Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

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ghcoe
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Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

Post by ghcoe »

Not wanting to spend $250-$300 on mainstream traction boards I decided to purchase some sub $50 traction boards. To be honest I really thought I would ever use them. In all the times I have been traveling in the back country I have hardly ever been stuck more than what a few strokes of a shovel could not get me out of. Since these boards where under $50 I went ahead and purchased two sets.

This was the first trip out with the traction boards. As it turned out they proved invaluable in this situation. 2-4 inches of thawed mud on top of frozen mud. These traction boards made the day more enjoyable since they worked liked they should have and were fun to use. Yes I did have support, two of the vehicles with me had winches, but what if I was alone? Well these boards would have saved my bacon since I could self recover in this situation as proven in this video. Even if these boards only worked 1 time they saved me hours of digging or waiting for help. In my opinion it was sub $100 well spent.

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Stuka
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Re: Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

Post by Stuka »

What brand were these ones? And do you think they are strong enough to act as a jack base?
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Re: Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

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Stuka wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:14 am What brand were these ones? And do you think they are strong enough to act as a jack base?
These I believe to be the X-Bull 2nd generation. They did not say specifically though. I picked them up on ebay for $44.99 a set.

I personally have not used them to jack anything up with. They seem to be pretty rigid so I would think yes, especially if two where stacked on each other. A test for another day....
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Stuka
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Re: Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

Post by Stuka »

ghcoe wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 2:49 pm
Stuka wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:14 am What brand were these ones? And do you think they are strong enough to act as a jack base?
These I believe to be the X-Bull 2nd generation. They did not say specifically though. I picked them up on ebay for $44.99 a set.

I personally have not used them to jack anything up with. They seem to be pretty rigid so I would think yes, especially if two where stacked on each other. A test for another day....
Looks like thats the only place they are sold, and they have different colors.

Did it seems like the semi-rounded over nubs gave enough traction for your tires to grab on them?
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Re: Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

Post by ghcoe »

Stuka wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:26 pm
ghcoe wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 2:49 pm
Stuka wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:14 am What brand were these ones? And do you think they are strong enough to act as a jack base?
These I believe to be the X-Bull 2nd generation. They did not say specifically though. I picked them up on ebay for $44.99 a set.

I personally have not used them to jack anything up with. They seem to be pretty rigid so I would think yes, especially if two where stacked on each other. A test for another day....
Looks like thats the only place they are sold, and they have different colors.

Did it seems like the semi-rounded over nubs gave enough traction for your tires to grab on them?
I was not aired down so I did have more wheel spin than I would have liked to have had. The wheel spin did wear down some of the end nubs a bit on a couple of the boards. Once the tires grabbed the boards though the Jeep pulled out out like it was on pavement. I do think if I was aired down it would have made the recovery a bit easier. I really didn't think of it till after we were done for the day.

There is a guy on YouTube that replaced the wore down nubs with short bolts. Not sure if I would want steel nubs that could whack a rocker panel or not though. The newer MaxTrax's from my understanding now have replaceable steel nubs though so maybe it is not a thing.
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Re: Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

Post by Stuka »

Yeah, those are the MAXTRAX Xtreme. Pretty pricy, but they are designed for people that use them every day doing recoveries and such. Their cheaper models are intended for the more occasional use. And every tooth is replaceable.
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Re: Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

Post by letank »

thank you for the tip... these claim to have jack lift base on dabay, dabay number is buried nowadays, and the link is 20lines

BUNKER INDUST Off-road Traction Boards with Jack Lift Base, 1 Pair Grey Recovery

they are 40" long and 3" tall... which could be a good buy so I do not have to buy a low profile jack to lift the low clearance vehicle, as I am running out of storage space...
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Re: Low Cost Traction Boards...Do They Work?

Post by ghcoe »

letank wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 8:15 am thank you for the tip... these claim to have jack lift base on dabay, dabay number is buried nowadays, and the link is 20lines

BUNKER INDUST Off-road Traction Boards with Jack Lift Base, 1 Pair Grey Recovery

they are 40" long and 3" tall... which could be a good buy so I do not have to buy a low profile jack to lift the low clearance vehicle, as I am running out of storage space...
No problem. Glad to be able to help. George.
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