Those are Maxtraxx. Absolutely indispensable as a traction aid in my opinion and generally much more useful than a winch for recovery. Generally... But of course there are situations where each is better. Regardless, I can't say enough good things about mine and have read nothing but terrible reviews about the cheaper knockoffs (e.g. Treds, etc).

 

Man now I HAVE to have those. Yep. Definitely need em.

 

Just looked em up and only twenty bucks?? Man I can order those NOW!

 

No... definitely not! $20 x 17 or so. They are certainly not cheap, but I have used mine over rocks, in mud, on ice, and in deep snow and never had an issue. It seems like people break the cheapie imitation MaxTraxxs constantly. At about 1/3-1/2 the price, you might be tempted for the cheapies, but is it really worth it if they break on your first use? :P

The biggest thing you have to worry about is wheel spin. Try to minimize wheel spin with them any time you use them because spinning a tire can melt the little nubs. Just use gentle, controlled throttle inputs (i.e. unlike a Jeep driver ) and make sure you get them as far under the wheels as you can so that the wheels grab.

EDIT: HAHAHA! You got me curious and I did a search on them. I see the $20 price, but it looks like those are for a model/RC car! I didn't even know they made Maxtraxx in miniature version for remote control cars.

 

Ah ha now I see. Went to their website and they're 300. Definitely on my list unless I decide to build some. And I just had a memory of a friend who carried a cheap version around with him last year. Before he called me to come pull him out, he had already used them and ruined them without even moving. So I get how the cheap ones can suck. Maxtrax is on my list of goodies. I think a rack will be first though.

 

Yes, there are 4 orange MaxTrax in a custom carrier on the back of the white RRC. My buddy Pedram built the carrier; he also did my whole rear bumper. I'm planning to mimic that on my own rig I think since I snapped one of my Traction Jacks and I don't like having to climb up on the roof to get them down. Less convenience means less likely to use them.

As for what happens when you end up in a hole like that, it sort of depends on thy guy. This was a NCLR club run and we went in expecting to just push as far as we could. We do this run every year and most years we don't make it to the top - this year was no exception. Although that white RRC is a pretty nice truck it's his trail rig so he wasn't upset. Had he been worried he wouldn't have tried the obstacle in the first place. In some photos you can see him smiling while sitting sideways. Had he been driving his wife's nice shiny LR4 that might have been a different situation. As for me, so long as I don't do any body damage to my LR3 I'm pretty much OK. I break things, but hey, it's a trail rig, not my daily driver. Nobody was at risk (this was all crawling speed stuff), nobody got hurt, there was plenty of help around to get unstuck, and the damage was superficial and minimal. So the attitude is more of a big party and getting stuck is half the fun.

It's all about matching the people to the trail. I wouldn't take somebody in a new RR down that trail and expect them to tackle an obstacle like that - too much to loose. But so long as you know what you're getting into and are mentally prepared for it it's a fun way to spend a day with your buddies even if you don't move very far.

If you're even remotely close to NorCal you're welcome to join us for a trip. We do everything from simple day-trips to local off-road parks to week-long trips through the mountains. Our next small run is our MORG (monthly off-road gathering) on the first Saturday of each month - this month at Frank Rains OHV park and our next big trip is a week in Baja in May.

 

That's the answer I expected.
I'm far from California in central Oklahoma. I don't even know if there are clubs here yet but am going to check. I could use a new activity like this. And I'm going to be doing easy trails with this LR as it's my wife's during the week and mine on the weekends. My Avalanche is great, but that LR is something to fall in love with. I've already been searching for a hard core trail blazing discovery.

 

This comment is so funny because it was exactly my comment 2.5 years ago when I made my purchase. Then the sickness set in. Not only did it become my car on the weekdays AND weekends, but all of my money started to be poured into the black pit that is my LR3. "But honey, we NEED sliders so that your parents can use them as steps to get in to and out of the car easier." "Sweetie, we have to get the roof rack because if we take the kids and the dog somewhere for the weekend, there's no room for the luggage." "Babe, we need to get a fridge for the car so that we can keep stuff cold on the way back from Costco!" Well, you get the idea.

 

Ha! You have me laughing now too because all of those things are what I have been practicing in my head to say!

 

I guess either my Hakkas and MT/Rs are that much better than D-Tracs, STT Pros or whatever other rubber y'all or running....or I just don't know what "real" snow looks like.

I'm not saying the LR3's girth hasn't ever got me stuck on a snow run....just that I seem to do as well as anyone else when we're out. ...usually in snow that is ~20" deep from what I can tell.