4WD with Snow Tire Peeps - when do you decide to use chains?

Driven in Canadian Rocky's for over 50 years. Was a ski patroller for many years. Had to go on mountain roads before plows were out. Never ever used chains. Never even bought any. It's the driver not the chains.

 

Driving on cold sticky mountain snow does not require chains. Drive on solid packed slick snow and all bets are off.

 

Also, towing in snow in some states, chains are required.

 

OP, I own a little cabin in Big Bear and have spent a lot of time up there over the years.

I carry chains in my 4wd 3rd gen, but I’ve never actually put them on. Keep it in 4wd and you’ll be fine.

It’s only when the driveway hasn’t been plowed that things get interesting

 

I had to read what R2 is and then what the California law says about "Snow Tred Tires".
From 1961, https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2017/code-veh/division-1/section-558/
"1 Snow-tread Tires: The California Vehicle Code, Section 558 defines a snow-tread tire as follows, "A 'Snow-tread tire' is a tire which has a relatively deep and aggressive tread pattern compared with conventional passenger tread pattern". Snow-tread tires can be identified by examining the sidewall of the tire where the letters MS, M/S, M+S or the words MUD AND SNOW have been stamped into the sidewall."
Wow, that is not updated, scary. Colorado traction law goes above and states minimum tread depth https://www.codot.gov/travel/winter-driving/tractionlaw

At least you are on 3Peak rated tires which are better than an M&S, though neither is even close to being better than a set of dedicated winter tires for street/highway driving. https://www.tirebuyer.com/education/all-season-tires-vs-winter-tires

On my family farm, the rule was always to use 2wd until you get stuck, then use 4wd to get out with trucks and tractors. Whether you are 2wd, 4wd, AWD, chained up, etc, it doesn't matter once you are sliding. I was tracking a D8, it started to slide, nothing I could do other than drop the blade, and it pivoted on the blade when it hit the ground; very scary.

I use four Toyo Observe GSi6 winter tires, crushed walnut shells FTW, almost never use 4wd, and rarely see the truck flash traction control lights. I do have a pair of Koning chains in the bed which I have not even installed on the Tacoma.


The only vehicle I throw four chains on is my 6500lb GMC 1 ton SRW plow truck when I am plowing through deep or super steep driveways.

 

I was just joking,little laughing face didn't show up after post. But I will add this , chains are great to have used them many times when I'm hunting on shitty mountain roads in the snow and mud( loon shit as we call it). Most highways good tires is usually adequate. Freezing rain is a situation where chains are helpful. Going more than 30 mph with chains is not a good idea,can be done. Get good chains size them for your truck cheap insurance.

 

That’s why I use studded tires.

 

Another Canadian driver here, frequent Rockies often. Best snowboarding is in storms lol, never needed or used chains. Driver mod

 

Keep in mind the owners manual says not to use chains on the front wheels of our trucks. Rear only

 

Many years off-roading in the BC Rockies, and chains are a godsend on steep roads with deep snow or ice. Help going up and going down. The main thing to keep in mind is putting them on BEFORE you get into the deep and slippery bits. I do a few dry runs installing them and removing them on my lawn in the fall...always nice to know they are "OK" and I refresh my memory on how to install them correctly before it's critical.
Pro tips: put a tarp or thick blanket in your truck to lie on when you are installing the chains, if you are getting into an area where you are going to need them, the road is usually muddy or has a lot of wet snow. And put a set of dry leather gloves in with the chains....cold steel is not fun to handle with bare hands.

My faves: https://www.nosted.com/en/trygg-standard-double-duty

 

cant use them on the front

 

All great advise.

I put my chains in a Harbor Freight Apache case, along with a set of heavy duty 9mil Nitrile mechanics gloves. Additionally, I added a few 5" lengths of 2"x4" wood.

I can drive up onto these pieces of wood and this gets the tire off the surface enough to really be able to work the chains around the tire better for the first cinch down. Obviously I give it a hundred feet or so and retighten everything.

