Chains!

Hulk

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Uncle Ben said:
....probably when it got dubbed as "Scott's" run"!

You could hardly do better than Scott! Here's to Yoder!
:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:
 

Romer

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Just ordered the ones Mike talked about for my 35's. Looks like tire chain has copies of the Rud chains called Diamond. Talked to them and they said thats not a great chain for offroad and I would be happier with the square link.
 

farnhamstj

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We're told at Vail Resorts to always run chains on the front tires (assuming you have a pair not four) both up and down the Mountan. I believe steering is the reason for it. Especially going downhill. Chains on the back if you only have rear wheel drive.
 

subzali

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Chains going down *can* be dangerous, if your rear end loses traction and swings around on you suddenly. That's why I skipped having two and just went to four. :D
 

farnhamstj

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I'm starting to think, I sure could use some chains after looking at the 1/1 Yankee run. Little late now I guess, unless someones bringing "extra" that would fit 295.75.16.
Went to DIA yesterday. You guys got pounded with snow. I don;t recall seeing this little amount of snow in Vail in the last 8 years.
 

nuclearlemon

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Chains going down *can* be dangerous, if your rear end loses traction and swings around on you suddenly. That's why I skipped having two and just went to four. :D

chains on rear can be just as dangerous if your front end swings around. at least going down hill and having your rear swing means you can see where you're going when you back down.
 

subzali

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yep, I agree. That's why I avoided the whole issue and went with all fours :D

chains on rear can be just as dangerous if your front end swings around. at least going down hill and having your rear swing means you can see where you're going when you back down.
 

treerootCO

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not having chains can be scary if you are the rig behind Subzali on the spooky night run two years ago. :eek: I never knew a 40 could go so fast backwards!
 

subzali

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Not to mention the ice I created for the rest of the group because of my spinning tires! :eek: For the record that was my dad driving :hill:
 

SteveH

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Tire chain questions - I put a pair of v-bar chains (from Peerless tyre) on the back of my FJZ80 (no diff locks) and towed my 3/4 ton Chevy about 20' on lumpy ice-covered ground. The rear tires of the 80 were spinning slowly, as the Chevy is very heavy - snowplow and all that. Doing this mangled my tire chains - 3 side links came loose and flailed the flare on the 80, and the cross-chain connectors are all distorted on both chains - bent and peeled back.

I've never had chains deform this way (even when hunting, plowing and abusing them), and am looking into having Peerless replace them (but it wasn't looking good...)

Other than cheapie tire chains, has anyone seen chains just peel apart like this? Other than heating the links with a torch, bending them back, and then welding them, I see no easy fix for this set of chains.

I guess if I had put 4 chains on the 80, it might have lessened the burden on this pair of chains?

Steve
 

treerootCO

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My chains were tempered from the factory. I found that if I left everything alone they were really strong. When I tried to pry open a link to make them fit the tires, the link would always break. The failure of my chain on the last snow run was due to a link I tried to pry open and clamp shut again. It broke at that link. I am going to weld them back up and not worry about it. Do your v-bars have an extra part welded to the crosslink? Mine are square link chains.
 

SteveH

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My chains have an extra 'v bar' welded to the cross link. I realize that this gives the chains extra grabbing power that (presumably) puts the other links to the test. These are Acco-Weed chains (or some US brand) now made in China. If I can't get them replaced, I'll heat and rebend and then weld all affected links, I guess.
 

corsair23

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Steve,

Sounds like these chains? Vbar chains

I almost bought these but went with the square link ones instead.
 

SteveH

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That is the chain. They are remarkably effective, but can really tear up trails and such (if you get down through the snow), and obviously can be hard on themselves! Doing dirt burnouts will quickly dig you in.

Anytime you have four chains and 4WD, the style of the chain becomes somewhat academic. You'll get the vehicle stuck due to snow caught under the truck before traction loss. Having said that, when you need chains, you frequently need everything you have and that last 1%. So, maybe the v-bar does give a margin of performance.

Steve
 

corsair23

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When I was looking for a chain for getting to and from a hunt camp above Ski Sunlight I looked into the v-bar chains. I seriously considered those v-bars 'cuz they just look downright 'mean'. In the end I went with the regular square link though. One concern I had was with those was if the chain inverted itself and dug into the tire's sidewall and in general the abuse they would take. The hunt road we drive to the camp is sometimes impassable other than early, early in the morning when everything is frozen :)

In the end, all my chains have done is sit their bag for the last 4+ years :(
 

SteveH

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This is why I was bummed - most folks RARELY use chains, unless they're on a dedicated snow plow truck (one of my uses). To have these chains crap out after this short time is not cool.

The 'v' isn't sharp enough to cut into a tire, or at least a competent truck tire, and they don't ever seem to invert (though it's possible, I suppose).

If Toyota keeps making coil-over suspension trucks (FJ Cruiser and 3rd gen 4Runners), you won't need chains for the front, because they won't fit. Grrrr.
 
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