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Tire Traction Mat or Board... do they work for a car stuck on icy tracks?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Salamander_King, Feb 19, 2023.

  1. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    OK, I have learned a lot about snow chains and alternative traction devices on this thread.
    Winter tires saved the day

    Snow tires and chains (or alternative traction devices) are good for cars on the road and driving, but I don't think they do much good once the car is already stuck. My wife managed to get our 22 Escape PHEV stuck on a snow/ice-covered gravel driveway at a friend's house. I was not with her, and since we currently have only one car, I could not go down the road to help her. From what she described, she was trying to climb up the fairly steep gravel driveway not well plowed and very icy with deep tire tracks on it. She wanted me to call a tow truck to winch her out. But before the truck arrived, she and her friend managed to dislodge the car with bags of coarse construction sand from the icy tire track it got stuck.

    Her friend who lives on the end of this driveway drives a full-size 4x4 pickup truck and Honda CRV AWD. Our Escape PHEV is FWD but was wearing dedicated snow tires (Bridgestone Blizzak). She never had a problem on this driveway with our previous Pathfinder Hybrid AWD. Now, I am thinking that if our Escape PHEV was AWD, it may not have gotten stuck. But since it did, I am thinking of a way to avoid incidents like this. Buying a new AWD is not an option at this point. So, my question is, does a tire traction mat or board recovery tracks like those shown below work for this type of emergency? Or, a few bags of construction sand would work better?

    My feeling is that from what was described, the narrower tires of the Escape got stuck in the groove of the wider tire track created by the pickup truck and it was not the deep snow surrounding it. I just don't think in such a case, either of them would work. But I don't know for sure. I have no experience using those devices.

    Any opinions or suggestions?


    www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CCP5CXW
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    www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08YYBWT17
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    #1 Salamander_King, Feb 19, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2023
  2. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    The standard recommendation for winter driving is to haul a bag or 10 :p of kitty "glitter" or sand or gravel around with you -- or pieces of carpet -- in the event of troubles and then spread said items down to insure traction.

    I find -- and this is only my own observation -- the extra weight of the sand/glitter, what have you, over the rear tires of the vehicle is enough to avoid problems in the first place. The other option is to carry a couple of 90 pounds dogs in the rear of the rig and if their extra weight is not enough, harness them to the front tow hooks and force them to pull you free. :whistle:

    Now with the FWD you are talking about,,,,my father was an avid fisherman and often ran his RWD truck onto the beach to surf fish. He always had a pair of traction things such as you mention above with him and I remember him using them more than once to get out of soft sand, which is probably more of a pain than snow/ice. But they were just the very short ramps, not the long folding things. I don't ever remember him being stuck for long, but he did get stuck, actually pretty often, but sand, not snow and ice. For that he had the diamond back snow chains.

    Don't know. I do know when I was living in Oregon, nearly ALL of the folks that looked as if they traveled the roads less traveled -- loggers, eco-freaks, hippies, whatever, seemed to have several sand tubes in the back of their rigs year-round,

    But, just from dad's experience I would say the ramp things you are looking at are probably a good bet. Or get a couple of 90 pound dogs. That is if you want to avoid chains or cables. Diamond back chains are the best -- if you go cables Z-cables are the best but not as good as diamond back chains,
    kris
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    #2 cyberpriusII, Feb 19, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2023
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yes, correct... The problem with Prius is they are very light cars that sit slightly lower than most cars so if you follow the tire tracks of a truck or a more lifted car it's inevitable that you're gonna high center on the snow and the car isn't heavy enough to force/pack that snow down so your tires can gain traction again.

    So any traction device that fails to raise the height of the vehicle a significant amount won't work... I've been high centered in my Prius in snow and ice lots of times, even once in deep woodchips I put on my driveway. Only way out is to be pulled out by another vehicle that won't get high centered or excavating all the snow/woodchips that are holding the car up higher than tires are able to get traction from.
     
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  4. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Thanks, Kris for your advice. I concur that a few bags of sand are the cheapest and best options. When I was driving my first RWD car a long time ago in the frozen north, I always had a few bags stashed in the trunk. I just haven't had to do that ever since I switched to FWD cars. But to be honest, hauling a hundred lbs of sandbags on the rear deck all the time is going to be very annoying. We use the cargo space all the time, it is just not very practical to keep large bags laying around all the time.

    Unfortunately, a chain or cable is not going to be a solution. This is just a long private unplowed driveway problem. The road was bone dry and no snow or ice. We are not going to put a chain or cable just go down on the private driveway to see a friend. Certainly, my wife is not going to do that. And once the car is stuck, there is no way to put a chain or cable on the tire at that point.
     
  5. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    No, this is not for Prius. She would have never tried driving down this driveway if she was driving a Prius. This was with our new Ford Escape PHEV compact SUV. It has plenty of ground clearance. It just is not AWD. If this is going to be a regular problem, I may have to switch the car with AWD, like Rav4Prime sooner. I just can't do that at least for a few years at this point.
     
  6. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Def sand.

    The tracks and mats work great, but then you've got a sloppy mess to pick up/roll up and stow. The materials aren't kind to hands or carpets, and that's before they're covered with grit, ice and dog poo.

    Stone dust works wonders. Construction sand a close second.

    Also: a FWD car will back up a hill like nobody's business.
     
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  7. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Should be able to put on those zip tie type traction aids.

    Rubber matting cut into strips, or carpet pieces would be the low cost option.
    One of the linked options does come with a bag and dish gloves.
     
  8. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Yeah, this was another device I was looking at. I forgot to copy it on the OP. Her friend did try using an old car floor mat for traction but my wife told me that did not help much.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BDWRECU
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  9. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    Thinking out loud. Stash a few sand bags along that driveway in the event of a repeat....if that is the only area of concern....0

    I have been stuck and have put on chains and managed to get out. Bob mentioned some somewhat more reasonably priced chain alternatives but all of them seem somewhat pricey to me for what they are -- especially the tire socks.
    Kris
     
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  10. hkmb

    hkmb Senior Member

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    I've always found that living somewhere subtropical is a good way to avoid the problem.

    I've never seen anything like that before. It looks like it would be a lot easier to install in a hurry with cold hands than snow chains would be.
     
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  11. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    LOL. It's not our driveway. Our driveway, while it is long, is paved and I always try to be well plowed. Plus I don't have a steep slope on my driveway. So, we have never gotten stuck on our own driveway. The driveway my wife got stuck in belongs to my wife's friend and part of it may be shared by a few other neighbors. The fact that her friend had brought bags of sand to rescue her means that they are well accustomed to dealing with the situation. I may just tell my wife to rely on the sandbags they keep in their garage, or not to visit her in winter.

    But now after reviewing all the options suggested so far, I think I am going to get the Tracgrabber I posted above. The reviews are good. It is reasonably priced. And the best thing is that it is small enough that stows nicely in the under-the-deck compartment of our Escape.
     
  12. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Maybe y'all could host instead of visit? Or is an easy driveway considered showing off around there? :ROFLMAO:
     
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  13. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Yeah, she often stops by our house. They also meet regularly at a local YMCA, so she can arrange different meet-up places easily. Just, this never was a problem with our previous Pathfinder AWD and Sienna AWD before, so she thought she can venture on to her snowy/icy driveway in our new compact SUV too. I guess this is a small utility case that AWD is superior to FWD. If the Escpase PHEV had an AWD option, then I might have splurged but that was not an option.