Maxtrax MK II vs Tred Pro

Maxtrax used to have a Lifetime warranty ........ don't know if they still do. I have Maxtrax, but haven't ever had to use them !!!

Cheers
Jim

I bought a cheaper brand on an ebay auction for $100 maybe 8 yrs ago called X-Bull. Went down to the beach to try them under my 3t Patrol they worked well and didn't break under the weight. That's the only time I have used them there been sitting in the canopy just in case. Spent the money I saved on some more camping gear back then.
Also at the I was looking at Muputrax but didn't get them they are very versatile if you check them out.

I have MaxTrax and have only used them once. We put one on top of another and made a bridge over a hole to get the car through a gully. This worked great but the Trax were noticeably bent afterwards so I left them in the sun on the driveway and they returned to straight.
They sometimes get buried and can easily be forgotten so I've tied a 1 mtr length of strong, royal blue ribbon to each one. The blue easily stands out against sand or mud and can also be used to pull the Trax out of the mud or sand.
There are two complimentary accessories that you may be interested in.
1. If you have a rear mounted spare wheel, you can buy a steel frame that comes with straps that allow you to store the Trax vertically on the spare wheel.
2. You can buy links that join the Trax together longitudinally. Or you can use short pieces of chain with small dee shackles.

My first bit of recovery gear was a set of aldi recovery tracks. Lasted as long as any named brand and still going strong, just like my snatch strap and hi lift jack, 12 years and counting. Never used them, not even sure where they are now.
The one bit of gear I have used a fair bit is my Thuraya sat phone and even that is useless at the moment.

I've had both the cheaper ones and the Maxtracks. I do a lot of paddock work and get bogged often.

The Maxtracks are made of better plastic type material and stand up to hard work better, I found the cheaper ones crack and become useless.

Don't spin your tires on them or you will burn off the plastic lugs over time. I have replaced some of the lugs with 6mm high tensile bolts, nylock nuts and 6mm flat plate both sides of the board. This works really well.

Buy when on special at BCF or other outlets.
Lloyd Mac

I have Maxtrax and have used them numerous times (mainly to help other travellers who are stuck!!). They are the best recovery option, and I wouldn't be without them - don't know about the other brands as have never used them

Hi Kratos

Just adding to the above. My understanding is that Maxtrax were invented by Paul Lang(?), a Queenslander. All the others are cheaper copies marketed by people/companies that have little to no ability to invent or develop a product of their own. They simply steal other good ideas and sometimes alter them a bit and get them made for them.
Not saying we should never buy such products however:
1. They would rarely be better quality than the original.
2. There is the moral issue.
3. If we all buy these cheaper knockoffs all the time then there will have to come a time when there is no incentive for anyone to develop a new product from scratch. We then all loose out because no new products are being developed.
This last point sort of comes back to our government to offer some form of protection to the developer of the idea. Not sure that patenting the idea is totally the answer when some countries simply ignore them. I am thinking more of import restrictions on the copies or maybe some sort of import tariff added to copies of products that are developed and better still produced in Australia.
A very complex issue for sure.
For the records, I have been carting Maxtrax around for about ten years now but have never used them so can't comment on how good they work. They did come with fluro orange straps that make them easier to find and retrieve.
Roy G
Toowoomba

Hi Kratos

Just my 2 cents.

Have been using MaxTrax for a very long time, when they first hit the mark when they were the Mk1

Have used in sand and mud and without them….well I would hate to say.

With a vehicle change, I want to stack 2 sets on top of each other, so bit the bullet and purchased 2 sets of the Mk2 when they were at a massive discount from Snowys camping…was around $100 off each set..

Even though you have them, a long handle shovel is still important to carry to get the rear diff free, as well as straps on each to find them after they get buried.


If you check some reviews on YouTube, there is still no substitute for the original.

As. We travel mostly solo, they are one item we would never be without.

Thanks all for your time...

I did order a Tred Pro in Red, simply because I was getting better price at the time.
I think maxtrax have an edge... something doesnt become this popular without any reason.

I will see if my seller takes return without much hassle. might do that and get max's.

I’m late into this discussion, but FWIW I can recall agonising over spending money on what seemed to me to me to be some of the most expensive pieces of plastic I had ever seen. In the end I decided to wait for a ‘special’ to get some, thinking that Maxtrax must be more than just pieces of plastic. Eventually I not only got them on a special from Supercheap Auto via ebay, but ebay also had a discount code applied to them too & I think I got them for $170. Still expensive plastic but better than $300!

I have often thought two pairs might be good, but the extra weight & cost put me off.

I have used them twice in anger, both times in soft sand, & both times they did exactly what they are advertised to do.

When we sold our Patrol & Tvan they were one piece of equipment which didn’t go with the vehicle.

Whether they are any better than the alternatives I couldn’t say, but for those who must mount them on the exterior of their vehicle, I’d suggest that perhaps they are a little more desirable, especially the highly visible bright orange versions ……. I have known of several occasions when Maxtrax have been stolen off a vehicle, despite padlocked mounts, but have never heard of the ‘lesser’ copies being stolen ….. but perhaps with the cost of Treds having risen considerably since they were introduced maybe they too are now targeted by thieves?? Ours were always carried inside.

We’ll likely carry our single pair of bright orange Maxtrax in our OKA if we have space, but it came with 8 gritted/textured fibreglass recovery boards which whilst weighing considerably more than a pair of Maxtrax, take up a similar amount of storage space. I doubt however that they will have quite the same effectiveness in the ‘climbing up & out’ as the Maxtrax do, (which I think is the major design advantage of this type of recovery board).

I have a set of these.
Bought the material at a recycle shop and cut it to size with a friction saw.
They are heavier than the plastic fantastics, but are usable for bridging a heavy vehicle which the plastics can not achieve.
I have never carried them. I find that letting the air out can get us unbogged and they would be just more weight that I don't need.
There is 1.5T on this piece.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome