Traction Boards

I had winches on both of my jeeps and SXS, they're fine but make people lazy and reckless about picking good lines or using better judgement whether they should try something or not. Boards help keep you humble. If you're going hardcore crawling you should have a winch, but 90% of the ones I walk past have never been unspooled.

Boards work amazingly well for many things including leveling a camper! And FYI, Maxtrax have a lifetime warranty.

 

The place where I took off-road training publishes a 48 booklet that describes, with pictures of actual recovery situations, about 20 different applications. The staff and their clientele are mainly Jeepers, BTW, not some kind of Toyota propagandists or ARB/Maxtrax fanboys.

 

If money isn't a concern, get Maxtrax. Action tracks sound nice, too, but I don't know much about them.

For a mid grade option, Maxsa Escaper buddies have gotten me out of a few pickles, and have held up well to weather (aside from fading).

A few others have mentioned winches, which are another fantastic recovery tool. I recommend having both.

 

Yep, I’m old school. Never used floor mats to get out of a mud pit but we used them back in the day when we where stuck in snow.

 

It pays to have a little MacGyver in you.

 

I mean no offense but your take on winches is poor. I've yet to meet anyone over the years with the people we have crawled with that act reckless or don't care about lines. For most people their rig is what they DD and the name of the game is no damage. If boards are your go to and have never let you down for what ever type of wheeling you do that's great but let's not pretend a winch is merly just a tool people have to act stupid.

 

Wheeling with people is the best option as one can use a kinetic rope or winch for recovery.
However a kinetic rope or winch doesnt help much when wheeling alone in central/southern arizona as there are few recovery points for a winch. That's when traction boards are most useful. Traction boards are honestly underrated when not having anyone around to help. It is quite hard to be stuck and unable to get out of a situation if one has a shovel and recovery boards. I would not say they are "for show"

 

How often do you plan to use them? A few times a year? Get the cheap $70 ones, e.g.

$70 BUNKER INDUST Off-Road Traction Boards, Pair Recovery Tracks Traction Mat for Jeep Mud, Sand, Snow Traction Pads-Black Emergency Tire Traction Device

https://www.amazon.com/BUNKER-INDUST-Off-Road-Pads-Black-Emergency/dp/B09JZBN8QH/ If you like to play around in deep snow and plan to get stuck 10 times a day, go with Maxtrax or Actiontrax: they're made of much thicker material than the cheap ones so they'll last longer under heavy use.

I've used mine (cheap set) a few times in the mud and slippery rocks, and around 20 times in deep snow. One of the boards developed a crack, but I'll carry them until they fail completely. I'm usually wheeling in a group. If there's a particular obstacle that poses a problem for everybody, laying down traction boards for the whole group to pass is faster than winching or kinetic rope. The trail may be too tight for a rope pull, etc.

Avoid using floormats or folding traction boards. They're better than nothing for small cars stuck in the snow on pavement (i.e. stuff that wouldn't faze a 4Runner to begin with). In an off-road situation, they'll catch and get sucked into the wheelwell.

 

Agreed. Traction boards and a shovel can get you out of a lot of jams. I am usually in the woods, and even then there's not always a tree right where you want it. In open fields, you'd have to dig a big-ass hole and bury a tire for a winch anchor point, while a set of traction boards could have you moving again in a few minutes.

 

Truer words were never spoken.
I think this younger generation has forgotten some of the skills learned by their fathers and grand fathers. I'm not that old but am surprised you don't see more going for a rugged pair of aluminum traction boards. Plastic that sits in the sun eventually degrades. You could even build your own out of wood like you see in the below expedition vehicles.

 

Haha! Nothing like having giant wooden traction boards on your roof to catch every branch, and then probably break the first time you use them.

 

You would be surprised at how much load a wooden one could hold. It's all about distribution of weight. It worked for them back then. Like anything if you know you have a taller load and see low hung tree's try taking your foot off the gas and slow down. I usually carry a chainsaw and axe when I am out for pesky branches or tree's. Never know when you might come across some extra wood for the fire.

 

I carry a saw, too. But, you're not supposed to cut live trees. If you can't fit, you back out, or live with the scratches. I don't even really like having the roof basket on sometimes.

I do agree that it pays to be creative. I think plastic recovery boards are just popular because they're durable, light, and generally easy to store. Wooden ones would likely be bulky and not as durable. And, aluminum seems like it would bend too easily.

 

I can't remember where it was. I was on an exercise in Africa Cobra Gold maybe years ago. On some of the safari vehicles and Mil Spec Land Rovers they carried rugged Aluminum traction boards. Aluminum can be strong if it's the right thickness and not just flat. You add strength to it when it's rolled or folded. If you can find some of those it would literally last more than your life time.

 

Great point. I’m actually surprised none are available. Probably because they would be cost prohibitive.

Injection molded plastic is much cheaper. Today the law of the land is pay more get less.

 

https://artemisoverland.com/products/aluminum-sand-ladder-16-x-60-pair

 

Technology has improved a lot since then. That's why your 4Runner has many durable plastic bits on the outside while that Range Rover doesn't. Tacomas have an entire bed made from SMC composite; they seem to be holding up after 19 years and 3.6 million sold.

Those large planks are useful for bridging, but don't offer much traction. You can still find them widely available for sale, as trailer ramps Meanwhile the plastic traction boards have large lugs molded into them to interface with tire treads for grip. They're also lighter and easier to store.

Which one do you think offers more grip?

 

It's sad those Aluminum ones look rather cheap and slick for traction. I can see your point the nubs on the plastic would grant better grip. There is your million dollar business idea. Make better ones for the civilian market.

 

Those aren’t boards, they’re ladders.

 

Wooden structures can have tremendous strength. Carefully designed with several factors in mind, MOE and MOR are two primary wood characteristics that structural architects use in calculating for bending, compression and torsional loads. In the case of the ‘ladder’ boards in the image posted, the relatively short span and the cross sectional area of the main beams are able to handle the weight of the vehicle…with little bending visible. So hardwoods (they obviously have a significantly greater MOE and MOR than a soft wood like pine for example) are the best choice for use in something like this. But it comes at a drawback in the form of weight…I’ll wager that those ladders weight at least 50 lbs each! I like my 8lb maxxs!

 

They aren't actually ladders although they do look like it. Take a closer look at the spacing between the rungs. They were built from wood for that exact purpose of traction, creek crossing etc in the jungles of South America. The British did a few attempts at that. In the 50s another in the 70s maybe. I remember reading about it later in life. All the crazy over landing adventures of your favorite you-tubers have all been attempted before by the previous generations. Nothing is new anymore. Just new to you.

Here Endeth the history lesson for the day.

 

Sorry I forgot my sarcasm emoji.

 

Funny you should say that. I used some spare 2x12 lumber to save my 4runner from having a permanent home in a bog lol. I turned those same boards into ramps.

Those are pretty awesome. And completely necessary when trying to travel where no vehicle has traveled before. Isn’t that a pic of the expedition that tried crossing the Darien gap?


It’s basically like having one of those military self-propelled bridge things

Those are pretty cool, I dig the old school vibe on those. And if I didn’t already pay out the nose for action tracks, I would find it hard to resist buying a set of those.

I agree that they may not provide enough traction though. I also wonder how straight they stay after use. It would suck not being able to stack them flat on the roof after using them.