Tire Chains - Snow in the Mountains - Yes You

[jackelope]

And yes, there is a difference.

[buglebuster]

Same concept, snow is snow.

[Special T]

I have a question.  I have a set of chains for my old truck I never used, my new truck has a little bigger tires on it and the chains dont quite fit. Can I add links to them to make them fit?

Yes, if you have the correct link/chains to add.

I have an old set I dismantled to have spare links, in case some break.
There is a tool out there specifically designed to work on tire chains but I cant find it any place and have not seen them in years 

Any commercial tire shop that sells truck tires should have the pliers. they are mostly used for replacing the cross chain that goes between the tire and road the only way to add links it to cut and weld with the pliers you can shorten the chain not lengthen it.

[jackelope]

Same concept, snow is snow.

Disagree respectfully. The last thing I want is to be floating/skiing/sliding around on big wide tires. Get the pizza  cutters dug in on solid ground and go.

[JLS]

Same concept, snow is snow.

It sure is, but when you're traveling a forest service road that is rutted and drifted, you're going to have a pretty hard time staying on top of the snow.

[huntnnw]

wide tires suck on ice and snow! Narrow agressive tires will out perform hands down

[buglebuster]

Where have I been my wide toyo mt's do waaaaay better than the narrower toyo mt's I had on my daily driver before.. either way, chains work

[KFhunter]

If your in a lightweight rock crawler or toyota, yes a big fat tire aired down can get you to float - until the snow turns to mashed potatoes with sunshine.


snow is not snow - there's so many different types of snow and snow conditions - all varied throught the day with temps and sunshine. 

The only consistant way to travel through snow is to chew down through it.  If you have a big fat tire then your chains will have to work that much harder to move the snow out of the way to hit the dirt, then your surface area will be bigger and you'll get less bite.   Over here with hood deep powder snow, which you can get over night your big fatty tires are going to try to float and ride up on the snow, your tires will hop and you'll have to back out of it or destroy your drive train.

[KFhunter]

Some of the best deep snow - chained up tire I've seen are the old bias ply directionals.  Man them things dig to china 

[bearpaw]

set of 4 chains in my truck 24/7/365, never take them out 

[Huntergal]

Nope not me...I will not drive up or go down mountains with snow on them....Yep I am chicken.    Have no problem walking. LOL

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Same concept, snow is snow.

Disagree respectfully. The last thing I want is to be floating/skiing/sliding around on big wide tires. Get the pizza  cutters dug in on solid ground and go.

You got it. More surface area turns your tires into skis. Not good. Especially if the snow turns into packed ice from log trucks driving over it.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

I just bought a set of these chains and the salesmen claimed they don't need tighteners. We'll see.  You snug them up with the chain through the two loops and there is nothing to flop around.

http://www.lesschwab.com/road_cam.html

[jackelope]

If your in a lightweight rock crawler or toyota, yes a big fat tire aired down can get you to float - until the snow turns to mashed potatoes with sunshine.


snow is not snow - there's so many different types of snow and snow conditions - all varied throught the day with temps and sunshine. 

The only consistant way to travel through snow is to chew down through it.  If you have a big fat tire then your chains will have to work that much harder to move the snow out of the way to hit the dirt, then your surface area will be bigger and you'll get less bite.   Over here with hood deep powder snow, which you can get over night your big fatty tires are going to try to float and ride up on the snow, your tires will hop and you'll have to back out of it or destroy your drive train.

This...

[JLS]

So what width tires are you guys considering wide, and what do you consider pizza cutters?