Tire Chain Question...

[stefan]

Something I never thought much of on a small vehicle, but there are a pile of options available. Obviously somebody is using them. Anyone here ever use chains? It is a pretty specific application here. My wife runs a dayhome and does 3 school runs a day with a van full of other people's kids. The route is largely the lesser maintained small roads, and there is a hill half way.

Tires on the van are already pretty decent winters and 9 times out of 10 she can pull out and go around the stuck cars, but the last two days have been a problem.

Option 1 would be to swap the good winters with better winters. The current ones are the ones I bought the van with and are not studded.

Option 2 would be to look at a fancier car with better drive system (EDL, all-wheel drive)

Option 3 - Tire chains for the couple days they would be needed - would be cheap and easy???

They are defiantly legal to run, but I have never seen them used here, or even back in Invermere/Panorama area when I lived there other than trucks and plows.

Is there a massive disadvantage? There is no highway use here - all low speed residential driving.

[witchcraftz]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

Tire chains can help a lot in winter. Just make sure you get the right size, you don't want them to be loose and you don't want the link size to be too big and rub. I carry a set in BC all winter long, many places in the mountains have "winter tires or carry snow chains" signs.

The downside is having t get out of you car to put them on.

[CGDoig]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

Yeah they suck to put on. But traction wise it is pretty unbeatable. I ran some on my e30 back when I was a mountain bum. Never had a problem going up snow covered slippery roads.

[JPO]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

I ran chains only once, it was on the road to Mt Baker with a MK3 golf and the traction was indeed incredible. Putting them on was a pain in the ass and not recomended for fun and amusment. The noise and vibration when on hard packed, drier sections was tough to take and I needed to put along as a result.

[stefan]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

Thanks guys. I got a similar review from Tirebob. He also mentioned that going for a spin and doing some heavy start/stops to get used to it is a good thing. Lots of traction in the front and less in the rear can cause interesting situations if not used to it.

For our Mazda van I can get a well reviewed set of chains for 125$, so I will try it out.

[RONDAL]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

used them when lived in ft st john. good traction, pain the ass to work with
they are better for country roads and roads that dont ever get plowed and you simply have built up snow you are driving on. city streets that get plowed even semi-often they are certainly worse to deal with than proper winter tires.

Given the choice, for your application, given you just want a car for your wife where she can get in and go, i would likely go with better tires, simply because of the weather we see here and having to take them on and off as weather changes and chinooks come and go.

[stefan]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

Tires is still an option. I'll give the chains a try. I think I can flip them or just leave them in the trunk for emergencies if they don't work. The car doesn't do much other than house to school (no highway) so for the duration of most bad weather spans, they can stay on the car and not require too many on-offs. Her winters have piles of life left and are really pretty decent. The only noticeable upgrade would be studs, which I will defiantly to when these winters are toast. After a couple years of studs on my Passat, I have grown to love them!

used them when lived in ft st john. good traction, pain the ass to work with
they are better for country roads and roads that dont ever get plowed and you simply have built up snow you are driving on. city streets that get plowed even semi-often they are certainly worse to deal with than proper winter tires.

Given the choice, for your application, given you just want a car for your wife where she can get in and go, i would likely go with better tires, simply because of the weather we see here and having to take them on and off as weather changes and chinooks come and go.

[Natty54]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

could try something like these:

http://www.ecstuning.com/News/ISSE_T...aign=postreply

[witchcraftz]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

Interesting, but I'm not sure I would trust cloth tire chains though...

[Lars]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

I used chains lots , tractors, skidders, loaders, logging trucks, highway super b's ..all in BC interior and nothing beats the traction they give .. Always carried a set in my personal trucks also when growing up there, even with my studded winters. Are you looking at cable or chain link chains ?

[hooddub]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

Why not just opt for studded tires? Chains seem a bit extreme considering how many chinooks we get and how often we have clear roads. Studded tires are the furthest I would go and they're beast anyways. I always thought chains were illegal in cities.

[stefan]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

Why not just opt for studded tires? Chains seem a bit extreme considering how many chinooks we get and how often we have clear roads. Studded tires are the furthest I would go and they're beast anyways. I always thought chains were illegal in cities.

CPS says they are legal. I would do studs if the winters we have weren't nearly new. The chains are good because they are cheap and because of the few days they are needed. Put on for two days and maybe not again for the rest of the year around here, and that's fine.
I'll report back after trying them out....

[jta430]

Re: Tire Chain Question...

https://www.qualitychaincorp.com/1034-cobra-cable-chain

another option is the cable chains easier to handle and install for sure.