Snow chains?????

So they got some snow on the mountain. If I had to chain up, front? back? both? Being a desert boy never spent much time playing in the white stuff.

Back should be sufficient. If you've never driven with chains, you'll be astonished at how much traction you get. Don't do front alone unless you're snow plowing parking lots, or you run the risk of pivoting on downhills when the rear lets go.

Depends on your tires. If you have "all-season" tires, even if they say M+S, they are NOT considered snow tires. A CHP officer might look at your tires, if they are almost bald mud boggers, NO. If they are BFG A/T's or something similar, beefy, with good tread, yes). Some on-road tires qualify as snow tires. Some off-road tires don't. the best way to tell is if they have the little snowflake, mountain logo on the sidewall.

In CA there are 3 designations for chains. 1. Chains required, except 4 wheel drive with snow tires
2. Chains required for ALL vehicles. In that case you really only need to chain up the rear.
3. Road closed - except for for emergency vehicles - go home!

If you are off-roading in the snow, you could get away with any off-road tire that had some meat on it (like I said, boggers suck in the snow). If you want to make sure you've covered it all chain up 4 tires.

For most highway conditions you'll be fine with anything that looks beefy and 4 wheel drive, without chains, just don't be an idiot and think you are immune to sliding 'cause you have a 4x4. Most of the accidents on I-80 over Donner summit are nimrods in their 4x4, all wheel drive, "trucks" who think they can drive just like on a dry road because they have a 4 wheel drive Escape or Jimmy.

Slow down, don't tailgate, and especially don't SLAM on your brakes for anything, cause they won't work, you'll just slide right in to the guy in front of you, or a tree, or a canyon, or (e) all of the above.

P.S. Have fun!!

I've used the following before and it's worked out pretty well:

4WD/AWD: chain both the front & rear tyres if possible. In a 4WD system (XJ), just doing the rears is OK; in an AWD system that goes heavy on torque-split electronics (Subaru), doing only the fronts may be better.

FWD: fronts only.

RWD: rears mandatory, fronts optional.

But as Matthew Currie pointed out, just doing the rears is fine. You may also want to look into cables instead of chains; they're usually easier to get on and off, and are less of a pain if you have to drive on dry pavement for any distance. Traction is typically comparable to chains.

In an emergency, i would put chains on the front wheels of 4wd.

Few Reasons:
Weight over front wheels.
Steering is given traction.
Rear wheels follow front wheels tracks. Thus, rear wheels have less traction than front. Put the chains on wheels with best traction.

casm said:

You may also want to look into cables instead of chains; they're usually easier to get on and off, and are less of a pain if you have to drive on dry pavement for any distance. Traction is typically comparable to chains.

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I agree with cables. Alot easier to put on/off. Good traction, especially over a good tire. Smoother ride.

Out here they don't use salt on the roads, they use kind of a dirty sand. It makes for nice gritty ice that does in fact keep the roads drivable.

My favorite picture driving in a foot of snow on a gravel road at 6,000 ft. to get our Xmas tree. No chains, just 31" Wranglers.

http://www.rubicon-trail.com/jeep101/chains.html

Everything is a compromise.

...and basically the OP is going to Flagstaff or Taos, not Ice Trucking or driving the AlCan Hiway.

Merry Christmas evvverybody.

clean96XJ said:

In an emergency, i would put chains on the front wheels of 4wd.

Few Reasons:
Weight over front wheels.
Steering is given traction.
Rear wheels follow front wheels tracks. Thus, rear wheels have less traction than front. Put the chains on wheels with best traction.

Click to expand...

This has been discussed elsewhere at other times at some length. For just getting down the road, you're fine with just the front, and it's often the preferred rig for snowplowing, but if you're going on trails, etc., and especially when slopes are steep or cambered, there's a real risk on deceleration or braking that when the rear loses traction and the front does not, the fronts will act as a pivot around which the rear swings, and you'll have difficulty keeping the front ahead of the rear.

This used to be a common problem back in the old days when the first front drive Saabs came out. They were hugely front-heavy, with understeer so severe that they would plow straight under power and pop back into line only when you let off the gas. All fine when used right, and unstoppable in snow, but if you hit the brakes on a slippery surface, the vehicle could almost instantaneously do a 180 degree spin and be flying down the highway backwards.

----Merry Xmas to all----

:cheers:arty:
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Would cables pass for chains most places?


(seems like cables would be lighter and easy to pack. ?)

Thanks!

Thanks for all the insight. All their asking for here, for the conditions now are chains or 4 wheel drive. going to throw the chains in the XJ when we go up, just in case.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

orange said:

----Merry Xmas to all----

:cheers:arty:
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Would cables pass for chains most places?


(seems like cables would be lighter and easy to pack. ?)

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I use chains on all four wheels, don't own cables for the XJ.

IMHO cables are fine for roads, but they don't hold up well off road.

Thank you, Joe!

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Long, Long ago.....Big storm...everyone lined up at big store for chains. Looking at long line decided to go for 2 sets just in case.
Couple of weeks later...friends getting married, his vehicle same as mine.. Sooo!.. one set of tire chains NIB wrapped up nice with ribbon. BIG Laugh all around.
They honeymooned in the mountains. Comeing back, BIG Blizzard, Highway blocked off. NO one allowed on without chains.
----2nd Big laugh all around!!---

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(They camped a lot and had all the gear with them, and cautious drivers, so no real danger.)

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JOE,
Thanks for all the 'pay it forward' this year from you and the rest of the crew at . We all learned a lot and hopefully the info will help others.

Regards,
Orange

One valuable lesson for chains in deep snow though. If you get stuck get off the gas or you'll quickly dig the tires down and you'll be high centered. I've done that a few times. In fact I think I actually get stuck more often with chains than without.

ParadiseXJ said:

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That is one BEAUTIFUL pic!

I cruised up to Mammoth Lakes without chains using 4WD and DuraTracs. I pwned the snow during that huge storm that just dropped all the snow there.