I have a few questions about tire chains (as in for snow). Being in a warm part of the country, I have never seen or used snow chains on tires, so I’m curious how they work.
How do you attach them to the wheel(s)?
Do they tear up the tires, or do you need special tires to go with them?
Hi, Opal!
How do they affect handling? I imagine they would give a very bumpy ride.
Is your speed limited with them?
Do people really use them, anyway?
Down here, snow shuts down entire cities. Those of you who live in areas where snow is common would find our reaction to snow quite amusing. A few snow flurries can paralyze huge cities like Houston, San Antonio, or Austin. Schools close, major business cut shifts, malls close, and citizens are warned not to travel. TxDOT then goes out and throws sand on all the bridges, making a slippery mess that lasts until summer.
As I write this, we have had a cold-snap down here. It hasn’t gotten above about 41F all day, and it’s expected to get down around 30F tonight. Brrrr. The coldest day of the year will be sometime in January or February. It likely will be around 15F or 20F.
Dunno about the use of them – they’re illegal on public roads in a lot of places (they tear up the road surface). I’ve lived in WI all my life (35 years) and have never seen tire chains on a vehicle.
I grew up in Ohio, and can remember seeing chains on vehicles. Whilst it’s been some time since I’ve seen them in use, I can tell you roughly how they work.
You can use the chains on any tire. The chains are flat, like a belt. You lay the tires on the ground and drive the car over them, trying to center the wheel on the chains. You then wrap the chains over the tires and hook the two ends together. They can damage your tires, but not as much as spinning wildly out of control and slamming into a snowplow will damage your car. They also will tear up the roads, so they’re not legal to use all year round (not that you’d want to do that anyway). Generally, states have laws which say that tire chains may not be used before such-and-such a date or after such-and-such a date unless weather conditions are severe.
The chains generally have a rough edge to them on the side that contacts the road, whether this is because they’re manufactured that way or because of use I have no idea. They generally are used in areas where one has to travel a lot of unplowed roads or ones covered in ice.
Tire chains consist of two lengths of chain connected by shorter chains, so as to resemble a ladder. You drive over the “rungs” so that the wheel rests on the middle of the ladder’s length. You then lift the ends of the inner chain (the one under the car) and clip them together. Repeat with the outer chain (the one not under the car). There may also be rubber retaining straps, the long chains are sometimes replaced with metal cables, etc., but that’s basically it.
I’ve never seen anything happen to the tires; it chews up the road somethin’ fierce, though.
4&5) Yes, the ride’s bumpy, and there’s a maximum speed onthe chain package, usually (50 mph?).
Yes, people use tire chains. In transitional climates, where it’s unusual to buy snow tires or have 4WD (especially back before SPVs), tire chains are used to convert for the rare snow day. Perhaps more often, they’re used to convert a sedan with ordinary tires for entering snow country (say, for skiing). As a Californian who likes to visit Reno (and maybe will take up skiing again), I own tire chains.
I live in SC now, but lived in Illinois, and tire chains have been passe for many years. People just use snow tires now, and even studded tires are only legal certain months of the year. They are probably illegal in all the states. Here’s the Illinois law:
Lay the chains on the ground in back of each tire. Get into car, and with wheels straight, reverse the car back over the chains. Get out of car and finish fastening the chains. Alternatively, you can jack up each wheel and drape affix them manually.
Chains can damage your tires and the roadbed. They frequently become dislodged and must be checked regularly to ensure they are still properly in place.
My name’s not Opal, but hello anyway
and 5) You must drive slowly because if the chains dislodge, you can lose control of the car and/or cause damage to your wheels. It’s a fairly bumpy ride.
Not much these days unless you’re in an area that regularly experiences extreme weather. Steel-belted radials rated M&S (mud and snow) are more than capable of doubling as snow tires in most areas of the U.S., however very low temperatures can cause the rubber used in these tires to harden, lose traction and crack. If you live in a snowy area where temperatures are likely to remain below freezing for extended periods of times, special snow tires are also available. The treads on these tires are specially designed to expel snow as they roll and are made of compounds less likely to freeze.
I live in North Dakota. The only time I ever see chains on vehicles in winter anymore is on some pickups with snowplows attached. And even then it’s seldom. They tear up tires, they make you have to drive slow, and they can cause serious damage to your brake lines if they should become undone and get entangled around your axle.
Most northern dwellers use snow tires or good “all weather” tires anymore.
Living at the foot of the Colorado Rockies, I have much a different experience of laws regarding chains. Trucks and other commercial vehichles needing to go up I-70 toward the resorts are required to chain up during ice/snow on the ascent to Eisenhowser Tunnel.
Me, I have studded snows in the winter and have never used chains, but my Grandfather back in Massachusetts used to put them on the tires of his truck during especially heavy storms.
They sound like a pain to me (but probably a lifesaver too).
I’ve used chains before when I was driving on the Ice Fields Parkway. I’m sure from the name of the highway, you can understand why. This highway is closed quite often, but because it’s in the mountains, it’s not uncommon for a storm to blow in while you’re smack dab in the middle of it.
Snow tires aren’t going to do jack during a mountain storm - chains are really a necesity to make it to the other side safely.
(BTW - I’m in Canada, in Alberta, right by the mountains.)
the ones I’ve used could be put on the vehicle in situ. Took a lot of cursing and the occasional bloody knuckle, but it worked. (Those weren’t meant to be used for an entire season, just to get you over a pass.)
You’d have two loops of steel wire, connected by short strands of chain. The chain would criss-cross over the road surface of the tire. One wire loop would rest against the wall of the tire pointing away from the axle. The other loop would have an ingenious locking arrangement that would open it enough to let you pass it over the wheel and then tighten and close it on the inside. The tire “footprint” would just fit between two strands of chain.
With practice, the entire operation would take less than 5 minutes per wheel, not counting the time it took to dig the wheel out of the snow. As it entailed plenty of wrestling around with cold bits of metal, essentially inside the wheelwell, it wasn’t a popular job.
One shouldn’t go much above 20 MPH with those in place, but if you’re traversing a pass where you need chains, that’s about the max speed anyway.
I live in northern New England, and though we can get plenty of snow (about 3’ is on the ground right now), chains are rare. Outside of those who live far down a dirt road, you probably won’t see them. They are about as bad on pavement as they are good on ice and in deep snow.
I happened to be in Washington DC during a mild snowstorm (just under an inch). As you’d expect, the city was paralyzed. Schools seemed to compete to be the one that closes first. Drivers behaved as if nothing could be expected of them.
But the weird thing was all the gas stations that put out signs offering to sell and install chains. I thought this had to be a joke. But the next day (sunny, about 55 degrees) I heard a sound I thought I knew. I was right - it was a police car in Georgetown running on chains over bare, dry roads.
