Snow chains

cindy71 · #1 01/29/14, 07:36 AM

With the snow storm that hit Alabama yesterday and all the people stranded because let's face it we don't drive in this mess. OK now are there any type of chains for tires so that someone like myself can keep them in my SUV as a prep from now on that doesn't weight as much as chains that I have seen. I know we should have all stayed home but this came in fast and no one was expecting it in this part of the state. Northerners don't laugh to hard, we will be sending heat your way soon. LOL

farmerj · #2 01/29/14, 07:40 AM

Cable chains or autosocks would be what you are looking for.

mrs whodunit · #3 01/29/14, 07:41 AM

Cables are light weight and easy enough to keep in ones vehicle.

wy_white_wolf · #4 01/29/14, 09:35 AM

http://www.amazon.com/Security-Compa...words=traction

http://www.amazon.com/Heininger-Auto...words=traction

http://www.amazon.com/Michelin-98005...words=traction

Harry Chickpea · #5 01/29/14, 10:44 AM

Chains are illegal many places because they ruin the road surfaces before they fall apart in twenty miles. Anything along those lines are only a last ditch effort for distances of five miles or less.

simi-steading · #6 01/29/14, 10:51 AM

Chains don't replace staying off bad roads... I've lived and driven in snowy and icy places for years and years and have never owned chains... If I need them, then it's not worth the risk getting out..

It's not me I have to worry about, but the other idiots that don't know how to drive on snow and ice that are probably going to take me out.. Better to stay home if it's so bad you need chains..

Pugnacious · #7 01/29/14, 10:51 AM

Where are they illegal when the road is snow covered? I've lived in many snow states and never heard that. Dry pavement is a different story. A good set will last years, not miles. I had hundreds of miles on my last set. Yeah they were worn out......

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Harry Chickpea · #8 01/29/14, 11:44 AM

"Where are they illegal when the road is snow covered?"

Vermont banned use of them except in exceptional instances IIRC. Some secondary roads were (are?) a skim coat of macadam that couldn't hold up. I do know that they weren't considered an option, and the steel studded tires could only be used certain months.

wy_white_wolf · #9 01/29/14, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simi-steading

Chains don't replace staying off bad roads... I've lived and driven in snowy and icy places for years and years and have never owned chains... If I need them, then it's not worth the risk getting out..

It's not me I have to worry about, but the other idiots that don't know how to drive on snow and ice that are probably going to take me out.. Better to stay home if it's so bad you need chains..

Not getting out isn't an option when you're the tow truck driver. At times I had chains covering all 6 tires of the truck just to get around. Top speed of 20MPH sucked but it's what was needed to get the ambulance to the emergency room.

WWW

simi-steading · #10 01/29/14, 12:28 PM

I get chains if you are a tow truck driver, but most people should really stay home.. If they don't know how to drive on snow, then chains aren't going to be that big of a help..

cindy71 · #11 01/29/14, 12:37 PM

I was working yesterday when all this snow came in I did try to drive in it but turned around a half mile away and came back to the house that was cleaning. I am so glad I did. I stayed the night here and will be here another night. Thanks everyone for the ideas on chains the autosock is the one that caught my eye. I only want them to have as last effort to get to a safe place so I don't have to be suck on the road as so many have been in this mess. I am just looking ahead.

Ernie · #12 01/29/14, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cindy71

I was working yesterday when all this snow came in I did try to drive in it but turned around a half mile away and came back to the house that was cleaning. I am so glad I did. I stayed the night here and will be here another night. Thanks everyone for the ideas on chains the autosock is the one that caught my eye. I only want them to have as last effort to get to a safe place so I don't have to be suck on the road as so many have been in this mess. I am just looking ahead.

So did it really just come out of nowhere? Or did just nobody expect it to be as bad as it is?

www.weather.com is not always accurate, but they're better than nothing.

Limon · #13 01/29/14, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ernie

So did it really just come out of nowhere? Or did just nobody expect it to be as bad as it is?

www.weather.com is not always accurate, but they're better than nothing.

I think it's the same thing as happened with Sandy. You can warn people all night and day about something, but if they've never lived through it, it doesn't really register. It's the difference between an abstraction and an experience.

Hearing that it's going to be cold doesn't make someone suddenly understand how quickly hypothermia sets in. Until it happens to them, they don't know that once the power goes out their house is quickly going to get cold. They can hear that it's going to snow, but they don't realize that on unsalted, unplowed roads, snow turns to ice and ice ain't very forgiving.

Darren · #14 01/29/14, 03:25 PM

We have chains on our two fire engines. When you have to go, you have to go. If the snow and ice disappear it's easier to loosen them and drive out than put them on and then go.

cindy71 · #15 01/29/14, 04:56 PM

Ernie it didn't just come out of no where we just didn't expect as much here in Birmingham. I wasn't the only one. I did have extra clothes, water, food and 4 sternos I could have use to cook and heat with, so I would have been better off than most. Thankful I didn't have to stay in my SUV over night.

rusticfarmer · #16 01/29/14, 05:06 PM

My wife is a nurse. When she has to work she has to go in. There are very few times we can't make it in with chains. We have a few great big hills in Pennsylvania that we have to traverse. It is nerve racking at times. We have studded tires on one car and chains for the other. Here in PA you have to remove the studded tires by April 15. I have used cables but they don't work as good as chains. You can get a nice set of chains at wally world (walmart) for about $40.00 they come in a case you can toss in your trunk.
ttyl, Rich
Are you a homesteader? http://amzn.to/1htFqQv

Quelby Farms · #17 01/29/14, 05:15 PM

I am a mailman and we have pretty harsh winters in this part of Virginia. I have no choice but to at least try to complete my route, and chains make a massive difference on my Jeep Cherokee. I usually get out on the roads before the plows make it to most of the mountains, so I try to not have any dependence on the state trucks for help, although I am very grateful for what they do and they do the best they can. We have had a very cold and snowy winter, we were expecting flurries yesterday but it ended up snowing 5 inches. I have a set made for light trucks from Advanced Auto, they were $100.00.

farmerj · #18 01/29/14, 05:47 PM

I chained up in Alabama of all places. State patrol closed the road due to trucks blocked the road three miles up and at Troy, the DOT was closing the roads anyway.

I opted to have total control for turning around and chained the primary drives and a drag on the trailer.

Glad I did. It was 1/4" ice on the road. No snow.

Pulled out my ice cleats too. Only one not slipping on the road.

Bret F · #19 01/29/14, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simi-steading

Chains don't replace staying off bad roads... I've lived and driven in snowy and icy places for years and years and have never owned chains... If I need them, then it's not worth the risk getting out..

It's not me I have to worry about, but the other idiots that don't know how to drive on snow and ice that are probably going to take me out.. Better to stay home if it's so bad you need chains..

I have used mine a number of times in the backcountry. I have hobbies that purposely take me into those areas so I go prepared.

In town; I'm with you. I don't eve have studded tires, just all season tires.

In my wife's van, we carry cables when we travel to see her family that, (unfortunately) live on the other side of Donner pass. We have had two instances where we would have sat for two days without them, and a third where they let us go in my pickup with 4WD.

driftwood · #20 01/29/14, 08:19 PM

yes cindy,,,,you should be prepared for bad times.....i see cable-type chains on mail vehicles regularly .....
if someone in my family needs me,i have chains for all four wheels and know how to install them......
chains can save your life or vehicle on ice..... i have driven hundred of miles with chains....some people blow and some people go.....
i buy them at yard sale's sometimes for 2-$5.....my wife even buy's them......