Keithl Posted October 19, 2012 Posted October 19, 2012 A question for all you good folks, do you use any make of grip mat and if so which make and how do you find them? I ask as we occasionally stay on a grass sites and wondered if they would be of any help. All replies gratefully received. Oh yes, and we're going to the NEC tomorrow and wondered what was worth looking out for . Keith.
Tracker Posted October 19, 2012 Posted October 19, 2012 By and large floppy plastic strips are an expensive waste of time - and they also get exceedingly muddy whilst being useless! I park each wheel on a 12" square of 3/4" plywood to spread the load evenly and reduce the effect of a round wheel sinking at the lowest point and these have worked very well for me over many years - I even got off of the Lincoln and Chester show grounds unaided this year. Just warm the engine, select first and move briskly off not stopping for anything until at least the driven wheels are on terra firma - then walk or wade back carrier bag in hand and retrieve the squares. Have just modified the driven wheel squares into two squares hinged together to both fold and give an elongated launch platform as Chester was touch and go! Others have their own favourites for unstucking themselves!
Wooie Posted October 19, 2012 Posted October 19, 2012 Hi Keith, I`ve got the Fiamma Grip Mats and they work very well for me. I think i got them at a show, probably on offer, i`ve had them a while now. I have 4 and use 1 under each wheel " Every " time we pitch on grass It only takes a minute or so to get them out.. I`ve never had a problem getting off even the wettest grass and they give you a good start with the ridges on them. They also spread the load at each wheel and i`ve been quite surprised a couple of times now at how much we had actually sunk even on what i thought was good dry ground. On one occasion i`d sunk quite a bit and it wasn`t a problem to rock it slightly to get a good start and that was down to the length of them. A couple of years back i had a few laughing at me for getting them out when we arrived at the Cheshire Showground in glorious sunshine. Anyway on the sunday i had the last laugh as their wheels spun merrily away and that was just down to it being a very heavy dew and the grass was very wet. Regards. Graham.
crinklystarfish Posted October 19, 2012 Posted October 19, 2012 Yup, they worked OK for me too in the old days, before it dawned that 'camping car' tyres are useless. After changing tyres to cheaper and more suitable alternatives I gave the mats away to some other cp-using sucker.
Birder Posted October 19, 2012 Posted October 19, 2012 We use two good sized grip mats made from the base of two old supermarket bread trays - yes I did get permission to take them out of the skip. A jigsaw made short work of getting rid of the sides & the base can then be cut through giving two ribbed grip mats. They live in a black plastic bag behind the drivers seat - no problem. A French couple who chose to ignore the soft sand at Le Croytoy (not sure that is spelt correctly!) & immediately sank. After watching efforts to dig them out & more sinking - I took out my 'bread tray' grip mats. French not being my strong point I gesticulated how to use them. Hey Presto, he climbed free from the soft sand first time using them. I was the hero of the afternoon - but it was only a classic bit of recycling. I've seen numerous trays cast aside behind supermarkets & even in countryside ditches!!! My advice is save your brass & look around for a couple of bread trays.
pepe63xnotuse Posted October 20, 2012 Posted October 20, 2012 We switched to useing these a while back... http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p94411 ..granted,they are a bit bulky but we've had more success with them than with our previous Fiamma mats...
Tin Man Posted October 20, 2012 Posted October 20, 2012 So far we've had no trouble using black rubber door mats. We have six of them. Drive wheels have two each, rears have one each. When not in use they make a neat 'footpath' from door to rear locker.
Keithl Posted October 20, 2012 Author Posted October 20, 2012 Thanks to all for the replies and Pepe in particular as after having looked at the Fiamma grip mats and other cheap copies at the NEC today we decided they would be as much use as the ubiquitous chocolate tea pot :D So we stopped at the local Toolstation on the way home and bought 4 ground guard mats for £17 which seemed like a bargain as the Fiamma grip mats where £12 a pair. The ground guard tiles have eyelet style loops on the sides so we can peg them down to stop them sliding and even join them together if we want. We're spending 4 days next week on a grass field so will park on them when we arrive and see how we fair when we come to leave next Sunday. I'll report back when we're back home. Thanks to all, Keith.
Colin Leake Posted October 20, 2012 Posted October 20, 2012 crinklystarfish - 2012-10-19 8:30 PM Yup, they worked OK for me too in the old days, before it dawned that 'camping car' tyres are useless. After changing tyres to cheaper and more suitable alternatives I gave the mats away to some other cp-using sucker. I don't suppose it is but if that is a real picture of your motorhome it looks as if could haul itself out of a peat bog with little trouble!
crinklystarfish Posted October 20, 2012 Posted October 20, 2012 It really is. Traction is pretty good but I have previously had the ubiquitous front wheel drive stuff and have been humiliated by damp grass. If damp grass / verges etc are often encountered, then I reckon a better solution is a set of tyres more suited to such conditions. Camping car tyres are useless.
pepe63xnotuse Posted October 21, 2012 Posted October 21, 2012 crinklystarfish - 2012-10-20 7:57 PM ... If damp grass / verges etc are often encountered, then I reckon a better solution is a set of tyres more suited to such conditions. Camping car tyres are useless We switched to using a pair of Vredestein "winter/M&S" tyres on the front of our previous van...and they made a world of difference.. (..and before any of the forum pedants chirp up (lol) ...Yes, I know I strictly speaking I should've swapped all four ...and No,I can't recall the exact wording on the sidewalls... ;-) ) We'll just get a few more miles out of what's on now..and then we'll look at switching to something similar again...
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