Be forewarned: To install them, you must lie flat on your back in four inches of slush. You will get frostbite of the ass. I know this from experience.
(You could get a plastic dropcloth if you don’t want to lie down right in the slush)
When I was in the military, a friend of mine was driving from one duty station to another with his seabag in the trunk. He had to chain up to go over a mountain pass. When he got to the other side, he went to unchain and found bits of cloth lodged in the links. He opened the trunk to find a hole through the wheelwell and his seabag and uniforms almost completely shredded. He said he heard a lot of noise during the drive over the pass, but since he was unfamiliar with chains, thought it was normal.
This isn’t really true. If you’re reasonably flexible you can install them by stooping down next to your tires. At least that’s how it worked out for me the one time I’ve had to use them (trip to Tahoe).
I installed some on saturday and some today. On saturday, I got one knee a little wet because I was out of practice. Today, it was flawless. No wallowing in slush.
For the amount of snow driving I do (one or two days a year), chains are a godsend. With chains on the front wheels of a front wheel drive car, you’re rock solid. Rear wheel, not quite so good, but still quite manageable.
I live in the Bay Area so the only time I’ve needed cables is when I’ve gone up to the mountains in the winter. Used cables (as opposed to chains) on both my old Toyota Celica and my (RWD) F150. They were a little harder to put on the Celica since it had much less room around the front wheels to work, but in neither case did I ever have to lie down - just stoop or kneel.
Some useful advice:
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After you buy 'em, practice putting them on a few times in your driveway. It’s not hard but you don’t want to learn the first time at 2am in the dark while freezing snow is blowing around you.
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Keep a pair of yellow rubber dishwashing gloves, a little flashlight with good batteries and a hefty bag or foam rubber gardener’s kneepad in the trunk. The gloves will keep your hands from getting filthy and wet (dry hands make things much easier), the flashlight for obvious reasons (one that you can hold in your mouth is nice if you’re on your own) and the plastic bag or kneepad because kneeling in the slush in your jeans will suck.
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Don’t go over 30mph with them on. That’s all they are rated for (you don’t want something breaking due to high speed and beating the hell out of your car as others have said) and if you aren’t familiar with driving in the snow you shouldn’t be going fast anyhow. Getting there slowly beats skidding off the road into a ditch quickly. Let the idiots who think 4WD=Magic Antigravity Powers fly by and crash.
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When you’re back home, hose everything off to get rid of the grit/salt/sand/etc, dry thoroughly and spray a little WD40 or other water displacement/rust repellent on. Remember to care for those rubber tensioner widgets as well (I use silicone spray). It’s easy to just take the chains off, stuff them in the box and then next year discover (when you need them) that they are rusted to junk.
Some excellent advice. A good pair of mechanics gloves help a lot. And oiling them before storing them. It’s funny because I see semi’s with 18 sets of chains hanging from the trailer and they’re rusted to shit. Seems like they’re made better than light truck and automotive chains though.
The current winter storms hitting the PNW sent me to my owner’s manuals for both of my vehicles. Nope, can’t use chains on either of them. No matter. Growing up in the Midwest I never used chains (but I’ve driven a few chained vehicles) and never bought snow tires. All I need to do is drive fast, ignore common sense and I fit in with the natives quite well.
If you’re considering cables instead of chains, be sure and check your local regulations. In some places such as Colorado, when the DOT requires chains only, they mean it. Cable “chains” will not suffice.
Last winter was my first here in the PNW. One attempt to get to work in a new snowfall (granted, it’s 7-8 miles up a mountainous dirt road) was enough – I ordered chains that same day, after turning around and going home.
I found that Vulcan Tires had a good selection, with prices comparable to other places that I looked into. I also found their chain FAQ and ranking chart (pop-up window?) to be really helpful.