BYRON CENTER, Mich. (WZZM) -- When there is snow on the ground your car can get stuck. Instead of calling a tow truck, the Zip Grip Go says that it can help you get out.
Dan Dobson of Great Lakes Auto Rescue offered to help test out the product.
"You know for smaller jobs where you are not on an incline, I think this might actually have a chance of working," explains Dobson. "Certainly it won't get you out of a ditch though."
The Zip Grip Go uses studded zip ties that wrap around the wheel to apply grip in slippery conditions.
Before we could test it, we needed to get a car stuck. We used a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix.
After two attempts, we got it stuck in a snow pile.
The Zip Grip Go suggests using five of the zip ties on the wheel to get the car unstuck. The zip ties come in a pack of 10 and can only be used once.
The instructions say to thread the male end of the cleated traction aid through the hole in the tire rim. Starting from the backside.
The wheel is half buried and it is difficult to thread the plastic tie through the wheel.
The first attempt, we forgot to come through the backside.
The second attempt, we managed to get the tie on the wheel.
The task proves time consuming and we were laying in the snow getting wet and cold trying to put them on.
By the time we got the fifth one on, over 25 minutes had passed.
We then added the extra zip locks and using some scissors, we cut the extra plastic off.
We were ready to try to get the car out.
At first, the wheel seemed to grip the snow, but the wheel quickly spun and all of the plastic ties snapped off.
We then re-read the instructions, we noticed the Zip Grip Go says it works on aluminum and alloy wheels, but not steel rims.
"You have steel rims and they cut into the zip ties," explained Dobson. "As soon as you put pressure on them, it cut right through."
So we didn't follow instructions, but that speaks to the problem of people, though in the case, me, simply not even knowing what is on their car. This is a common problem. Dobson says the average person doesn't know what type of rims they even have.
So, based on that it is hard to say if the product worked or didn't work.
We will give this product a "plausible," said Dobson. We did however think it took a long time to put on, and if the weather is colder and/or snowing it would have been faster to call a tow truck.