Tell me about tire chains. I�ll be driving from south western Pennsylvania to Great Falls Mt next month and will be calling MT home for the next 5-7 years. I feel like it could be a huge benefit to have some tire chains available to me on the long haul across the northern US.

I grew up in PA, I know how to drive on ice. Pretty simple, drive like you don�t have breaks. But I�ve been told that I could get into some areas on that drive where chains can save me some major headache.

I�d like to also have a set of chains handy for when I get into some ugly off road conditions. I know I wished I had them on many occasions when I�ve gotten myself into some wet Northern New Mexico clay. One of those always wanted them, but never had a big enough excuse to really go searching and buy some.

So, in the fire�s vast wisdom what is the best kind of chain? What kind of tensioners? Hell, Where do I even get them, online??

Truck will be a 04 dodge 2500 4x4.

Wal-Mart in Durango, Co. has what you need. Go online and buy what you need for your tire size.

Most auto parts supply store carries them. All Walmarts in Colo Springs do also.

If you are going to do it, go heavy duty. Get the ones with the V bars on the cross links. Get them for all 4 wheels. You might not need them, but if you are going to be in Montana for that amount of time and do hunting occasionally you might. Forget about the cable types.

I don't know what mountain passes you might go over, or when, but in Colorado if it storms bad and there is ice/snow, they will have chain laws in effect where you either have to have adequate snow tires or chains, just 4wd won't do. Depending how bad it is, it might only apply to semi-trucks ,but if real bad, it is everyone..
After you do buy them test them out for fit on your tires. Buy a rubber stretchers and buy extra pairs. A good set of chain pliers/tool or swapping out cross links is a good investment,but at least have some repair links.

I grew up in SW PA back in the 50's.There was times we had chains on our cars all winter. 4wD wasn't commonbackthem.35 MPH was top speed using them or they would wear out pretty quick.

Chains slow you down, but not compared to being stuck, or worse.

They can whip, and wreck fenders.

If possible, stay put when the roads are bad enough to need chains.

Not a bad idea to have some, just in case.

Nothing much to add, other than do as Saddlesore said and get extra stretchers, pliers, and some repair links. If you dont have the stuff to fix a broken chain it either will not work or you will have to decide between losing a fender or being stuck.

www.tirechains.com

I spent a lot of time here before ordering. Lots of good info.

While you'd not think of needing them in GA, I have driven to Colorado for hunts in the past and will in the future. I bought 2 sets to be able to run them front and back, or 1 set on the truck and another for the Wrangler. They also work great in mud.

We don't get snow every year here, but when it does snow they never plow back roads, only the main roads. And we get more in the northern mountains than farther south. From my driveway it is 1/2 mile almost straight down to a fairly level road, then about a mile to a main road that gets cleared. Everyone in our small neighborhood parks 1 vehicle in a hay field at the bottom of he hill and usually walks. Last year I chained up the Jeep and shuttled neighbors up and down. Even with 4X4 I'd have never attempted such an incline without the chains.

I've had v-bars in the past. They worked great in 1993 when GA got 18-24" of snow. But they can create problems with fender clearance. I was afraid they might be a little too close and I went with the 5.5mm square links sold in the above link. They might not be quite as good, but better than nothing or beat up fenders. They are advertised as giving good traction with better clearance. So far they have worked well.

http://www.tirechain.com/square_alloy_cross_chain.htm

Thanks for the input so far, very helpful. I'm not even going to order them online now, tirechain.com is located in Johnstown PA. Its only 25 minutes from my parents house!

SaddleSore- Could you please be a little bit more descriptive of the pliers and repair links you described?

V-bar or bust.

Look at the specs on your vehicle to see what type of chains will fit. Some newer ones can't use chains at all because there isn't enough clearance. Chains come in different sizes like S, D, U, etc which indicate the thickness of the links. Make sure you get the right ones. Going too big can tear up things underneath. If you've installed larger tires without a lift, chains can be tricky or impossible to fit.

