Snow Chains: Who Runs Them?

The downside of siping is wear. I get 2 years from a set of tire running year round. A friend takes the used ones from me and gets a year of regular use out of them.

I wish there was a good dedicated LT snow tire other than the Firestone offering. There is a market for them with those who work in the bush. For now, most run either their favourite AT or MT and carry chains. For industrial users, roads are usually plowed but ice is an issue. It also isn't unusual to have ice in the morning and mud in the afternoon.

 

There isn't room between the tire and the upper control arm on the front ends of Tacos to run chains on the front.

 

https://autosock.us/

 

maybe I’ll grab some 1.25” spidertrax spacers and just trim the back of the fender well to avoid rubbing. I’ll only be using 265/75r16’s. Chains on rear only would be fine on the way up, would be nice to have all 4 for the way down.

 

dedicated snow tires are good if all you encounter is snow/ice or bare roads.

the issue i have run into and why i carry chains when hunting is the temperature often changes throughout the day, and what once was snow/ice now becomes soft and muddy. in my experience most dedicated snow tires are as bad in mud as all season or summer tires.

at tires such as the toyo at3 or falken wildpeak with the snow peak rating and chains when/if needed, are the best option for hunting and road conditions that vary.

 

some mountain west areas prevent you from driving on certain roadways, and mountain passes in extreme weather without chains. if you dont have chains, or cables, you are not allowed to drive past the check point, period. so you are forced to wait, or drive around the pass to a further road system, to get to a destination, or turn around and go home. so yes, it is a reality for some.

 

I bought chains the same day I bought my taco in March of 17 and have never opened the bag. My tires now are snowflake tires but I still carry the chains in winter just in case.

 

I'm going to assume you're in MN or WI. I hear this a lot from folks out that way who are surprised that anybody even needs chains because they live in a "snowy climate" and don't. While it's true that WI and MN are generally snowy, their average elevations compared to some places out west are really low and so they really just don't deal with snow to the same levels as CO, northern CA, etc where chain laws are very common. The highest point in MN is only 2300ft. I live at 6700ft year round. For example in December last year we had 18 feet of snow in 30 days and it wasn't even a record. The most snow twin cities has ever reported is 8ft over a year with the largest single storm being only 28 inches. We had 35 inches yesterday.

Some places just get a metric shittonne of snow and then need to climb thousands of feet of elevation in it. Chains are almost mandatory sometimes out here.

I still don't run them, though, because chains suck and are annoying to deal with. I run Nokian Hakka R3 SUV winter tires, unstudded, and they conquered that 18ft storm we had last year. Even unstudded winter tires are a substantial upgrade in performance over my Wildpeaks. Folks who say 3PMSF AT tires are as good as winter tires just haven't run a good winter tire.

I just keep them mounted on a set of aftermarket steelies and swap them out myself twice a year.

 

Ive had the same experience. Snowflake 3PMSF AT tires aren’t in the same world as a dedicated studless winter tire. NW PA gets a ton of snow but chains were never needed because the roads have more or less no (or minimal) elevation change. So even with ice or deep snow good tires were enough. I have the opposite where i live now in VA. Not that much snow but solid ice is common. Solid ice combined with 15-20 degree up/down inclines with 180 degree corners require chains. No tires are going to deal with that.

 

I understand that some mountain areas get a lot of snowfall, but AFAIK chains and studs don’t help in deep snow. They help on ice.

Im guessing the bigger difference is the inability to avoid steep slopes when traveling to a mountain destination.

 

I’m aware of the tire chain laws and have found them curious. I think they likely help climbing mountains in icey conditions where it’s acceptable to drive very slowly. I have a hill in my neighborhood (104' at 11.1%) that people with 2wd vehicles struggle to get up during particular snow/ice conditions. It’s simple to just avoid the hill and take a different route.

 

With my awesome 265/75/16 (c load) Duratracs, I was able to drive through a full, fresh 12" of snow, while other vehicles were stuck. Other truck brands included. Didn't even need to put it in 4 low.

Never used chains in my life, so can't comment.

 

That's not saying a lot. Fresh powdery snow is quite easy to drive through as long as you have enough ground clearance. A recent example is the 8-22" snowfall we had last December which I was able to drive through with the stock wrangler adventure tires and a ~2" lift. 12" of heavy wet snow or 12" of snow that's months old is a whole different matter. I do however agree that tires make a big difference in snow.

What a fun day in the snow.

 

Allows you to get into places you have no business being in and you’ll get stuck.

 

I drive constantly in the mountains around CO for skiing - so tend to be headed out when it is particularly bad. I made it with my '08 Outback for 3 seasons with M+S tires. Other than digging out of a few parking lots, I never had issues.

With my Tacoma I'm conflicted on what to do. Previously decided to get winters and only drive the truck when it's bad out, but headed back to Denver the winters will get more milage on hard clean roads than snow. Now I'm convinced I should get 3-peak tires (Nokian Outposts) and maybe switch those in the summer? Or not? Still haven't decided.

Never would think about chains though unless I had a steep driveway or had to go down an unmaintained road with 1+ feet of snow.

 

Nokians suck at all seasons and all weathers. Every set that I see in my shop are feathered and cupped like crazy.

I get what you're saying, we had a rough week here, 4x4 nearly every day, but now this week all the roads are plowed and clear.

I will still always have a winter set, it extends the life of the summer set and I don't have to clinch my but on shiny highway stretches.

 

I'm not familiar with the Colorado winter mountain driving, but I suspect that if M+S tires (were they A/S, A/T, or M/T?) worked fine for you then any A/T tire would work fine as well. Although I appreciate an A/T or dedicated snow tire in the snow, I have driven most of my life on all-season tires as like most people in my state do.

Here's some info on M+S and Three Peak Mountain labeling.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=125

 

I'm from Indiana and we never did anything but drive on all-seasons (M+S) even though winter driving there is much worse than CO. Colorado will be sunny and dry, but the 30 minutes up the pass is ultimately what matters. If snow stayed on the ground like at home I would get winters, but as you said, these new 'A/T' or 'all-weathers' (3-peaks) might be the way.

 

Thanks for the review on the Nokians. What do you use for your winters? Heard bad reviews of Blizzaks from longevity.

 

Blizzaks are super soft. This translates to amazing performance, short longevity. I'm running yokohama winters, they aren't as soft but last a long time.

I'm not saying you need winters, but its still worth considering.

I ran cooper at34s all weathers and they did well for 2 years of harsh winter, but ultimately on the highway I needed winter tires due to black ice in Alberta.

I'd suggest the cooper at3 4s or yokohama G015 all terrains if you want one set that is winter rated.