TMW
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Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Recovery Boards Comparison
A friend sent this to me. Interesting
http://www.4x4australia.com.au/gear/recovery/1605/recovery-b...
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David K
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Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Silly me, I just let more air out of my tires! 
(thanks Tom... I do enjoy the Aussie 4WD videos... neat to see how much off roading they do, down under!)
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4x4abc
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if you have the wrong size tires on your 4x4, you deserve those gay boards (just referring to the color guys).
But they make the future overlander FEEL safe. So they are good business.
Magazines are about business and advertising.
Imagine army vehicles advancing in 4 foot increments. Or any other professional vehicle advancing in such increments.
They don't They have a proper tire size.
Remember this: all 4x4's have a tire size that is best for pavement and low gas consumption with the smallest footprint possible for minimum rolling
resistance. None come with tires optimized for maximum weight (and Baja travelers know about maximum weight) none come with tires optimized for
off-road.
The volume of air stays in direct relation to the weight of the vehicle. More weight, more volume needed.
And then of course comes the art of playing with your tire pressure to get safest from A to B. Meaning lower pressure to avoid flats, lower pressure
to avoid getting stuck.
Harald Pietschmann
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Terry28
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So just what color is "gay"??
Mexico!! Where two can live as cheaply as one.....but it costs twice as much.....
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TMW
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In the late 80s I was down to a Baja 500 or 1000 race and saw a class 8 1948 Ford truck in contingency. They had a rolled up fire hose on each side of
the rear. When I asked about it one of the guys said it was if they got stuck they would unroll it out and put under the wheels. Since it was attached
to the truck they could keep moving until on solid ground.
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StuckSucks
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Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc  | | if you have the wrong size tires on your 4x4, you deserve those gay boards (just referring to the color guys). |
You probably haven't noticed, but virtually all off road race cars carry MaxTrax or a similar product these days. But that's probably due to air
pressure or tire issues, no?
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mtgoat666
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Harry,
You are full of chit!
| Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc | if you have the wrong size tires on your 4x4, you deserve those gay boards (just referring to the color guys).
But they make the future overlander FEEL safe. So they are good business.
Magazines are about business and advertising.
Imagine army vehicles advancing in 4 foot increments. Or any other professional vehicle advancing in such increments.
They don't They have a proper tire size.
Remember this: all 4x4's have a tire size that is best for pavement and low gas consumption with the smallest footprint possible for minimum rolling
resistance. None come with tires optimized for maximum weight (and Baja travelers know about maximum weight) none come with tires optimized for
off-road.
The volume of air stays in direct relation to the weight of the vehicle. More weight, more volume needed.
And then of course comes the art of playing with your tire pressure to get safest from A to B. Meaning lower pressure to avoid flats, lower pressure
to avoid getting stuck. |
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StuckSucks
Super Nomad
Posts: 2305
Registered: 10-17-2013
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Cheap insurance, if you ask me.
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4x4abc
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Location: La Paz, BCS
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| Quote: Originally posted by StuckSucks | | Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc | | if you have the wrong size tires on your 4x4, you deserve those gay boards (just referring to the color guys). |
You probably haven't noticed, but virtually all off road race cars carry MaxTrax or a similar product these days. But that's probably due to air
pressure or tire issues, no?
|
makes sense for race trucks - they need quick solutions (hey, it's a race!)
airing down takes much too long to get unstuck
and then air up again (because race trucks run full pressure for tire protection at full speed) takes even longer
my initial comments were intended for the crowd that was addressed in the Australian test
Harald Pietschmann
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
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OCEANUS
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Location: Dana Point; L.A. Bay
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I have two sets of these that we use on our school trips to Las Animas. Since Odile, the flood damage makes it necessary for 2WD to drive 0.5-1 mile
long sections up a soft sand wash. When you have a caravan of 15-20 vehicles, these max traxx boards allow us to concentrate help in the areas of the
wash that are more prone for vehicles getting stuck, and move cars through more efficiently. Simply airing down the tires has not worked by itself -
to really get the tires to "bite" you have to drop the pressure so low that you run the risk of losing the bead on the rim....then what? Each year I
have a new crew of drivers (parent volunteers), so these boards have been the go to solution to help people with little to no experience in soft sand
conditions.
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VegasNick
Junior Nomad
Posts: 75
Registered: 4-14-2015
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| Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc | if you have the wrong size tires on your 4x4, you deserve those gay boards (just referring to the color guys).
But they make the future overlander FEEL safe. So they are good business.
Magazines are about business and advertising.
Imagine army vehicles advancing in 4 foot increments. Or any other professional vehicle advancing in such increments.
They don't They have a proper tire size.
Remember this: all 4x4's have a tire size that is best for pavement and low gas consumption with the smallest footprint possible for minimum rolling
resistance. None come with tires optimized for maximum weight (and Baja travelers know about maximum weight) none come with tires optimized for
off-road.
The volume of air stays in direct relation to the weight of the vehicle. More weight, more volume needed.
And then of course comes the art of playing with your tire pressure to get safest from A to B. Meaning lower pressure to avoid flats, lower pressure
to avoid getting stuck. |
Hey man, I hate to burst your bubble, but the US Military is one of the largest purchasers of Maxtrax in the world. (I am a US dealer for them) I saw
the demos they did with the product. I even let them test the Maxtrax on a stuck in the mud airliner that has slid off of a taxiway in Wichita.
I get your air pressure discussion, but these things do have their uses.
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4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4163
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
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Mood: happy - always
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there is no doubt that there is use for emergency tools. And they are just that - for emergencies.
Soft sand in Baja is not an emergency. It's part of every day travel. And if your basic equipment (4x4 and most notably tires) is up to par, there is
almost never an emergency.
I have been stuck in soft Baja stuff 3 times in 30 years. All 3 times when my tires were too small.
To make it more clear - proper equipment and smart use of it are to prevent bad situations.
MaxTrax and other items are tools to fix your situation after you failed to prevent it.
My post was not intended to belittle those tools.
An ounce of prevention.....
Years ago the government contracted me to develop a recovery training.
With the same philosophy I was able to convince them to have a training developed that has a 3/4 focus on better equipment, smarter driving to prevent
recoveries. Since stuck happens to all of us, we did 1/3 of the training for recovery techniques.
Harald Pietschmann
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64476
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc | there is no doubt that there is use for emergency tools. And they are just that - for emergencies.
Soft sand in Baja is not an emergency. It's part of every day travel. And if your basic equipment (4x4 and most notably tires) is up to par, there is
almost never an emergency.
I have been stuck in soft Baja stuff 3 times in 30 years. All 3 times when my tires were too small.
To make it more clear - proper equipment and smart use of it are to prevent bad situations.
MaxTrax and other items are tools to fix your situation after you failed to prevent it.
My post was not intended to belittle those tools.
An ounce of prevention.....
Years ago the government contracted me to develop a recovery training.
With the same philosophy I was able to convince them to have a training developed that has a 3/4 focus on better equipment, smarter driving to prevent
recoveries. Since stuck happens to all of us, we did 1/3 of the training for recovery techniques. |
Perfect reply!
I too have been stuck only a few times... and in all situations, I usually got myself out by letting more air out of the tires! I have never been
pulled out of a stuck by another vehicle. Of course, I am usually the only vehicle in sight! I also have never owned a winch. The pull strap I have in
my truck is always used to pull someone else out or up.
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