 

The inexperienced drivers.. holy shit..
The biggest problem when it comes to the roads and snow up here definitely isn't the snow... It's all the people that think an AWD/4x4 setup means you can speed on ice.. usually that comes in the form of a Subaru/"new driver please be patient" decal/ and a California plates...

 

Another Canadian here. Personally don't think chains are required (if you're on a maintained road/highway). Last winter drove the Icefields Highway from Lake Louise to Jasper (233 km) with 12-18" of snow on the highway. The biggest issue was visibility from other vehicles. My biggest concern was the fact so much snow accumulated between the bumper and the blind spot monitors that they didn't work till the spring when all the snow melted in that area. Really good snow tires are a must. I've got Nokian Hakkapellitta snow tires & 6 sand bags in the bed. Drive for the conditions and you should be good. As others have said, I mostly worry about the other guy.....

 

Another fellow Canadian (Albertan) here. I have chains but only time I bust them out is to recover a buddy that got stuck way off in the boonies. If it helps you sleep it doesn't hurt to have some handy but you shouldn't be driving faster than 50kph with them on. I personally just drive around in 2wd. Because if you get stuck in 4wd. Whats your next option gonna be. Take it slow and feel the road. I drove a 2wd ranger with summer tire for the first year and at tires for the remaining 6 before I got a taco. Never hit the ditch and never got stuck ( on roads) and for 3 years I would commute from Calgary to Fort Mac atleast once if not twice a month when I was in college. People in that area know highway 2 is terrible anytime of year for one reason or another but particularly in the winter because of wind, snow and chinooks which breed ice combined with stupid drivers. Take it slow your first drive in the winter and feel the road. If you're driving and it feels squirrelly or in any other cases of doubt just slow down a little bit. You probably wouldn't need chains. And if you have an mt I would practise rev matching for downshifts or a rough down shift could put you in a little slide.

 

BC interior driving around western Canada for 30 years. Don’t own chains, they don’t fit modern cars/trucks. Winter tires are better and Blizzaks have not let me down.

I ran chains on crummys working in the bush, I’ll tell you those were miserable days and I was glad it wasn’t my truck..

 

I've driven from Miami to Maine to Montana. I've been in a lot of snow, especially in the Colorado Rockies. Not all snow is the same. Rocky Mt snow was easy peasy, even when over a foot deep. I not only didn't need chains, but I also didn't need 4X4 to get across several mountain passes during a major winter snow.

Some guys like to make fun of southern drivers when it snows here. But this is the type of snow we see. It usually starts as rain with temperatures above freezing. As the rain falls and temps drop it turns to snow, but the road surfaces aren't below freezing yet and even though a layer of snow builds up on pavement, the road is still above freezing, at least for a while. This most often happens at night and temps usually do drop well below freezing after dark.

It is rare here for it to stay below freezing for more than a few hours. At some point the next day it will warm, and we get a partial melt. Which means a film of water on top of the ice. At night it re-freezes and the process starts over the next day until it eventually all melts.

Snow removal equipment is limited, and they do a good job of keeping major roads open. But back roads like where I live don't get anything. We are on our own for a few days. With any incline at all you need chains on this stuff. And to be honest the cheap cables are probably the best option for stuff like this.

 

I had a set of chains for the stock tires. Never used them. 4WD was more than sufficient.

Once the Toyos wore out, I got 32in Wildpeaks. I tried fitting the chains just in case, but it was a no go. So, I sold them.

Now with -10mm offset wheels, I could probably run chains on all four, but just have not seen the need. Even on the icy days that we had last year and this winter.

 

If I don't have to be anywhere and already home before our roads are icy like that, chains or no chains, my ass is staying home.

Great time to beer up in my PJ's.

 

BC mountain passes and only once, on road, have I thought about chaining up. Icy Hope-Princeton, traffic at a crawl as semis spin out on the hills nearly had me spinning out.

Good winter tires, weight and judicious use of the skinny pedal all help.

I do always carry a good set of v-bar chains and do have to use them on icy packed forestry roads I work on. Think about the hills you have to climb and what the road conditions are. Sliding off the road and then having to chain up is not very fun or practical.

Defensive driving is being prepared.