Maxtrax vs Knock-Off Recovery Tracks (Ebay X Bull)

Recovery tracks, recovery ladders, call them what you want, but they are hands down the easiest way to get yourself out when your 4x4 is bogged in soft sand.
In this video I compare and test Maxtrax and X Bull recovery tracks while out 4wding. At the time of filming they were available from Ebay for $76.90 delivered. But how do they stack up next to $300 Maxtrax, lets find out...

[davezombie]

Dont know if you are trying to sell max trax .. but this video just sold me a pair of the other more reasonably priced ones...thanks

[bbabc]

Great to have a presenter who doesn’t take himself too seriously. A good fun educational comparison.

[bulletz]

I think you guys might just be some of the happiest people I've seen on the internet.

[jaywest]

Video Originally meant to be sponsored by maxtrax. Accidentally ended up as a sales tool for x-bull

[kendallrussell]

Used 3/4 plywood for twenty years, hard to beat. Stack flat, flex a bit but don't break, make a great platform for the high-lift jack in soft or muddy conditions. You can burn them in an emergency. They don't slip in sand at all, in mud not as good but usually gets the trick done. A $45 (USD) sheet of ply wood will make you a set of four. Mine double as a camp table with a small light weight folding frame I made. Mine are longer 4' X 12" but could be made shorter.

[PaulMotu]

I own 4 x MaxxTrax. This review is interesting and I can honestly say that if I didn’t own my brand named ones, that I’d be happy to have the knock offs. For sand use which is 80% of my off-roading (as muddy hill climbs etc are not what I got my 200 series for) these would do the job. For the cost - these knock offs would be more than enough.

Low Tyre pressures will keep you out of trouble 90% of the time. For those few occasions where you do get bogged (after softening down) then you just need some firm ground to get your momentum going again. After dropping pressures further AND getting going on some tractable ground (insert your choice here) you should be good. The thing is, at say $80.00 you can definitely do this using these as your review shows. Keep them out of the sun (they came with a bag when you unpacked them) so you could keep them in your vehicle. I could easily see them lasting 5 years of casual (say every couple of months you are dumb enough to get bogged) - most guys aren’t and don’t - but assuming you did these would definitely do the job AND at that price point so what if you had to replace them after 3 years of a bit harder use. That’s 9 years of equivalent use to match the same cost - which in all honesty I would be pretty sure very few guys out there would be doing non stop 4WD’g for 9 years simply because life gets in the way. Young guys get married and start families so the off-roading drops down considerably or having the wife and kids In the car / 4WD with you mean you’re going to avoid getting bogged all the time - and I can assure you, when you get older getting bogged with just you and your aging back, knees, hips and wife in the car with you - you’re wanting to avoid the extra hard labour of digging yourself out of a bogged beach situation.

Recently I got bogged on a soft camp spot (forgot to re-engage centre diff lock when I was leaving a week later) WITH my 3.5T Off-road caravan hooked up. Softening up and having firm traction got me out (NB Even with my van still hooked up I only used 2 of my 4 MaxxTraxx’s to get me out). The name isn’t the essential item. It’s the firm ground facet. Either of these two products would have met my needs. The only difference is I paid circa $600 but I am 100% confident that the $80 pair would have achieved the same result. For casual use I can lend my honest recommendation to the cheaper brand FOR MY STYLE OF USE viz primarily beach sand use (fishing trips). With the genuine aim of not wanting to get bogged ie soften your tyres (say 16-18psi), read the beach as you travel along it (and use a bit more pedal if you see it softening up), trust the existing track as the ground would be more compressed and stop as soon as you feel your vehicle is not making forward momentum, soften up your tyres some more (12-14psi should really see you get off almost every beach), add some traction and get going and shoot for good momentum ASAP and you’ll be good.

Make the missus a nice cold drink because she’s just carried your recovery tracks from that section of soft sand you just got out of - so you kind of owe her - and you’ll all be happy! BTW sound really appreciative and acknowledge her hard work in the heat, sand and flies and hide the fact you were giggling like that 20yo you used to be when it was one of your mates doing the chore - watching her in your rear view mirror as the aircon blew all over you and kept you cool while you waited for her to drag her sorry ass back to the car! (That’s my “How to stay married for 30+ years tip #23”).

Oh ... Nice review Michael!

[lengthOFpole]

You could by 4 sets of the cheapo ones per set of branded though. And having more sets when you go to bridge something you could stack them together and make it more rigid.

[kevinchristofora]

2 years and 10k likes later, your video is still giving the gifts for the common folk here. Thanks for what you do, keep having fun!

[waylongreger]

“that is a pretty significant gully. let’s give a whirl.” by far the most Australian thing i have ever hear

[Raevenswood]

Great stuff. For 76$ I’ll break them and replace them 4 times and still spend less than a pair of maxxtrax

[maxfoley]

don't know why I'm here but I watched the full vid. Entertaining!

[mikewasowski]

You are probably the only vid on YouTube to do that comparo. I’m so glad it’s positive as I bought 4 x-bulls a little while back and always wondered. I’m yet to bloody use them. If the review went the other way, I’d have to thumbs down ya! Hahahaha. Tell ya what, casual 4wders see this and maxtrax are gonna lose sales. Ain’t nothing wrong with competition, especially if it drops prices or spawns new products.

[frogbear]

fun little, helpful tip. if you tie a long cord to them, and tie that cord to your rear bumper, you can drag them behind you after you get out to safety, without having to go all the way back, or risk getting stuck again by stopping to recover them. good video though"

[MrUpsidedowngaming]

What I am seeing dollar for dollar, unless your using track boards often heavily - the xbulls are a great option for the weekend warrior.

[mountainconstructions]

Any traction aid is better than no traction aid is what i've learnt here

[ngavlogs]

When you try to talk shit about a knock off and the knock off ends up being better😂

[TheKPDX]

Thanks for the comparison test! No doubt MaxTrax are King, especially for stacking & handle comfort but in the U.S. you can get the X-Bulls for as little as $64 which makes it tough to spend nearly 5x as much for almost the same thing. Even if they degrade over time faster you can replace them 4 times over for the same cost.

[kerynbell]

i have had a set of x bulls for about 5 years and have recovered my Ute countless times as well as tractors, large trucks and lots of other peoples cars and 4x4s i have worn a few teeth off on a couple. the only mistake i made was that i bought pale sand colored ones which are very hard to find when they get buried.

[prvg]

Just ordered the X-bull as my very first ever recovery track for $74 in Amazon. This was a really helpful video. Thank you

[ayoitsyayo]

He’s been stuck on that beach for 6 years somebody send him some gd help