Smittybuilt Element Ramps

[Mashurst]

Anyone done any long term tests on these? Mean to say carrying them and using them to get unstuck/over stuff? I question the usefulness of this kind of product regardless of quality. I just don't run into a "man if I could have jut cleared that 3ft of soft stuff I would have made it" situation very often. From the vids and such I have seen it looks like they are used a shovel more than anything...

[Quetico]

Any other first hand experiences with these since the comparison test was done a year ago? Other than the comparison to MT's posted here, there are no reviews out there that i can find.

[poriggity]

I disagree on all accounts. Smittybuilt did a blatant copy/ reverse engineering and is only cheaper because they have no overhead associated with innovation, design or testing.

I will never buy a blatant knock-off. It is bad for the industry, bad for innovation and usually ends up failing miserably in the field. I have no intention of rewarding the copy-cats.

In particular, I have found your statement of "well-proven in the field" to be entirely false when it comes to Smittybuilt products, their winches in particular.

I agree 100% with Mr. Brady here. I have seen smittybuilt and others rip off too many designs from people that put in all the hard work and time required to make sure the product functions as intended. I will do my level best to never knowingly buy from these "copycat" companies.

[REDrum]

FWIW, I played with a set of SBs about a month ago; in northeast mud. As much as everyone in the crew winced when they were pulled out of the truck, they did behave well--surprisingly well. We did not compare against MT that event, only the SB, so it was not a science fair comparison--we were just out having fun.

That said, I have played with MT previously, but in sand only. Sure the SB made noise when deflected, but showed no signs of failure or deformation. IMO, they worked fine for both mud traction and, when doubled up, for short span bridging. Only fail ws some of the little nipples that seared of with tire spin. One of the guys in the crew has a ton of experince with MT and was impressed with the SB, for the price point--but was also very loyal to MT being the innovator not a copy cat. Would I buy a set...maybe for the landy in Costa Rica.

[horrocks007]

One could argue that Smittybuilt is innovative because they understand the market place better and can come up with lower cost alternatives to otherwise not affordable products. I've looked at maxtrax, but after finding out how much they cost, I bagged out on them. Not really a must have for my needs, but i nice to have. If Maxtrax wanted to continue to innovate they could come out with a lower cost product for people like me who just don't need the extreme of what they offer. Patents don't last forever. You can't just innovate once, then call it a day. If you want to succeed in a competitive marketplace you have to continue to innovate. Look at companies like Teraflex, started out with lift kits, now they have sliders, carriers, bumpers etc. You can also tell they have a lot of technology in their designs making them harder to copy and offering the customer better benefits.

If you wanted to you could probably make a maxtrax design that was even better then theirs in some way, like specially designing it to fit somewhere smart in a jeep, toyota, etc. You could make one that breaks in half making it easier to store and you could get away with buying one instead of 2 and use it on both tires in a pinch n the beach. I could go on and on. Point is Smittybuilt saw an opportunity, or some would say a gap in the marketplace, that was not being filled by Maxtrax and took advantage of it. This is the way business works. I am for supporting the small guy, but if it makes no sense to do so, forget about it.

[REDrum]

One could argue that Smittybuilt is innovative because they understand the market place better and can come up with lower cost alternatives to otherwise not affordable products

And that would be an inaccurate argument.

Innovation has to bring with it new functional benefit that is independent of economics. A cheaper steel winch cable is not innovative, synthetic winch cable is.

In comparing Maxtrax vs Smittybuilt, one could make the case that Maxtrax innovated (via injection moulding) a new version of a sand ladder. (I say "make a case" because someone else could have put to market an injection molded sand/mud traction device before Maxtrax but few know/knew of them) Smittybuilt, albeit a decent product, didn't innovate anything; they simply copied Maxtrax idea, had it made in the far east, and is selling at a lower price point. Economically competitive yes, innovative no... I've used both, only difference I could tell were price and color.

[horrocks007]

And that would be an inaccurate argument.

Innovation has to bring with it new functional benefit that is independent of economics. A cheaper steel winch cable is not innovative, synthetic winch cable is.

Innovation comes in many forms and very very very often it comes in the form of economics. I understand this product is a copy cat. But in business true innovation must be something that is accessible by people.

[REDrum]

Innovation comes in many forms and very very very often it comes in the form of economics. I understand this product is a copy cat. But in business true innovation must be something that is accessible by people.

Ummm....Never mind.....not worth key strokes....

[Jr_Explorer]

Innovation comes in many forms and very very very often it comes in the form of economics. I understand this product is a copy cat. But in business true innovation must be something that is accessible by people.

Yeah... You're not getting it. Stealing a design will AlWAYS be cheaper to market. You are making it harder for the innovators to stay in business and the next product they may have developed may have been a "must have" for you but if they can't compete with those who steal their ideas then they may not be around to develop it. Do what's right and don't be cheap. You can justify all you want but stealing ideas is still stealing.

[LaOutbackTrail]

Sure, that's nice and all but both models are incredibly overpriced for what they are.... pieces of plastic.