Learn Me Snow Chains

So, I'm taking the Trooper on a ski trip in a few weeks. The cabin we're staying in supposedly has a tricky driveway that is only accessible with four wheel drive, so I'm thinking of picking up a set of chains in case the weather turns bad. Plus, they are fairly useful in the mud we have down here in Florida.

The thing is, I live in Florida. How do I snow chain? I've raced in the snow, but never tried to drive up a steep slope in it. Do I want cables or chains? What should I buy? 2 or 4?

Any links to good products? Tire size is 31x10.5 15.

With 4WD, there is virtually nothing you shouldn't be able to tackle if you have an M+S rated all-terrain tire with good tread, honestly. I work at a ski shop and make a point to hit the mountains when the snow is falling heaviest. I've never not made it up even very steep hills - and thats in a WRX with wintersports on it.

Where are you going skiing?

Chains are technology from 1935. Skip it.

If your tires are good, there is zero need for chains.

If you have experience in the mud, you can navigate nearly any snow situation. I grew up in PA and ONT, and I had two winter vehicles. One was an Impala SS with summer-only rubber, and the other was an E350 van with highway rib tires and an open diff. I could easily traverse my 400-ft uphill driveway with 2wd and 285/40-17 rubber. Sometimes it took a few tries but I always made it.

Chinese proverb: don't try to remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.

Chains are required on some roads where I live in the winter. A bunch of states out west have this stipulation.

Tom, where are you going? North Carolina? The mountains ain't that high there and the snow ain't that bad.

plus chains suck when a link lets go and it destroys a fender. The chains work though... Work very well.

If you want purely snow traction Try the Auto-sock.. I hear good things.

http://www.amazon.com/AutoSock-AS645-Winter-Traction-Device/dp/B001NCHVK6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418796123&sr=8-1&keywords=auto+sock

Real-life snow tires and forget about it.

I was told this here on GRM and listened. I bought cheap snows for my Protege 5 mounted on Dodge Caravan steelies and it really felt like I had awd, almost got boring.

With snow tires, you just keep driving on the bare pavement. You really wanna apply and remove snow chains?

Tire chains are great, in the right conditions. Far exceed the best snow tire out there.

But, I agree with the others, that I doubt you're likely to be encountering conditions where they are called for. Excepting your local mud.

Fun to mount they are not. I am not good at it, it takes me 15-30 minutes to get them mounted up, in the garage, with a jack. Out in the snow, I don't even want to think about it. When they are mounted wrong, they can rip your fenders up.

Some things I've looked at, but have no experience with, are the slip through cables, and the clip on grippy things. I really like the notion of the clip on grippy things for convenience, but you couldn't move fast with them.

ive always though chains were more for really icey conditions rather then just snow. a/t's, m/t's, or snow tires will do fine in pretty much all snow conditions, especially in 4wd

I moved to Asheville the fall after the "Blizzard of the Century" so my parents thought it imperative that I have snow chains for my 2wd Dakota. I only used them a handful of times, mainly when I was a noob courier. They were a pain to deploy and it was easier to just plan my movements and take it easy. To answer the question, you'd want 2 and if I had to get them again, chains over cables.

I've only used chains in frozen off road/fire road type stuff. Going up national forest roads that are repeatedly frozen/thawed. Here are my thoughts:
When you're driving up steep polished frozen solid dirt ice, they're amazing. They actually damage the road surface less than tires alone in semi frozen sloppy conditions because you can trudge through some pretty nasty stuff without spinning. They allow a vehicle with moderate/crappy tires to suddenly become safe when things are truly nasty.
Two big downsides. The first is putting them on. Even if you do it a lot and are one of those "I can chain my whole car in 8 minutes" guys, you still have to get out and put them on in conditions where it's nasty enough to need them. That sucks. Second is the speed limitation. You're limited to something like 25mph or less. (Or we were back when I used them, newer cable ones might be better) so that means that you're only using them off road or in on road situations where traffic is barely crawling.
There's only three times I want chains. 1. On a plow truck that doesnt ever see public roads. 2. If I'm going to spend the whole day off public roads and it's frozen and there is a realistic chance that getting stuck will monumentally suck. 3. I HAVE to drive through a mountain area that requires them and I have not other route choice.

Chains are miserable. I'd rather take my chances without them and walk up the driveway if I couldn't make it.

The only person that really needs tire chains is everybody who lives in Atlanta.

The access roads to the ski areas will be well prepared. Just go and have a good time.

If it snows a lot, just wait until the roads are cleared.