Bought mine (sitting on a shelf new) on eBay, for about 20% of new price.

Where is you parents place. I live just a little farther than that from johnstown

I have the truck/SUV tool as shown( red handle) on the website I post below.They will handle most truck chains. You use them to open up and close the end loops of the cross links. The car and garden tractor ones will break when you need them the most. BTDT

On the same web site, search for emergency cross chain repair link and side chain repair links. They are on the same page.

Always good to have a few complete cross chains though that you can change with the chain tool. The emergency links get you to someplace where you can spend more time fixing the chains, but they will go quite aways. Usually when one link breaks, others are not far behind because of the wear. The V bars wear longer than just standard chains.

http://tirechain.com/tirechain-pliars.htm

Yes , chains can tear up fenders , but when you are 5 miles back in and need to get out and chains are the only way, are you really worried about tearing up a fender when your life depends on getting out.

BTW, I grew up outside of Monongahela PA. A little bit towards Little Washington

Haveing a couple small clevis or shackles that will fit the links will make a quick many times. It is not the right way but I have used them to repair truck chains. It is quick if you are on the side of the road.

Just about anything will be better than barefoot, but not the cable types. Les Schwab makes a pretty nifty quick fit type that has held up for me on several hunts.

Any chain you have with you when thing get sporty is much better than the best chain left at home...

Whatever you do, practice putting them on, and after you put them on, re-tighten at least twice in the first mile. The only thing worse than being stuck without chains is being stuck after the chains tear off your brake lines........

Sounds like the voice of experience. Also, put the chains on before you are about to get stuck rather than when you are stuck. Sure a lot easier.

I have a set of those quick fit things for my van. I've had them for 7 or 8 years and have never needed them. They also just happen to fit my camp trailer. When hunting, I take them along to use for drag chains in case we get an early snow. I haven't had a chance to try them for that yet, either.

If you travel to Great Falls via Hwy 2 there aren't any mountain passes to deal with a all.

Good advice.

I've used little quick clips to fix breaks in the chains I have for my toyota corolla.

We live 28 miles from town and our house is .6 mile from the county road. Plus I drive over much of Wyoming all year and if you've never driven with chains you won't believe where you can go or more importantly get out of with chains.

Just the other day I got my corolla stuck in the driveway. Put the chains on and it was a piece of cake. I was also stuck at the bottom of a hill in mud with my horse trailer on this fall, couldn't even begin to get up the hill. Slapped the chains on and went right up it.

But don't be dumb like I was in both of these times, do like Saddlesore said and put them on before you need them.

If chain law is in effect on the highways you should really consider whether or not you really need to go. Sometimes it won't be that bad, but it can get real ugly.

Get the camlock type. You'll be glad you did. mtmuley

Those can save a lot of pain. If you're buying new chains, they're worth it. Other tensioners aren't needed.

To make chaining easier, I always carry a couple 6" 2x4's. I lay the chains out on the ground and put the boards between 2 cross links near one end. Then I drive up on the boards. It lifts the tire and allows the chain to move so adjustment and tensioning is far easier.

I like the type of chains that can be put on without moving the vehicle. tirechains.com has those type. watch some videos on how they go on. otherwise you need a jack or you better plan on putting them on before getting stuck, which umm hardly anyone actually does.

IMHO if you have decent winter tires on a 4X4 truck, and you have to put chains on, you have no business being on the road.

Not saying chains can't be a god send, but after 18 long winters (the last 8 with a 2500 ram 4X4) I've learned there are times where I'm better off just staying home than chaining up.

BTW, I will be picking up two sets of V-bars for my truck before we move to our new digs as water on top of an icy 2 mile windy road does demand chains before they sand truck shows up.

What happens when you are 4-5 miles off the main road ,back in hunting and it snows on you before you can get out. Sure can't wait until it melts off. Or you are on a trip thru Colorado and all the roads are good, except the mountain passes which have chains required law in effect.

