How many traction boards to buy? 2 or 4?

Was looking at picking up a pair of MaxTrax MK2 for $300. Then I wondered if I really should be buying two pairs. I plan to do very mild off-roading though well defined forest trails. Don't plan on doing anything risky. These are for a potential oh shit moment.

Two pairs of Maxtrax is pricey at $600...I see in another thread that I could buy two pairs of Tred 1100s for less than one pair of Maxtrax, but also watched some videos of the Treds breaking...what would you do?

 

Zero.

Get a winch.

 

How are your tires? Might be a wiser investment for that money. You can’t forget them at home.

 

Stock OR tires

 

Only two. But make sure you buy a shovel as well.

 

Unless you are going to very sandy remote areas solo, probably not needed. For that price, you can and should get a portable compressor so you can air down and back up again. And get a shovel, a decent one, not a little folding one.

 

but for a sandy remote area there likely won't be something to hook on. if you're alone on the beach or something traction boards are the deal. different tools for different times. can't comment on one or two pairs tho. I've never been so stuck i couldn't MT my way out of the sand.

 

It would be mud if I got stuck

 

You can bury your spare with the winch hooked to it in sand.

 

Start with two, if you find yourself getting stuck and needing 4 you can always get more..
I’ve used my 2 to help people out of snow so far.

 

4 pairs

 

4, if you can. Or get 2 and then save up so it doesn’t hurt as much at once.

People have to remember traction boards are compliment to winches, not replacements.

 

I honestly dont see myself using them a lot so I got x-bull traction mats from Amazon. They are a lot cheaper and have decent reviews. I also always have a shovel, a winch, straps, and an off roading buddy.

 

I’m a Florida boy so I know about getting stuck in sugar sand. 2 will usually get you out so start with that. Later on when you have a few extra bucks get the second pair. But until then I imagine there are other things you need/want.

Stick with MaxTrax. Yes they are expensive but the copycats aren’t as good. Chinese knock off grills are fine; recovery gear is not where you skimp.

 

I purposely got stuck at the beach....just to test out the x-bulls recovery boards from Amazon. I would never pay for the price of maxtrax unless it was free. Plastic is plastic.
https://youtu.be/18Qw2uKuaeU

 

Just looked on Amazon now. I got mine for like 100ish. They’re prices have dropped considerably. Blue and green are 70 while the Orange one is 93. It’s a damn good deal....

 

Everyone has to make choices based on income level vs needs/wants. I am fortunate to be able to afford some nice things.

That being said plastic is not plastic no more than metal is metal. Polymers vary wildly in both tensile strength and ductility. Are MaxTrax overpriced? Absolutely. So are Snap-on tools but I own a few of those too and have no doubt they are better but you are correct the principle of diminishing returns certainly comes into play.

 

Plastic is not plastic. I have broken a ton of TREDs and haven’t broken any Maxtrax since switching over. The maxtrax have a lot more flex built into the material which is what makes the biggest difference in my opinion.

 

Traction boards can also help in the snow. Winter is coming after all.

 

A few years ago I bought 4 TREDs, this was before the redesign. I have them on my truck at all times cause you never know. I did as much research as I could and narrowed it down to either 2 Maxtrax or 4 TREDs. I went with the 4 TREDs because even if they break, I'll have one good shot at all 4 wheels in a last ditch effort to get unstuck. It's possible that if you're badly stuck in sand, mud or snow that having 4 boards will give you a better chance of getting out than 2.