Forget the f****ing chains.

Woody wrote: The only person that really *needs* tire chains is everybody who lives in Atlanta.

That just means we will have more confidence and be going faster when we loose control and crash.

I think installing chains basically goes like this. Park car. Lay chains out just in front of all wheels, making sure they are PERFECTLY straight ahead. Drive 1/2 wheel rotation onto chains. Remove gloves in freezing cold weather, grab freezing cold metal chains out of ice and snow on ground. Brace your body by placing your face on your cold and wet fender while you reach with both hands to grab the chain ends and try to connect them on the far side of the wheel with glove-less hands that are now frozen. Repeat 3 more times.

I think chains are required by law in CO (where I grew up) on certain passes in certain weather for semi trucks only. Plus, when its bad enough that they make the semis use chains, its bad enough to be a good argument not to be out on the roads anyway. Dunno if they are ever required for passenger cars. Also, passes are usually 'short-cuts' meaning there is almost always another way around (not over) but it might be a lot longer drive.

+1 on good snows are nearly just as good anyway, and much less hassle.

tomtomgt356 wrote:

Woody wrote: The only person that really *needs* tire chains is everybody who lives in Atlanta.

That just means we will have more confidence and be going faster when we loose control and crash.

Truth. Better to have bad drivers stuck than flying along like they usually do.

Unless you're insane and driving a Trooper from Florida to the Chugach range, you don't need chains.

Woody wrote: The only person that really *needs* tire chains is everybody who lives in Atlanta.

Or people who are legally required to have them and use them due to WSDOT.

The Trooper will be perfectly fine without chains. Air down your tires a bit once you get to the far north (not on the highway), shift into 4WD, and just drive. Chains not needed and a PITA to install.

I tried chains once on a 2wd subi wagon. They sucked and really didn't help very much (I was already on snow tires).

you put them on the rear wheels didn't ya

The law for the Sierra Nevada's Official site was that if you had AWD AND M+S tires then you did not have to use chains. The Volvo we used needed chains and they weren't too bad to put on and off. The state troopers had the freeway blocked off and you had to get inspected before continuing on.

I understand the driving several thousand miles on winter tires isn't ideal so if you are getting chains I think the most critical thing is to learn what the law requires before buying. It may specify rope only or chain only for the area you are going to.

And turn off any idea of having fun with the chains on. No wheel spin as, while unlikely, the chains could come off and wrap themselves around something nice and useful like a brake line or wiring and away it all goes into the deep snow off the side of the road. Take turns like you have your children asleep on the roof. Basically, drive like this is the only vehicle you can use to escape the zombiebola apocalypse with.

Advan046 wrote: The law for the Sierra Nevada's Official site was that if you had AWD AND M+S tires then you did not have to use chains.

In WA if you have AWD and M+S you are still required to carry chains. They check.

ebonyandivory wrote: Real-life snow tires and forget about it. I was told this here on GRM and listened. I bought cheap snows for my Protege 5 mounted on Dodge Caravan steelies and it really felt like I had awd, almost got boring. With snow tires, you just keep driving on the bare pavement. You really wanna apply and remove snow chains?

Good idea if you LIVE where there's regularly snow. Not so much when you are going to just visit. Snow tires in Florida, well...

Chains are a good compromise. Modern M&S's will do most everything really well- check.

But when they don't- chains rock. Get 4, put in storage box, and sell when you don't need them. Better to have them and not used them vs. not have them and need them. Back in Idaho, all cars had snow tires, and when we went someplace, we always had the chains in a box.

On a business trip to Austria we were all being driven around in one of those big tour buses. We stayed at a hotel on a mountain side. The bus was too big to turn around in the courtyard so the driver backed it up the hill. Overnight it snowed several inches and he had parked at the foot of the hill, so out comes a set of chains. He put them on in less than 10 minutes, backed up the hill, we loaded up and drove back down , and he took them off in 5 minutes, or less. I was impressed.

Thanks for all the input, everybody. Yes, I know they are overkill. But that's how I like to do things.

We're headed to the smoky mountains, so not exactly an arctic tundra. And the Trooper has M+S rated all-terrains with decent tread. It also has an auto-locker in the rear end–that should be fun.

Snow tires are absolutely the correct answer, but living in Florida means that is a stupid idea.

I think at this point I'll pick up a cheap set just to throw in the back of the truck. Is a 255 size what I want for a 31x10.5r15 tire?

I wouldn't spend a dime on modifying this thing to make sure it'll be fine out there, other than making sure the heater works.