

I gotta reach out to my buddy in VA and see how close he is to Ashburn. Maybe I can have him pick them up for me and hold them till Thanksgiving lol.

 

I thought about making the drive to get them myself, but then I realized I haven't used the traction boards I got last spring yet.

One gnarly winter here and I'll regret passing them up no doubt.

 

This lmao. I work for NYS and am deemed an "essential" employee which means my dumb ass has to drive to work in a blizzard. I figure the one day I get stuck and use them to pull myself out would be worth it lol.

 

See most people with only two mounted on their rigs. Figured at least four would be most beneficial. I know they have a bit of a price but you guys running with two or four? Find that two gets the job done?

 

I bought 4 because of a crazy deal. None have seen the ground yet though.

 

I figured if I need 4 I'll just pull out the winch and be done with it. Altho 4 would be nice for leveling the truck at camp some days.

 

I've yet to find myself in a situation where I needed more than two (or just one), but having 4 would be nice for feeling totally prepared

 

Honestly guys... the Maxsa traction boards with the metal teeth got me out just fine when I was stuck in deep sand in Anza Borrego last year. These things are plenty sturdy too.

I wrote a review about these boards and this situation I was in over at my website. Here's the review below.

Easy camping trip to Anza-Borrego starts off difficult
I purposely sought out an easy primitive campground to reach with my Livin’ Lite camper trailer and also somewhere my sister can get her Honda Fit to without issues. Well, Google Maps gps was slightly off, I’m talking 40 yards off, and we ended up down the wrong dirt road which quickly turned into a deep sand pit. I added a map showing the bad area at the end of the article.


Tacoma stuck in the sand
I decided to try and make a u-turn to get out of there and we got stuck. My truck is 2wd so that didn’t help, plus I was pulling my camper trailer. This was after a 3-hour drive, 2 kids, wife, and dog. Plus my brother was following in his truck and also got stuck! Not cool. Everyone’s in a shitty mood and just wants to get to camp.

It doesn’t look like we’re super stuck. But that sand is very soft — put your foot in and it sinks instantly. I purposely DID NOT continue gassing it when I realized I was stuck. That will only sink you further and make the recovery harder.

We evaluated our options and planned where we’d go once we’re unstuck. There was still plenty of loose sand so we found some hard packed ground nearby and decided that would be the planned destination.

How did we get out of this? I usually carry some basic offroad recovery gear (full list here) that everyone should have on them. In this case, it saved us,.

Offroad recovery by airing down and using Maxsa Escaper Buddy Traction Boards
In the moment, my brother’s fiancé swears that I staged this on purpose so I can test out the new traction boards. Not the case! I would have had video of this and more photos. Sadly, this is the best photo I have of the situation:

How we got the truck out of deep sand – Maxsa Traction Boards Review

1. Aired down tires to 20psi using my TeraFlex Air Deflator ($20). If we had done this from the start we might not have been stuck. At the same time we didn’t realize quick enough the sand was this deep.
2. Shoveled out as much sand as we can in front and back of tires. You need to get those traction boards wedged as low as you can under the tires and make them as flat as possible. Luckily it wasn’t too hot outside and we knew there was cold beer waiting for us.
3. Placed the boards in front of the rear tires and crossed my fingers. In other recoveries you might want to reverse onto the boards.
4. Low Gear, easy on the gas. Once I realized I was up on the boards (a split second) I hit the gas hard and drove to the hard-packed dirt we found earlier.
5. Breath and smile. Aired back up with the VAIR 88p air compressor — great product!

What a great feeling that was to get out. Once I realized our situation improved I pulled back onto the dirt “road”, which was still super deep sand, and hauled ass back towards the main road where we first came in. Left the truck right there on hard-packed dirt and walked back to my brother’s truck where we repeated the same process and got him out! Same process — air down, shovel, boards, and out.

/end review. I have more pictures and info on that location over at the link: https://dirtnsmores.com/maxsa-traction-boards-review-stuck-in-sand/

 

Thanks for the share, helpful to some here and lessons learned are always good. Breath and smile.

 

Not a problem. It's amazing how much airing down can help even after you've gotten stuck. Doing this, in conjunction with traction boards, got me right out!

 

No one talking about the Bunker Indust traction boards w/ lift base from VicOffRoad. They sell only the boards for $80 but for a bit more, you get a jack lift base which can help you jack the truck on un-level or soft ground. That's a two birds, one stone kinda product that I like! Most of us might use the boards a couple times a year so if I need to replace the boards after 2-3 years, so be it. It will still cost less than MaxTrax. As for a lifetime warranty, the only thing I've had longer than 10 years is my wife and kids. Not looking for a lifetime commitment, just need something reasonably priced that will help me out the 2-3 times I'll need it over the next decade.

https://vicoffroad.com/collections/traction-boards

Or you can spend the extra money and mount some crazy expensive plastic to your truck like it's some framed artwork

** EDITED ** Forgot to mention, (and a big reason why I like it) low profile stackable. These boards fit together nicely for easier storage. They also make a mini version which looks pretty cool too. Easy to pack in a bag and pull em' out when needed.

 

Has anyone tried the shorter version? I've got a pair of fiberglass waffle boards, but when I saw these I wondered if they'd be useful as a backup/easier option for traction in simpler situations where they'd be a lot easier to access/maneuver than the 40 lb monsters. looks like they'd at least be nimble for digging and could fit in the trasharoo or strap onto the backside of the swing-out.

Also, for those who use milk crates to organize/handle gear, they also work to stop a Hi-lift from sinking into sand in a pinch, assuming you don't need the jack lowered to a point that clashes with the side of the box; learned that one the hard way out in J-Tree a few years back. I was changing the rear tire on a Tacoma with a soft-topper and no RTT, so I can't promise they won't split apart if you need a heavier lift.

$70 ALL-TOP Recovery Traction Boards Mini, Off Road Bendable Tire Friction Tracks for Sand Mud Snow, 2PCS & Mounting Kit (3rd Gen, Black)

www.amazon.com/dp/B09YLJXGJL