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

Lots of good info here thanks!

 

I don't know if it's just my eyes but it looks to me that the TREDs and the foldable wear faster.

 

The maxtrax nubs are pretty bad. Guess the photo doesn't do justice.

 

Didn't you say you had those longer anyways?

 

The Maxsa orange ones are a couple years old

 

My bad, read that wrong. Funny how businesses within a niche come up with similar names. Maxsa, maxtrax, whatever.

 

Thanks for the review - I was leaning towards MaxTrax having seen their name just about everywhere, and their stacking abilities you mention will play a key factor.
Future purchase!

 

I have a set of Maxsa traction boards that I have had for almost two years. I've used them 6 or 7 times, with some uses requiring multiple applications to get out of the area I was stuck in.

They're a great value for the price. The lugs do wear, but they still function as required to be effective.

 

Do they stack well, and how do you store/mount them?

 

They stack well. I put them up against my tire carrier and run a cable lock through them. It's just the right length to pull them tight against the tire carrier.

 

I bought the

$130 Maxsa 20333 Heavy-Duty Escaper Buddy Traction Mats for Off-Road Mud, Sand, & Snow Vehicle Extraction and Recovery, Bendable, Unbreakable, Orange, 2 Pack

MAXSA Innovations Escaper Buddy Orange

Cant wait to try them out.

 

Do you happen to know the height of two of them when stacked? Thank you

 

I just bought these Speedmaster's for $77, and here's why.

$116 Speedmaster PCE561.1002 Speedmaster 4WD Recovery Traction Tracks Sand Mud Snow O

https://www.amazon.com/Speedmaster-...4826&sr=8-2&keywords=speedmaster+traction+mat

I'm just building an interest in overlanding/light off-roading. I live in a heavy snow state and wanted to have something in case of emergency. These were cheap and I think would do the job if I ever needed them. But I'm okay with them being a one-and-done use type of a thing. If I actually do start overlanding or doing off-road recreation, I would definitely invest in something more proven and reliable.

 

Have you had to use them yet?

 

No, and in all my years of driving in horrible winter conditions, I can only think of twice where I would have. I've only had them about two weeks and in my daily driving, they may never be needed.

 

A month ago I ordered a set of the TRED 1100's during that group-buy/sale. Two days ago I used them for the first time and they both cracked (severely) and are now nothing but garbage. These recovery boards are terrible.

Conditions were for a deep snow recovery. Temp was mid-20's and it was sunny out. We dug out the tires, placed the boards, and I minimized wheel spin. What I'm saying is that these boards were not abused. Just normal use, imo. They also didn't provide very good traction.

My friend has a set of the Pro's which we used a month ago in about the exact same conditions, and we used them for 20+ recoveries in a single day and they performed awesome.

Avoid these 1100's.

 

Here for the impending snow/ice review. North Dakota might as well be Antarctica in terms of winter preparedness and snow removal efforts by our local public works department. It would be great to have a set for my Taco and the wife's AWD Murano in the event of an emergency.

 

I just used my 1100s in similar conditions and didn't have any damage. I used 4lo, rear locker and A-TRAC to help out. The boards didn't provide the best traction but it was better than the 5 feet of soft snow under the tires.

 

Yeah, I don't know man. I was pretty pissed though. They shouldn't have both just cracked like that. First use.

 

Completely agree with that. I was a bit worried mine would break as well given some of the reviews I've read about the plastic getting brittle in cold weather. At least you can get them replaced pretty easily with the warranty.