Sometimes you just don't have that choice of staying home. I know ranchers that put chains on in November and don't take them off until spring thaw

I have chains for all four wheels on the 2010 F250 18" tires that I used to have. I'll make someone a great deal if you need them. Shipping might be too costly, not sure. Brand new never used.
They were an insurance policy I never needed to use.

Having spent about a decade driving through Donner Pass in the winter before moving up here, I'm familiar with mountain passes that have heavy snowfalls as well as every other sort of winter driving condition.

My point is, if a highway is not driveable with a 4wd with good snow tires, it really is time to pull off at a rest stop and wait until the plows can catch up vs. chaining up and hoping for the best. It is still possible to get stuck with chains, and that's not a situation you want to be in. Not to mention going off the pass because the visibility is 0.

Chains work much better at a cost than studs. Here a good snowtire with studs will do ALMOST anything you need to do on a real road. Are they legal in Montana? Do they work out well? My wife had a 92 Tbird and with studs it would go better on some icy hard pack than a four wheel drive, without studs/chains

Why is everyone thinking roads? Studs suck anywhere but iced pavement.....

Yep,I keep studded snow tires on my wife's Tacoma, but my Dodge Ram has snow tires on,no studs. She would be driving on mostly pavement where icey roads are more of a probability. I on the other hand would be driving on dirt or gravel roads or no roads at all.
I don't even have chains for her truck, but my chains are cut down semi tractor ones.

As the old saying goes, Better to have them and not need them. Then to not have them and need them.... Never say never, can't and won't.

I understood the OP to say for the drive to Montana and "the long haul across the northern US. Off highway is a clean different deal. Was throwing the studs out there and wandered as to their use, in a reasonable application, in Montana. I too use cut down chains. They can be bought cheaply used, and are much heavier than most automotive chains.

You might remember that couple from Canada who actually believed the GPS in their van and took off across the so. Idaho and northern NV desert and mountains a few years ago. Some hunters found the woman alive and still in the van 7 weeks later. Her husband had taken off to walk for help. Other hunters found his body a year later.

Anyway, from the pictures I saw of the van, they got stuck in a place that didn't appear to be all that bad. A set of chains should have got them right out but they didn't have them. A teaspoon of common sense would have kept then on the pavement in the first place.

No doubt. We have 'no winter maintenance' roads around here. We dont often get the blizzards and most are only a few miles long. However one does realize that they can be a problem and you are on your own. I guess folks from more "civilized" places dont even know when to be afraid

Doesn't anyone use camlocks? That's all I run on my 4x4's if and when I need them. However, for the OP I strongly suggest a good/excellent tire that has proven itself as a great winter/snow tire. Here is a good tire that works great in the snow and it won't break the bank:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Goodyear-Wrangler-Authority-Tire-LT265-70R17/11983163

They should work great on your Ram 2500. Here' a video representing how well they work on a pick-up like mine:




Frankly I'm surprised he's asking us, as I know the area he lives in since my dad grew up 25 minutes from Johnstown as well. They get a lot of snow there.

When I bought my chains, camlocks were only available on truck chains. If I ever have to buy new ones, that's what I'll get. They're great.

All my semi and 2-ton chains are cam-lock, but for what I use car and pickup chains for, the quick-fits are SOOOOOO much easier to put on.

That said, snow tires are really all I have needed for on-highway driving in the last ten years. Even on two wheel drive vehicles.

The last time I chained for highway use was going over the old Whitebird hill when I was in college in the 60's...but that road was one hellacious SOB in the winter. I wasn't a bit sorry to see it go.
I've chained plenty of times for back road use, though, quite often all 4.

It is not worth a thread of it's own, but ever hear of using bleach on tire tread for couple of hours of driving on icy roads?

If you think salt is hard on car parts, wait until you pour bleach on them. It might make the rubber sticky for a while.

