Guide · July 2026 · 7 min read
Best Way to Carry Sumex Recovery Boards on Your Van 2026 — Why Every Option Fails (Except One)
You bought Sumex recovery boards — the sensible choice: solid boards, fair price, available across Europe. Then the real question arrived: where do they live? Inside the van, they shed sand and mud on everything you own. On a roof rack, they cost you a rack, a ladder and your fuel economy. Bolted to the body, they cost you holes in your van. Here is every option, and what we built instead.
Key takeaways
- Recovery boards belong outside the van — mud and sand stay out, and the boards are reachable the moment you are stuck
- Roof racks are the expensive detour: rack + brackets + crossbars, plus climbing up in the exact moment you are bogged down
- Drilled brackets put permanent holes in your body panels — rust starts there, resale value ends there
- We invented magnetic recovery-board mounts in December 2021 — the look-alikes came four years later
- These mounts are sized for Sumex boards: rubber-coated neodymium magnets, 56 kg pull each, 90 mm diameter
- Quick-release pins in carbon-fiber reinforced plastic lock through the boards’ existing holes — pull the pins, boards off in seconds
- No rack. No drilling. No glue. Tool-free installation in under a minute. Works on steel body panels
The recovery board storage problem
A recovery board has one job: be there, immediately, when a wheel spins. Every storage option gets judged against that.
Inside the van is where most boards start. It works until the first recovery — then two boards caked in wet sand ride home on your bed platform. And a 110+ cm board is awkward cargo in a built-out van; it ends up buried under the exact gear you have to unload at the worst moment.
Roof racks solve the mud problem and create three new ones: the rack itself costs several hundred euros if you don’t already own one, the boards add permanent wind noise and consumption, and deploying them means climbing on the roof — in the rain, at night, with the van leaning in soft ground.
Drilled brackets are the traditional 4x4 answer. On a truck with a bed rack, fine. On a van, it means drilling through painted body panels. Every hole is a future rust point, a permanent modification, and a conversation with the next buyer or the leasing company.
Magnetic look-alikes appeared once we proved the concept worked. Most ship with unspecified pull strength, no board-specific fit, and no track record. A magnet that lets a board go at 120 km/h is not a saving.
Every way to carry Sumex boards, compared
| Option | Damage to van | Access when stuck | Extra hardware | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inside the van | Mud and sand on your interior | Buried under gear | None | €0 |
| Roof rack + brackets | None — but noise + consumption | Climb the roof, in the worst conditions | Rack, crossbars, brackets | €400–900+ |
| Drilled body brackets | Permanent holes, rust risk | Good | Brackets + drill | Low-cost hardware |
| Magnetic look-alikes | Unknown — coating quality varies | Good — if they hold | None | Varies by brand; pull force often unspecified |
| Tactic Engineering — the original, Dec 2021 | None — rubber-coated magnets + paint protection stickers | Pull the pins, boards off in seconds | None — no rack, no drilling, no glue | Rated pull force published — see product page |
See the Sumex magnetic quick-release mounts →
What we built
We invented magnetic mounts for recovery boards in December 2021 — years before anyone else tried. OWL Vans became our exclusive US distributor; Burkhart Engineering in Germany, Hobus in Belgium, Dutch Van Parts in the Netherlands, Montpellier 4x4 in France, Van Creed in Australia and Nirvana Outfitters in Canada followed. The biggest names in the van and off-road industry sell our product, not the copies that showed up four years later.
This kit is sized for Sumex boards. Rubber-coated neodymium magnets — 90 mm diameter, 56 kg tested pull each — hold the boards flat against the steel body of your van. Quick-release pins in carbon-fiber reinforced plastic lock through the boards’ existing mounting holes. Stuck? Pull the pins, boards in hand, done — no ladder, no straps, no tools.
Each board needs two mounts: the 4-mount kit carries a pair of boards, the 8-mount kit carries four. Transparent paint-protection stickers are included; the rubber coating never touches bare paint.
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56 kg per magnet
Tested rubber-coated neodymium, 90 mm diameter. Four magnets on a pair of boards. The coating grips and protects the paint.
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Quick-release pins
Carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, printed at 270 °C — heat- and impact-resistant. Lock through the boards’ existing holes. Off in seconds.
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No rack. No drilling.
Tool-free installation in under a minute. No glue, no holes, fully reversible. The van stays exactly as it left the factory.
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Swiss made, part by part
Designed and hand-assembled in Switzerland. Break or lose a piece? Every single part is sold at production cost — you never rebuy the kit.
Magnetic quick-release mounts sized for Sumex recovery boards. 4-mount kit for 2 boards, 8-mount kit for 4 — you pick one kit size at checkout.
View the Sumex mounts →In stock · ships from Switzerland in 48h · spare parts at production cost.
Will it work on your van?
The magnets bond to steel body panels — which covers nearly every van on the road. Aluminium bodies (Land Rover Defender, new Ford Bronco) are the exception: magnets do not attach there. Not sure what your panels are made of? Hold a kitchen magnet to the panel, or use our compatibility tool — it takes ten seconds.
Running different boards? We make dedicated mounts per brand: MaxTrax MK2 / LITE / XTREME, TRED GT / HD / PRO, and a universal quick-release for generic boards. This page is about the Sumex-specific kit — same system, sized for Sumex.
Who is this for?
Sumex owners without a roof rack
You bought the boards, not a €700 rack project. Two mounts per board, on the side panel or rear doors, done in a minute.
Beach and dune drivers
Kitesurfers, anglers, weekend dune runners — the people who actually get stuck in sand. Boards outside, sand outside, deployment in seconds without unpacking the van.
Leased and resale-minded vans
No holes, no glue, no marks. Take the mounts off and the van is exactly as Ford, Mercedes or Fiat delivered it.
The look-alike burned
If a no-name magnet kit already dropped a board — or you never dared drive fast with it — this is the original the copies are imitating, with a tested number on the magnet and thousands of vans running it since 2021.
Frequently asked questions
How strong is the hold?
Each magnet has a tested pull of 56 kg, and a pair of boards rides on four of them. The rubber coating adds friction against the panel, and the quick-release pins lock the boards through their existing mounting holes — the boards cannot slide or lift.
Will it scratch the paint?
The magnets are fully rubber-coated and transparent paint-protection stickers are included in every kit. Nothing hard ever touches the panel.
How fast can I deploy the boards?
Pull the quick-release pins and lift the boards off — seconds, no tools, no ladder. That is the point of keeping them on the body panel instead of a roof rack.
Does it work on every van?
On steel body panels, yes — that covers almost all vans. Aluminium bodies (Land Rover, new Ford Bronco) are not compatible. When in doubt: kitchen magnet test, or our compatibility tool.
How many mounts do I need?
Two mounts per board. The 4-mount kit carries 2 Sumex boards; the 8-mount kit carries 4. You choose one kit size at checkout.
What about theft?
An anti-theft cable with a marine-grade lock is available separately — it runs through the boards and secures them to the vehicle. See the anti-theft cable. 
What if I break or lose a part?
Every single part — down to a pin or a sticker — is sold separately at production cost. You never have to rebuy the kit.
I have MaxTrax / TRED / no-name boards — same product?
Same system, different fit. We make dedicated kits for MaxTrax, TRED and generic boards — links above. This kit is sized for Sumex.
The Original. Built in Switzerland since 2020.
Boards on the van. Mud out of it.
Magnetic quick-release mounts sized for Sumex recovery boards. We invented this in December 2021 — no rack, no drilling, no glue.
Other gear that fits every van
Swiss-made. No drilling. No rust. No resale hit.
