Anyone Use Tire Chains Anymore?

[Wstar425]

I have friends out in Colorado and they keep chains in their pickups but it is different country out there. I believe some mountain passes still require chains on semis and require 4x4 or snow tires.

I’ve had the pleasure of throwing iron a couple of times this winter so far, to get over Soldier Summit on US 6 SE of Provo, Utah to get to or from Albuquerque.

I don’t have any pictures of proof. Usually too busy trying not to get hit by some idiot. But here’s a picture to give you an idea of the terrain, as well as the task at hand.

 

[manifest destiny]

The terrain looks gorgeous. But I'm not the one that must navigate it in a rig. I'm guessing the beauty might get overlooked by the driver who's white-knuckling it.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

My first brand new vehicle was a 1984 S10 2WD pickup. I got stuck in the snow the first winter that I had it, and after that I purchased a set of tire chains for it. If anyone needs a pair of tire chains for a small pickup - still new in the box - let me know.

 

[Wstar425]

The terrain looks gorgeous. But I'm not the one that must navigate it in a rig. I'm guessing the beauty might get overlooked by the driver who's white-knuckling it.

The terrain is gorgeous, even in the snow. I’ve been doing this for 44 years now, pretty much past the white knuckle part. Once the chains are on you are pretty solid actually.

I have a “theory”, mountain, weather, traffic. You can deal with two of those but when you have all three it’s time to look for a parking spot. This pass is never really too busy in the winter. In the summer lots of people heading down to Moab. It’s never like heading back into Ca out of Reno on a Sunday night tho.

I never get tired of looking at the mountains. I’ve talked to some of our drivers that were born out west and they just say mountains? whatever. I suppose they might be impressed by a 600 acre corn field cause that’s something you never see out here. It seems that many of our guys have never been to the Midwest. Only CA, AZ, NM and NV. They are amazed by a colorful fall picture and can’t imagine -30 which is pretty normal for northern Wisconsin.

 

[tackdriver]

Just ran across this in pictures from an old unit (winter '87/88 ROK) and thought of my earlier post...

 

[manifest destiny]

Just ran across this in pictures from an old unit (winter '87/88 ROK) and thought of my earlier post...
View attachment 253125

Cool pic. Where abouts is that? I don't recognize any wheel marks in the background. Was it a slide off and the road is behind the camera?

 

[tackdriver]

Cool pic. Where abouts is that? I don't recognize any wheel marks in the background. Was it a slide off and the road is behind the camera?

It was in Korea. The guys in the pic were friends of mine, but I wasn't with them when they did this one. Given the way they're dressed, they weren't at the DMZ, but probably a few miles south. I'm pretty sure they got into trouble because the road gave out, or disappeared.

We went all over that place, literally. We'd do "site recon", which meant mapping and taking notes on all the places that weren't on the map. Where can we get, to best do what we did?; or, where can we go when other places are a no-go? (we knew all the best camping spots) Some times it was a game of chicken with reality - how far can I push it past responsible before the picture happens. It was actually kind of fun, if you're an adrenaline junky.

When I got there, it was jeeps, pickup trucks, and SUVs. Then we started getting brand new Hummers, they had a much wider wheel base, so we got to do it over again. Take a little mountain path that we could barely get up in a jeep, and things like this happened. There were a few places we could go with the hummers that we couldn't before (up some creek bed to another path), but it generally went the other way. A lot of "roads" were 15' wide at the bottom of the mountain, but 4' at the top - steep incline and a long way down if you get off the path, and no possible way to turn around. Add some snow, and you've got a party!

 

[jkaetz]

For Indiana and other light/periodic snow areas I always thought snow socks were a better idea than chains. Haven't ever tried them though have been in a couple situations where they may have been helpful.

Snow Socks - Are They Really Better Than Tire Chains?

Snow socks are a great alternative to snow chains and tire chains for cars, trucks, and buses. AutoSock is the only approved tire sock in several states.

autosock.us

 

[manifest destiny]

For Indiana and other light/periodic snow areas I always thought snow socks were a better idea than chains. Haven't ever tried them though have been in a couple situations where they may have been helpful.

Snow Socks - Are They Really Better Than Tire Chains?

Snow socks are a great alternative to snow chains and tire chains for cars, trucks, and buses. AutoSock is the only approved tire sock in several states.

autosock.us

Interesting. I've not ever seen such a thing before. But they're rated to 30mph. Presumably they would only be on when navigating road conditions that warrant slowing down anyway. But if it were just a brief pass that needed to be navigated and then conditions no longer warrant 30mph, driver would need to stop and remove. Joy. For an emergency bag in the winter they'd probably be ideal. Price was reasonable ~$100+/- (tire size dependent). Neat idea.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

I live at about 8k feet. We get a lot of snow and have really long winters.

Nobody up here runs chains on the road except commercial vehicles, at least not that i have seen (daily chain restrictions at the house for cmv).

When i moved up here, i stopped in at the local 4x4 shop and asked them about chains for my truck. They told me that there is no need for chains on a 4x4 non cmv with good snow tires as long as you stay on some kind of road.

Lots of folks run studded tires and lots run non studded dedicated winter tires.

You see the rare tourist in a rental with snow socks. I may have seen one this year. I think they help

I have driven my 1500 in 4wd with new Blizzacks around in 24 to 36 inches of snow a bit and have driven them on packed snowy roads a whole lot. They are some kind of magic in deep snow.

I am a huge fan of these tires, having gone through 2 or 3 sets up here They are not studded, are pricey and hot roads eat them very quickly, but they are just phenonemal winter tires.

 

[jkaetz]

Interesting. I've not ever seen such a thing before. But they're rated to 30mph. Presumably they would only be on when navigating road conditions that warrant slowing down anyway. But if it were just a brief pass that needed to be navigated and then conditions no longer warrant 30mph, driver would need to stop and remove. Joy. For an emergency bag in the winter they'd probably be ideal. Price was reasonable ~$100+/- (tire size dependent). Neat idea.

Yes I would expect them to be something on the order of carrying kitty litter/sand, a shovel, strap/rope, etc... as tools to get you out of a problematic situation rather than something that you used all the time. Good all season or winter tires would be your first best tool of course.

 

[nascarfantoo]

I have a set for my Tundra, but they will never be used around here. But when I head to western states for hunting trip, they will be in the truck. Although some of the areas I frequent out there could easily require chains under right conditions, so far, I have been okay with 4LO and good tires.