Tire Chains? Do you have them for YOUR car/truck?

[MaineSkiLady]

Many years ago, we had the radial "chains" (wire-wrapped), back in the RWD years. They worked.

In Maine, studded snow tires are legal, from Oct 1 to May 1. They make ALL THE DIFFERENCE here. We finally invested in steel wheels for 3 cars so the changeover twice annually is easier.

We live on a rather steep hill (although we're at the bottom), and many times, before the plow could arrive, people would get stuck in their uphill attempt, have to park in our driveway - and get shuttled up to their homes in our Subaru Forester (studded snow tires). It never flinched!

 

[AltaEgo]

Hey Ladies, hope everyone is doing great. This is an interesting discussion for me. I have a 300 foot Intermediate steepness driveway. i have four wheel drive and snow tires on rims, but the snows got old and dry rotted. We here in PA had a dismal no snow year. Never even got the snow blower out at all. With so little snow, I have been debating all the options since I hope to be back skiing this year. My car has 192,000 miles on it, but I just put a timing belt on it and expect to have it two more years. After all the discussion I decided to go with snow tires again, mostly for peace of mind. I hope we get some El Niño snow this year!

 

[NWSkiGirl]

I came across this article and it's scared me into driving slowly and following all guidelines on the way to the mountain. I'm not sure how often chains are required though... We do have some dangerous mountain passes in Washington.

https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article282957078.html

 

[marge]

I regularly trip to the U.P. in my Dodge. I don't even have all-wheel drive. We've been driving it up there for 13 years now. My gf and I do an annual trip up there for about 12 days and hit most of the resorts with one in Wisconsin. We go up at least 2 other times to the Keweenaw and, honestly, they do an amazing job clearing the roads so I can't see needing them. We've been up there when it's NASTY out and I've never had a problem, even without the 4X4. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone run chains up there either.

 

[Iwannaski]

My husband just yelled at me and said 1st gear is the worst gear to use on the snow. OK.

I had to check his opinion. He is wrong. Bridgestone recommends keeping the vehicle in a low gear (1-3).

Winter Driving Safety Tips

www.bridgestonetire.com

Your comment was a whole ride for me, because I was always taught that if you’re driving in a tenuous traction situation, lower gear is better.

Then I read your husband’s “yell” and thought OH NO I HAVE BEEN DOING IT WRONG?

Then I read your check and laughed a little.

Then I was annoyed at myself for believing him over you.

A WHOLE JOURNEY.

And then I keep reading… so I guess I always put it in “a lower gear” ..which probably wasn’t always down to 1.

A tremendous journey.

 

[Iwannaski]

@Amie H … As you know I drive in WI, and regularly drive in snowy conditions. I have an AWD Pilot (often equipped with a roof box in the winter). We drive that as our primary skibound vehicle. I have not taken it all the way to the UP, but we have driven to both Wausau and Lutsen in that car with the OEM Michelin all season tires in rough conditions - wind and snow, and the car seemed to be fine. I was white knuckled (even on the stretch I wasn’t driving) …and I guess if I were going deep off a main road, I might wonder, but unless you’re truly backcountry, I think you’d be fine. For reference we drove through THIS:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1494813814084149252

 

[kkclimb]

I've used chains once. Historically, I've put studded tires on my FWD sedan during winters when I knew I'd be driving on mountain roads a fair bit; however, with most of my driving not being that I looked at alternatives in recent years. I have a very low clearance sedan that I bought cables for. I tried to practice putting them on in my driveway and found I just couldn't do it on my own; the band that needed to be stretched to attach all the clips for the appropriate tension was just too stiff for me in cold weather (and I read some reviews indicating others had the same struggle). If I need something for the sedan in the future, I plan to get some autosocks instead. A couple of winters ago the 4WD in my truck wasn't working, leaving me with just RWD, on a weekend when I was planning to go to the mountain, and not being able to use the cables I had, I picked up some chains in case they were needed, which they ended up being. I had practiced those once in my driveway as well, and they were easy enough to get on, but it was time consuming that first time out on the road in snow, making sure I had everything aligned correctly etc. I'd like to think I could do it quicker in the future if needed (but I've also got working 4WD drive now so would hope to not need them).

So, with that limited experience, and the hope that you'll rarely need additional traction devices with an AWD vehicle, I would suggest regular chains or auto socks. Whatever you end up with, I would also suggest practicing at least once to make sure you know how they work. I didn't find any need for wedges.

With you on this, I found it impossible to get the cable type “chains” on my sedan with low profile tires. I haven’t heard of auto socks but going to check those out!

 

[Amie H]

@Iwannaski So my new car I *just* discovered has an option just called "L". I used it yesterday when we were moving cars around to clear the driveway after the snow/slush storm. Seemed capable, though was just a tiny distance. So I guess that will be my go-to. I still want to do a UP trip but my local friends don't want to drive farther than the Dells, which I understand.
I've discussed this before but much of the UP/far N WI lodging is priced for families/groups, not solo skiers. Sorry, I'm not paying $500+ / night for a dumpy outdated condo for just me!

 

[Amie H]

I regularly trip to the U.P. in my Dodge. I don't even have all-wheel drive. We've been driving it up there for 13 years now. My gf and I do an annual trip up there for about 12 days and hit most of the resorts with one in Wisconsin. We go up at least 2 other times to the Keweenaw and, honestly, they do an amazing job clearing the roads so I can't see needing them. We've been up there when it's NASTY out and I've never had a problem, even without the 4X4. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone run chains up there either.

Do you do Mont Ripley or Bohemia? I'd be curious to spend a day at the former. Glades and cliffs are not my jam

 

[Iwannaski]

I’d agree on the disconnect between the quality and price of some of the lodging. The market really has power… LOL

 

[Susan L]

I had cables for back in the days when I had non AWD vehicles. Nothing since I only drive AWD and I have a set of winter tires for ski season.

 

[Chuyi]

Today I rode on the chair at Alta with people from South Carolina who told me they have a traction device it's a button in their Subaru labeled "traction". . In case you are wondering the roads with traction requirement are the roads to ski resorts