Benefactor
Pretty much the one thing I have seen / heard first hand from friends is the issue of cracking in cold temps. I have a friend with the Tred Pro's and he said he has some small cracking on the edges. Due to the cold we get here in MN and the fact that at least half of my usage will be in winter, I'm going to go with maxtrax.I have the Maxsa boards and I've had them side by side with the Maxtrax. I do not believe in the "magical military grade nylon" marketing nonsense. Anyone who knows actual military specs, like when something says Mil Spec knows that it's been labeled that to make the general public think it's something magical. Maxtraxs wording on their magical polymers reads as MARKETING HYPERBOLE.
Now, I can't say all plastics are the same, because that's not true. But for what it's worth, the cheap models appear to be just as rugged. I've used mine a few times on fullsize 3/4 ton trucks. Still holding up just fine.
The downside is that the Maxtrax seem to be the best at stacking and have the best mounting options out there. But for what they are, they're about $150 over priced. But, at the same time, it seems to work for them because they're billing themselves as the "original" premium NAMED BRAND that "real overlanders" invest money in.
The fact of the matter is though, Maxtrax also wears out with a lot of use. So, do you want to sink $349 dollars or $90
Traveler III
7082
Yes they are extremely solid but on the expensive end, and more importantly harder to find a set of 4. Maxtrax has the win but not by much.I've seen someone using the aluminum military runway sections as trax before. Anyone have experience with that?
Advocate III
I considered buying them but saw more negative reviews than positive ones. They appear to have used a lower quality plastic or design that cracks easily. I ended up going with Maxsa.Anyone tried the Smittybilt ones?
Benefactor