X-Bull Recovery Tracks Gen 2.0 Review

What’s in the box

Two black recovery tracks, each 910 × 310 × 60 mm, in a reinforced nylon mix. The top is covered in cross-shaped lugs, both ends flare out into a shovel, and there are handle cut-outs with finger grips along the sides. Two leashes and a sheet of stickers come in the box. If you want four, X-Bull also sells a set of four with a carry bag at Caravan RV Camping.

Quick Specs

Build

The nylon feels solid and dense, and a U-shaped rib along the board stiffens it under the weight of a loaded car. It’s UV resistant, so the boards shouldn’t go brittle on the roof, and nylon doesn’t mind salt water. They’re stiffer than the premium boards, with less give over uneven ground, but they held up without cracking.

On the sand

The cross-shaped lugs are what X-Bull calls the Gen 2.0 pattern, and they bite into the tread from every direction, so the tyre doesn’t slide sideways as it climbs on. In soft beach sand they gave the tyres grip straight away. Both ends work as a shovel, so you can clear the sand in front of the tyres with the board itself before you put it down, and the leashes help you pull the boards back out afterwards.

The lugs that grip so well also hold on to mud, so cleaning them takes a bit of work with a brush and a hose.

Carrying them

At 4.7 kg for the pair, they’re among the lightest boards we’ve tested, and the handle cut-outs make them easy to carry with one hand. Stacked, a pair is 108 mm high, taller than the 78–85 mm of the other boards we’ve tested, and a set of four is about 210 mm. At 910 mm they’re also the shortest, which makes them easier to store but gives the tyre a shorter run-up.

X-Bull or a premium board?

For the price, the X-Bull boards are hard to beat, and for the odd beach trip they do the job. The Maxtrax MK2 and TRED GT are longer, flex better and come with a lifetime warranty; the XTM boards sit in between. Our recovery tracks guide compares all five we’ve tested.

Here’s how it compares with the Bunker Indust budget boards and the two premium boards we’ve tested:

	This oneX-Bull Gen 2.0	Bunker Indust→	Maxtrax MK2→	TRED GT→
Width	310 mm	315 mm	330 mm	312 mm
Stacked	108 mm	95 mm	85 mm	84 mm
Length	910 mm	915 mm	1150 mm	1085 mm
Pair weight	4.7 kg	4.6 kg	6.8 kg	5.5 kg
Price paid	$75	$95	$319	$229
Our score	8.8	8.9	9.2	9.0

Conclusion: X-Bull Recovery Tracks Gen 2.0

The X-Bull Gen 2.0 recovery tracks are light, tough budget boards: reinforced nylon, cross-shaped lugs that grip in sand, shovel ends, leashes and a 10,000 kg rating, at 4.7 kg a pair. They’re shorter and stiffer than the premium boards, stack taller and are fiddly to clean after mud. We paid $75 for the pair, and for that they do the job.