Maxtrax has stepped outside their recovery board roots and is now striving to become a world leader in innovative recovery products of all types. They are showing off two new products this week at the annual SEMA Show; the Maxtrax THI and Maxtrax Ring. They however haven’t forgotten their core traction board product range, with the new Maxtrax Xtreme, Mini and Jax Base all hitting the market in very early 2019.
“We’re on a mission to simplify and add safety in all four-wheel drive recovery scenarios.” Said Brad McCarthy (Maxtrax Owner and Inventor)
Maxtrax THI
MSRP: $100 (Available First Quarter 2019)
Color Options: Orange, Black
Material: 6061 T6 Aluminum
Load Rating: 20,943 lbs (Safe Working Load Limit)
The Maxtrax THI was developed because; “We kept seeing poor quality metal bow shackles being used, which are dangerous when they fail, and we wanted to create a safer solution before people were hurt” – Brad McCarthy. THI stands for ‘Tow Hitch Insert.’ The THI is a hitch receiver recovery point specially designed for use with soft shackles.
What sets the Maxtrax THI apart from other hitch mounted recovery points is that it is specifically optimized to work with soft shackles. It can operate with pulls from all angles, without being rotated, and has a large radius opening to evenly distribute high loads. A benefit to this is that the smooth large radius greatly reduces wear-and-tear on soft shackles.
The one downside of the Maxtrax THI is that it won’t work with metal bow shackles. Many times comparable hitch mounted recovery points can accommodate both metal and soft shackles. The difference being that the Maxtrax THI works perfectly with the safer soft shackles, and the competitors products usually don’t work with soft shackles easily and can be pretty abusive to them as well.
Maxtrax Ring
Maxtrax will also be unveiling a new recovery ‘Ring’ in the coming days. It is basically a new take on the no moving part single piece snatch block/pulley. It will hit the market in the first quarter of 2019 and retail for $120.
New Maxtrax Traction Boards Update
Announced last year the Xtreme, Mini and Jax Base are finally going to be available to consumers in very early 2019. The Xtreme will go for $429, the Mini for $199 and a single Jax Base for $119.
I for one can’t wait to get my hands on the Maxtrax Xtreme, and put them to the real world test. I swear by my MKII Maxtrax, as I’ve personally used them to quickly and easily get myself and others unstuck from snow, mud, sand and loose rocks many times.
