Having taken our new pride & joy on its first outing last week I managed to park up on some wet grass.......... Yep, got stuck, wheels spinning but going nowhere even at minimum revs in highest possible gear. Rocking to and fro from forward to reverse helped temporarily, but as we were on a slight slope it wasnt enough to build momentum to get us over a bit of a hump and off. This is not something I ever had a problem with in my previous camper (VW T4) so I wasn't expecting trouble as the ground wasn't particularly soft, just that it had rained on the grass, as it often does! Anyway we were given a helping hand (literally!) by a couple of passers by to put us back on track, but now I'm wondering what - if anything - people take to shove under the wheels to give a bit of added traction? I'm thinking of getting some yellow "grip tracks" - like this - does anyone know from experience if they're any help?.
Hi Sibrig,
Get hold of an old bread tray, cut the cross pieces out of the bottom with a jigsaw and then cut in half. Place under wheels when parking and you will have enough traction to get under way.
Malc
We have some fiamma yellow track grip as shown in your post and they have been invaluable especially over this summer!! They are available very cheaply I think we paid £6 for a pair with their own waterproof bag, which is also invaluable, because you can imagine how muddy they get. Obviously they are easy to run under the tap to clean if there is one available. Just a word of warning if you don`t get traction with them straight away, stand back as they shoot out from under your tyres at high speed(which can be quite comical if you are out of the way!!!!
We have the yellow grip tracks and have found them to be useless. We now carry 4 doormats - the ones that are quite stiff ahd have a diamond mesh pattern. We bought them from Wilkos for about £1.99 each. When parking on grass we park the drive wheels on two of them. The theory is that if garss becomes wet we can put the othe two infront of the ones under the wheels and drive onto them, we will then take the two that have now been realeased and place them infront of the wheels and so move slowly forward. I know this is a long slow process but better than no movement at all.
When we are pitched and don't need them we lay them outside the van door as mats.
Jean
------------- Jean
Sometimes a little rain must fall before you reach a rainbow.
The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you finish the work.
I would second Jeans comments the yellow tracks things are useless, they don't grip the ground and end up under your van. We also use a couple of cheap mesh doormats. The important thing is you need to park on them when you arrive, not try and use them in the morning when you can't grip, it's too late then.
it seems to be the front wheel drive thing nowadays ,we used to have an old rear wheel drive autotrail we never got stuck but modern campers bogged down in identical conditions we left without a rut they couldnt leave till they got out of it
Thanks folks, looks like for belts-and-braces I should buy some doormats and a pair of the yellow things too!
Seems like there's a huge gap in the market here I think I'll have to invent a simple roll-out roll-up track a bit like a short stair carpet with built-in pegs, or at least eyelets that you could hammer tent pegs through, to hold it down while you drive over it. Dragons Den here I come!
Put an advert in your local paper, Cheap Accommodation Available, I bet you could fit a couple of Polish guys in the gas locker, get them out to push when needed.
I think you can buy a roll out thing that is made for the job but believe it is not cheap. I would leave buying the yellow things as they are not cheap and useless. Just buy the doormats - they're about 1 cm thick and in fairly solid rubber type material, mine have a diamond pattern. The ones below look similar