Traction Board Review

[OuterLimits]

Found a UK source for Waffle Boards. 1.5" and 2" options. Amazingly they are half the price of US boards. No clue on shipping prices from UK, but can't imagine it doubling the price. Might be a more affordable source for waffle boards than OK Offroad.

https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-LL1430BP2 1.5 inch

https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-LL1430BP1 2 inch

 

[Darthwj913]

Searching on Amazon, I found X-Bull recovery boards for $89. They actually look pretty good, and for the price, may be worth checking out.

X-bull Recovery boards 79 bucks on amazon 5 Stars
I got a set for my birthday last year. I have used them 4 times all in the NC red clay mud and in Ice/snow. They are awesome. Most recent I had my buddy buried to the axles and winching was doing nothing but pulling me toward him. No anchor tree available. Stuck em under the back tires out in less than a minute with a little tug from the Engo out and rolling.

 

[purdytj]

Costco has Maxsa board for $130 right now w/shipping: https://www.costco.com/maxsa-innovations-escaper-buddy-traction-mats,-2-pack.product.100540718.html

 

[Wlfhntr]

Anyone have any intel on these Rototrax from Rotopax? Look promising for a fraction of Maxtrax.

 

[athwrangler]

Anyone have any intel on these Rototrax from Rotopax? Look promising for a fraction of Maxtrax.

That's pretty sweet looking actually especially for the price and that you can use the same mounts as the rotopax themselves.

 

[El-Dracho]

Hi,

First of all thank you for bringing all this good information here together.

I have tradiitonal sandladders in use since years. Not ideal on every gorund and every situation, but a good allrounder - even in mud:

After use, I store them outside of the rig, which is good if they are dirty

and use a simple mounting for that. Basically, it´s just two hooks and a snap mechanism. So I could easily and fast get them on and off. This also works if they are a bit bent, which happens sometimes due to the nature of this type of board. If they are getting bent to hard, I just drive over them on a flat surface carefully.

I even use them for improving bridges like these

But I guess there are other boards better for that use case... anyway, as said before, for me these sandladders turned out as a good allrounder.

Pssst, beside that I am always looking after these fancy modern traction boards with all their nice colors. So I am really interested to see all your experiences with these more modern boards!

Cheers, Bjoern

 

[Mitch65]

Anyone have any intel on these Rototrax from Rotopax? Look promising for a fraction of Maxtrax.

I ordered them and should have them in a few days so I will report back. $99 for 2 boards is a pretty decent price if they are nice

 

[Wlfhntr]

I ordered them and should have them in a few days so I will report back. $99 for 2 boards is a pretty decent price if they are nice

I'll be very interested in what you think. I'm still putting a lot of equipment together as I'm fairly new to the scene. I want some type of traction board but have a hard time justifying $600 for 2 sets of maxtrax or actiontrax.

 

[Tommy9610]

I kinda like my ARB tred pros.

 

[Snowmansgarage]

I recently purchased a pair of X-BULL 3.0 recovery tracks off of eBay for $60 shipped. Being that I have no prior experience w/ any brand I chose this route mostly due to the cost & overall positive reviews from real world usage. They also come w/ a 1 year warranty but that is at there discretion to determine if they have been misused. I plan on acquiring another pair to have on hand & putting them to the test throughout this year. So being able to have 4 tracks for $120 seems to me like a great place start!

 

[Mitch65]

I'll be very interested in what you think. I'm still putting a lot of equipment together as I'm fairly new to the scene. I want some type of traction board but have a hard time justifying $600 for 2 sets of maxtrax or actiontrax.

They seem to be very well made and they stack really nice. They are thinner than the xbull eBay boards and seem like they would hold up but until I get to use them I won’t know for sure. They look almost like a direct copy off of maxtrax

 

[Oranger]

I recently purchased a pair of X-BULL 3.0 recovery tracks off of eBay for $60 shipped. Being that I have no prior experience w/ any brand I chose this route mostly due to the cost & overall positive reviews from real world usage. They also come w/ a 1 year warranty but that is at there discretion to determine if they have been misused. I plan on acquiring another pair to have on hand & putting them to the test throughout this year. So being able to have 4 tracks for $120 seems to me like a great place start!

I used some gen 2 of those this winter. They worked surprisingly well. Once I got home I ordered the gen 3s. Have yet to use those with work and now with the current events.

 

[Wlfhntr]

They seem to be very well made and they stack really nice. They are thinner than the xbull eBay boards and seem like they would hold up but until I get to use them I won’t know for sure. They look almost like a direct copy off of maxtrax

I think i will order some up. I was hoping they were @ maxtrax height when stacked and it sounds like they are close.
Hard to go wrong with the price.

 

[diabetiktaco]

I went with Maxtrax because my MAXSA boards melted. I've always learned more than once the hard way to just pony up and pay the price of R&D and the fact they've been proven.

 

[Voyager1500]

Hi, Great info. What about this brand ? https://usactiontrax.com/

 

[Wlfhntr]

Hi, Great info. What about this brand ? https://usactiontrax.com/

I looked at the actiontrax and although I do like the design (maxtrax clone) but the price is still pretty high.
Are Maxtrax and ActionTrax worth the price?
Based on Ronnie Dahl's videos I would say that Maxtrax are but since I'm on a limited budget, I have a hard time coming to terms with spending $500 - $600 on 2 sets.
Still haven't decided, but I am leaning toward the new RotoTrax based on price, I'd like to see some more info as even the website is limited on info. but for the price, I will probably order some and see.

 

[Rich_the4x4podcast]

Hi, Great info. What about this brand ? https://usactiontrax.com/

I've got two sets of these and they are amazing. 100% made in the USA and KC stands behind them. I wouldn't consider them a Maxtrax clone. The materials are proprietary to ActionTrax (If I remember right, I think he was working with DuPont on the materials) and crazy durable.

 

[Tundracamper]

I've got two sets of these and they are amazing. 100% made in the USA and KC stands behind them. I wouldn't consider them a Maxtrax clone. The materials are proprietary to ActionTrax (If I remember right, I think he was working with DuPont on the materials) and crazy durable.

I was looking to get a set a few weeks ago. Both the manufacturer web site and a dealer web site showed everything as out of stock. So, I ordered a pair of MaxTrax. They showed up in just a few days. Just ordered a second set. The MT seem very well made. I personally think USActionTrax needs to put a little more effort into their web site and adding things like mounting pins, etc.

 

[Rich_the4x4podcast]

I was looking to get a set a few weeks ago. Both the manufacturer web site and a dealer web site showed everything as out of stock. So, I ordered a pair of MaxTrax. They showed up in just a few days. Just ordered a second set. The MT seem very well made. I personally think USActionTrax needs to put a little more effort into their web site and adding things like mounting pins, etc.

COVID hit him pretty hard. He posted on his Instagram that he's finally able to start production again.

 

[Mitch65]

so I wanted to provide an update to anyone considering the new rototrax traction boards so here is my quick review.

the boards are well made but on the thin side. They stack extremely well. The mounting system is the same system as with the root pax so they mount super easy and look great on any rack! My only con would be the bottoms of the boards are completely smooth so they have a tendency to slip out from the tire once it grabs the boards. I have very limited experience with them as I tested them out only few times at a local spot to see how they would do.

Here is how I tested them: I left my truck in 2wd until I got in a situation where I lost traction and used the boards for the rear wheels to get me out. They shot out from my rear tires twice but the third try my tires grabbed them and I was good to go.

For the price and ease of mounting I give them an 8/10.

if rotopax would have just Put some traction on the bottom of the boards they would be a 10!