Most of us own trucks because we don’t like being told we cannot do something. If we want to go up to the mountains to ski, we put it into 4wd, put the chains on and away we go. If we want to play in the mud, we stick it into 4wd, roll up the windows and have some fun. But with the recent storm systems we have had across the nation, many of us have been stuck in our houses not able to get out because of the large amounts of snow and ice on the roadways.
Recently in Texas for example, the entire Dallas Fort Worth area was pretty much shut down for 4 days due to icy conditions. So, what can you do about it? Well, when we came across this very cool video from Ad Boivin, we knew exactly what we can do. Their new Track N Go system is the answer for all things traction related.
According to the company, this is the world’s first wheel-driven track system. It appears to work incredibly well from the video and we would love to try it out. Unfortunately, there is no way we could convince anyone that we are actually “testing” the product because it would just be playing in the snow.
The system is pretty universal. It only requires the following:
4 x 4 vehicles (all pickup trucks and some other vehicles that meet the following requirements)
- Automatic transmission with LO and HI modes
- Leaf spring rear suspension
- Differential automatic lock on rear axle
- Winter tires with regular soft compound (all seasons tires and mud tires works but not recommended)
- Important: Use tires without studs
- Outside tire diameter required: 31 to 35 inches (780 to 875 mm)
- Tire width: up to 13 inches (330 mm)
- No running board allowed on the vehicle
- Engine: V-8 with 5 liters and up for full sized pickup truck and V6 for mid-sized pickup truck
These systems are capable of carrying 12,500 lbs (GVW) and each of them weigh in at 375lbs. This is thanks to their mostly aluminum construction. These tracks are made to handle speeds up to 40 mph in the snow. From looking at the video, the increased traction area (1,680 sq. in. to 3,840 sq. in.) will really help to keep the vehicles incredibly stable and under control. Even deep snow doesn’t seem to hinder the vehicles performance.
Unfortunately, good things that are well engineered aren’t usually cheap. These will set you back 25 grand for a set. But if you ask us, that isn’t a bad deal when compared to some snowmobiles and other winter toys this could replace. If you are a business, this could easily be justified in increased productivity. While this isn’t the only track system on the market, it does appears to be competitively priced and one of the more versatile. Ad Boivin states that it takes roughly 15 minutes to get all 4 tracks installed and ready to run.