• Chains mounted on front axle with 4WD/AWD - good acceleration, good steering, good braking. However, since the rear wheels have no lateral guidance, the rear end might come around - fast. Not good. Feather your brakes. Go slow.
• Chains mounted on rear axle with 4WD/AWD - good acceleration, lousy steering (no lateral guidance), so so braking (remember, 80% of brake force goes to front wheels and isn’t put to use without chains). No fishtailing. Best compromise for 4WD with only one pair of chains. Go slow.
This says rear axle…“best compromise”
Is this where most of you put chains? on the rear when in 4wd?
How about one on the front and one on the back…stupid idea?
One on the front, one on the back would cause bad results I’d imagine. Why not just go for all four? If you can only do two, I would go with the fronts I suppose. If possible maybe get some sand bags to put over the rear axle. I think with chains only on the front, it be similar to driving a front wheel drive car. Where do you live BTW? I suppose being in Wisconsin I’ve gotten used to driving in the snow (well, not this year, but in the past). Once you get the hang of driving in the snow it’s not that difficult, you just have to be careful, pay attention and think everything out waaay in advance so there’s no jerky movements.
If I only had one pair of chains I would put them on the rear wheels. I say that because when driving on a road with intermittent fairly clear spots I got out of 4WD to spare the transfer case and I wanted the chains on the driving wheels for any small snowy spots in the generally clear area. Actually for snow only I never found a need for chains with 4WD. When it was icy I didn’t drive so I really can’t say about ice.
And 4WD drive or not, the basic rule in snow and ice is DON"T MAKE ANY SUDDEN MOVES. Go slowly and anticipate what you are going to have to do next. Trying to make sudden turns and stops is just asking for trouble.
And do you see that guy coming up to the stop sign on the side street? Well, he’s probably going to slide right out into your path.
I keep them on all 4 on my plow truck. If I get that thing stuck I’m SOL.
The only time I’ve had to chain up my SUV is the few times I’ve been stuck with no option to get my truck to it to pull it out. I’ll put them on the front in that case. In a situation like that, steering, directional control to get un-stuck is more important.
I’ve never needed chains on a ‘real’ road, so most of the stopping, turning points are moot for me. I’ve only needed them in very deep snow. Rarely would I be traveling more than a mile or two at maybe 10mph.
Ocasionally during severe winter weather the authorities will prohibit driving on high mountain passes unless tire chains or four-wheel drive are used. Unless you are driving a plow truck or are going off-road, tire chains on a 4x4 would be overkill, imho.
Without chains, a 4WD brakes just as poorly as a 2WD. Possibly worse, as when the rear wheels lock, the driveline causes the front wheels to stop rotating as well. With a manual transmission, there is also a risk of breaking all four wheels loose just by lifting off the gas…you need to be ready to nail the clutch to get them turning again.
If only one pair of chains is available, put them on the back. They will help keep the front wheels from locking when braking if 4WD is engaged.
Not only does chaining the front cause oversteer as mentioned above, but there is also more danger of a broken cross chain snagging a brake line, or catching the frame in a hard turn… Which leads to the best setup I’ve ever used:
Crossbar chains on the rear, cable “chains” on the front. The cables add a lot of traction, but not so much as the rear crossbar chains, so you don’t get oversteer. They are lower profile so don’t risk entanglement so much.
That does sound like an excellent setup. Just so everyone is clear on the point, though, chains will lead to poorer braking performance on dry pavement or even wet pavement without enough standing water to cause hydroplaning. Also, all other things being equal, 4-wheel drives are no better at braking than 2-wheel drives.
Thanks for all the info. The car is a toyota surf (i think its called a 4runner in the states)…pretty heavy. country: japan and chains are required to drive on some mountain roads (especially up to the ski resorts)…the terrain is basically some snow on top of ice. roads are NARROW, and there’s no margin for error. Ill keep using the chains on the rear for the time being until i learn how to drive better in this type of situation. Its funny to see these little 600cc kei cars drive right up the icy roads passing all the 4wd etc…never missing a beat. must be a combination of weight, and experience.
Experience is a HUGE part of driving in the snow. As anyone that lives in a snowy state can tell you, the first time it snows you’ll see more accidents (and cars in the ditch/blvd/curb/sidewalk…) then you will the rest of the year combined. Even us folks with lotsa practice still forget everything that first day out. As others have said (including myself) drive SLOW, be careful, think waaaaay ahead and no sudden movements. Just ignore the asshole that’s driving three feet behind you. Your life isn’t worth him getting somewhere three minutes sooner. (<-that’s good advice in dry weather as well)
This kind of surprises me. In Colorado, we have a number of different levels of chain laws.
*
Chains or adequate snow tires required
This level requires the use of snow tires or traction devices such as chains, cable chains, etc. All-season radials do not necessarily qualify as snow tires. The tire must have the mud-and-snow designation on the sidewall (M+S).
Chains only
When this level is in effect, chains are required. The statute defines tire chains as either conventional, steel-link tire chains or traction devices of alternate materials and/or design provided that they are “capable of providing traction equal to or exceeding that of such metal chains under similar conditions” (42-4-106(5)(a)(I), CRS). Four-wheel drive vehicles are permitted to operate without tire chains provided that they have adequate tires..*
These are further subdivided into weight restrictions/number of drive axles on commercial vehicles. Large trucks are far and away the biggest problem.
I drive over the continental divide every day. Now I do have a 4x4 and run good snow tires (NOT all season) and have never needed chains on the ‘road’. The conditions there must be much more icy.
I gotta ask…. How can you be all over the road in a good 4x4 with chains on? How fast where you going? You should never go over 30mph with chains. What kind of tires are on the vehicle? You where in 4x4, right?
If you felt you had control issues, you may have been better off with out the chains. As long as you have good snow tires.
If two wheel drive vehicles are getting through with out chains, there is no reason that you should need chains on that Toyota as long as you have good tires.
Like others have said, experience, knowing your vehicle and road conditions makes up for a lot.
If, you’re on a snow/ice covered road, in a 4x4 and need chains, I would put them on the back. If you’re in deep snow (1-2 feet) put them on the front. Don’t stagger them (one front, one back).
I may be a bit confused. Did the Highway Patrol, or whatever authority require you to put chains on your Toyota? Did you get stuck, and decide to put them on?
Just normal tires. Not sure if 4wd legally need chains or not…maybe only 2wd…cant read all the kanji on the postings. Driven across the Sahara 3 times and through the Kalahari on 4wd…driven on snow/ice twice. snow and ice suck. all over the road, probably means barely sliding, but sure seems like it…also the roads here are narrow, some places only wide enough for a single car…so small drift easily slides me to the other side of the road.
not sure if there is more or less ice here but itll snow, then get warm and then freeze again, and then snow, etc etc. so there is a lot of ice on the mountain roads. ya, i could probably make it without chains, but due to my total lack of experience, and the no room for error here, i thought that i should just put chains on to be conservtive. i was just surprised since i thought having them on would make it like normal driving…
Consider dumping your regular tires and going for all seasons, or true snows. They wear a little faster, will be a bit more noisy, but no sense in having a 4x4 without a tire that is at least a little aggressive.