Snow Traction

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for winter snow traction options. I would like to avoid chains. Was considering SnoClaws (http://www.flextrax.com/default.htm), which can be put on without jacking up the truck, and only require 1/2" of sidewall clearance. I've measured that my 2016 OR AC has no more than 1" sidewall clearance in the front.

Anyone have experience with this or a different product?

 

Trust me, as a person that has been going up in the mountains around Seattle for work for many years there is no substitute for chains...and don't buy cheap ones ! They come apart and do a lot of damage. No one I knows jacks up a truck to put on chains....Where did you get that idea?

Clay

 

I have no experience with chains, so I was making the assumption jacking was required on the basis that makers of alternatives to chains tout as one of the advantages of their products that no jacking is necessary.

 

Hi,

You don't have to jack up the truck to put chains on, lay them out behind or in front of your tires and drive over them and then do them up.

There may be a YouTube video on it you could watch.

 

This

 

OK, no jacking needed with chains. But with chains isn't the vehicle speed limited to around 25 mph? If so, once you reach more or less cleared roads you would have to stop and remove the chains. With the product referenced in the link, it is claimed that normal highway speeds are possible. Not sure if this is a realistic claim.

 

If conditions require chains there is no reason whatsoever you should be traveling at "normal highway speeds". There is no traction aid better than normal chains, they are not that difficult to use at all, put them on when you need them, take them off when you don't. Any tire traction aid will put your tires out of balance for the duration of the time you are using them, if even if you could run up to highway speeds safely (which I highly doubt) your going to be doing more harm than good.

 

In what conditions are you anticipating needing chains with a TRD OR? We get close to 300" a year and don't need them unless I'm going somewhere I probably shouldn't be with a truck.

 

Have you check on the front tires how much clearance you have between sidewall and the spindle at the top of the tire? I would say check that first..

 

Chains all the way! Also, toss some sandbags in the bed above the rear axle for added weight/traction.

 

I agree. Just buy some good winter tires and call it a day. I can't imagine any on road driving situation where I would want chains and I LIKE driving in snowstorms...sort distances anyway....

 

Snow tires make a huge difference but still, even that. I've been on the hwy where they closed the gates on each side behind me with no plowing. My rear diff was making grooves in the snow and still didn't need chains.

 

snow driving sounds fun lol

 

I'll be driving in it today right after I pick up my truck.

 

I live at some elevation and have six miles of driving to do to reach lower heights. The road conditions at elevation can be very different from conditions at lower levels, so there can be considerable snow in the upland and clear roads otherwise. For that reason I was searching for an alternative to chains, so I wouldn't have to keep putting them on and taking them off in the middle of a commute.

Do I need anything more than 4x4, locking diff, weight in the bed, and good snow tires to handle the considerable grades along the upland roads? I'm not sure, because this will be my first winter here. But neighbors have generally recommended chains or at least something to increase tire traction (my immediate neighbor uses some device with springs on it).

 

It's hard to get a really accurate measurement of the sidewall clearance, but with a tape measure I get about an inch clearance in the front. The product I was considering needs only 1/2 inch of sidewall clearance.

 

You don't need any of that. I'm at 9,000 ft in Colorado. Weight in the back will help.

 

And don't use your locking diff in snow unless your stuck.

 

I've only ever needed to chain up twice having lived in harsh winter climates 18 out my 21 years behind the wheel. Many of those years spent in FWD cars. A decent traction tire and a bit of common sense will be more than enough in all but the worst conditions.

 

All you need is a 2X4... preferably treated to withstand moisture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUUckU-vAqI