Well... I was wanting them for the drive, but wanted them for hunting back in the nasty places like the breaks. Thats not going to be a issue though. Friday I got diverted back to Albuquerque. I'm not too happy about it. Still going to buy chains while I'm back at my parents place picking up my truck. Like I said before, northern New Mexico clay can get NASTY when it gets wet.

I've almost been trapped a couple of times during archery elk hunts when a quick monsoon has popped up.

Never in my 18 years of growing up there, and spending a lot of time in the 'mountains' have I ever seen anyone with chains on a truck.

Skidders, tractors and if I think real hard, maybe a logging truck or 2, but never a pickup. One of the reasons i'm a dumb-dumb on the subject.

Can't say I have..
How do you use it and does it damage the tires?

I've never needed chains on a pickup for highways or even good gravel roads. However, I've needed them plenty of times on unmaintained roads, more often for mud than snow. Desert roads here can get really greasy when wet. You might not sink in very far, but the top inch is so slick you can't walk on it. Snow tires are useless. If you want to move, you need chains.

Try that road that runs south from about Cuba NM ( a little south)past Cabezon peak up to the back side of Mt Taylor when it has been wet without chains. It will make you have a whole different outlook on chains.

NM calichi will make a believer out of everyone. You either put chains on or let all the air out of your tires until they squat.

THISSSSSS is exactly what i'm talking about. I've almost been stuck in some UGLY places in unit 5B close to Lindrith. I'm pissed that I'm going back to Albuquerque, but i'm still going to buy my chains for the greasy azz clichi that doesn't clean out of your tires.

Tell me about these tensioners that you guys keep mentioning. Cam loc vs bungee cords?

Bungees need to be replaced every few years because the rubber rots and breaks. There are steel spring loaded tensioners that look like spiders. I only tried them once years ago and they weren't strong enough to keep the chains tight. Maybe the newer ones are better.
The cam locs are half moon shaped cams with slots located at intervals around the rails. You hang the chains with the cams extended. Then you use an included tool to give the cams a 1/2 turn which slides the chain around the slot and tightens it. They're very strong, tighten the chain very well, and never wear out. Here's a site with good photos of how they work. CAMLOCKS

If your chains are a little long, you might need some kind of bungee or clip to fasten down the loose ends to keep them from hashing your fenders. I try to hang them with no more than 1 extra link on the inside, keeping the extra on the outside where I can get at it.

edited to add: the cams are only on the outside rails, none on the inside. That makes them very easy to get at.

Have never seen those cams. Pretty cool. But I have never not been able to get the chains tight enough, provided they fit right, with the normal tighteners. Get them good and straight and tighten them till you cant anymore. If your in mud do the best you can and make it right when possible. Never really used car chains, but used truck, tractor and skidder chains. Putting the chains on a skidder with newer tires is a b--ch. Have some wire to tie down any loose tags you may have. If you cut down truck chains leaving extra links will make chaining up much easier but if those ends come loose they will eat you truck alive

Which reminds me of this semi cattle hauler that was parked by the side of the dirt road coming out of Dan Creek several years back. It was a little snotty, and he couldn't move. I offered to help him put on chains, but he just shook his head and said "all chains is going to do is make my rig taller". He was going to sit for five hours waiting for it to freeze......

Which is a long way of saying that chains are useful, but not a cure-all.

You can hit up your local junkyard and get a set or 4 for darned cheap.
I made a set of 4 for my 4wd truck for under $30 from the ones I got there and they are all v/cross linked. I carry them in the spring & winters out here, only needed them 2x in 10 yrs, glad I had em.
Have a high lift or good crank jack in your bed as it makes putting them on 200% easier as well.

Unless you're stuck and can't move, a couple 6" 2x4's are easier yet. Lay out the chains and put the boards between a couple x-links, then drive up on them. They'll give you plenty of clearance for adjusting the chains.
A Hilift will give you more room above the tires, though, if you don't have enough clearance.