Maxtrax Devices

Hi Doug,
They look like a good priced alternative to a winch and I'm sure I can find a bit of space for them somewhere.....

As for the hi-lift, don't you know they double as a hand winch? You could winch your rig all the way to the nearest mechanic ;-)

Yeah, they look interesting...

Might have to look into it... (already got a trailer full of recovery gear, what's a bit more...)

I've had clients bring out those black rubber mats (the ones that roll up, made by Bushranger) and they have proven every time to be next to useless, you basicly have to be able to put the tyre on top of them to make them work.

However those orange ones look a bit better in that the tyre will 'grip' onto them and therefore (in theory at least) claw forward.

More research required methinks.

:For people in Qld: Is that the things that they were using on Queensland Weekender on Saturday with Brad Mc Carthy from Dirty Weekends. Look interesting, but putting them some would be a problem for some of us.
Cheers Bruce

I think i will get a pair of those . Im sort of a recovery gear junky . These look good too .

www.gratingco.com.au/bridging.shtml

G'day guys,

Seen these people at a 4wd show last year and the trax look good. They seem to work well and certainly a consideration if you're doing any off road work. They showed them working in sand, mud and water. They also had a storage bag and from memory it stored on/near the rear spare on the back door - nice and handy if you need them etc.

Kind regards

Never used them myself , but they and the bridging ladders in link Trooyman posted look good.

It can be an issue just what to take, so we look for multiple use items.
But for sand and slick muddy surfaces we find that the nylon mesh is quite effective as last resort, particularly in conjunction with our flat rubber floor mats.

Main advantage being that we carry those things anyway to put under say tent floor ,an so saves on carrying other things.

Like the idea of bridging a drain, couldn't do that with mesh, however noting that drain width tends to be small , this got me wondering if placing air jack bag into
it would provide a temporay bridge - I'd like to try this , perferrably with someone elses air jack though.

Robin Miller

I bought a set at one of the shows in Brissy a while back. I've had them with me a couple of times on the sand, but I haven't got bogged so haven't used them. I was towing the Adventure camper at the time without company, so I didn't want to bog on purpose just in case I couldn't get out easily, then I'd be digging & letting the tyres down etc etc. Not that I don't think they'll work, I've watched the DVD they come with a few times & the look brilliant.

Frank from Adventure campers also has a set. He hasn't used them either but came across someone on a sandy outback track bogged to the axles & had been working on getting out for a few hours. (I guess they either didn't know what they were doing, or didn't have gear to get out with) Anyways, Frank said he stopped (unlike a couple of other cars) pulled out the max trax & this guy jumped right out of the sand, no problem at all. Frank was impressed.

Cost $295 + bag $60.

Finally they fit perfectly across the back of the Patrol stacked vertically up against the doors, so they take basically no space at all.

(usual disclaimer: not involved, don't know the owners etc etc)

Hi Doug ,

I had trouble locating the specs on these things . What is the weight of two and what are their dimensions ?

Pretty pricey -$295 plus a bag at $70 plus freight $17 = $ 382 - they would want to be good .

Willie .

Hi Guys
Some feedback on this.
I took a pair of Maxtrax up to the Cape just a few weeks ago to try them out. (2 difflocked Patrols and a LR Defender Extreme)
They proved to be very practical and useful. I do suggest putting a recovery rope on them before you sink them a foot into mud though.
Saved us lots of time otherwise.
They got the Patrols back up through Gunshot (ie heading south - but not the near vertical shute) and the LR just used its winch.
The other time they saved us from winching was at the Pascoe River on the Frenchmans Track the floods had left about 30 m of very steep soft sand on the northern exit from the river.
Also used them as markers on the deep Nolan River crossing at the top of the OTL. Because they are bright orange we used them underwater just to mark the shallowest path around a stalled and flooded vehicle and trailer. (We did pull the vehicle out afterwards in case you were wondering.)
I find them worth having, certainly one of the most practical and fastest of the recovery devices I've played with.

hope this helps

Kerry W

Hi All,

I'm pretty sure that 4wd Monthly did an article on them in the latest edition.
I'll have a look when I get home from work and let you all know what they reckoned. From memory they said that you wouldn't want to move off to quickly or you'd break some of the lugs off.

Cheers Kev

I'd like to see them used to recover the vehicle in bottom photo on right hand side! Then I'd be convinced to buy a pair:-)