Snow tire chains - Anyone used or purchased?

[Wendy]

You should either put chains on the Rear, or on BOTH front and rear. This is something I learned when first driving a front-wheel drive car. If you put chains only on the front and then you put on the brakes your rear wheels will have little control and can easily cause you to spin around. Having chains on the rear wheels provides a safe stop, slowing the rear of your vehicle and allowing the front to stay pointing forward.

That said I was just at the tire store yesterday. Bought my snow tires, I have loved using the soft rubber tires that grab so well to the snow and ice. My story: my 2013 Silverado was smashed by a tree so I bought my Lightning. Dealer gave me a spare set of wheels, since I always have had two sets (winter, summer). So I went into the tire store with my spare set of 20" wheels. I had talked with them and they said I could also have used my (nearly new) 18" tires from the Silverado and purchased 18" Ford wheels from them.

So I guess based upon discussion I shouldn't use my chains on the 20" Snow tires. And I don't want to go back and get new wheels. But in the last 20 years of owning a 4wd truck I have never had to put on chains. They have simply sat in the bed of the truck to satisfy the State Patrol. "Required to carry chains even with 4WD"

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[21st Century Truck]

Yes, I have and when needed, will use my RUD Grip 4 x 4 snow chains. RUD USA part # 2532. They live in their bags in the narrow space behind the rear left passenger seat back.

I have used snow chains on multiple cars and am very comfortable with how they work and when to use them and how to drive with snow chains on.

Although I have read the factory snow chain warnings for the Lightning, I tested my RUD Grips on the Lightning a year ago and concluded that:

- there is no problem with these chains on the rear wheels.

- on the front wheels, with these specific chains there indeed is a potential danger of interference when swinging the steering wheel through lock-to-lock turns. Instead of lock-to-lock turns, the driver must be careful to learn the appropriately safe turning angle, and then limit the turning radius of the steering wheel when the chains are on the front wheels. In other words, these chains work well with a decent albeit narrower angle of the front turn(s). Now that I tested them I understand these limiting turn angles.

When it is a situation of "must go" in icy, slick or heavy snow conditions, I'll take this steering limitation. I note that such situations present difficult decisions to begin with, and are not to be confused with fun snow days. Usually, such conditions don't last for a very long time or distance and therefore the capability to judiciously use chains to get through a difficult section, and then shed them when they aren't needed, makes sense to me.

On my previous car the Mach E Mustang, I used my RUD chains (a different product) in northern Wisconsin and the following Winter on high passes and hills in the south-central Colorado Rockies, including during a blizzard on Monarch Pass. Was very glad to have had them with me and quickly mounted them when needed, before things became critical... never for longer than about 15 - 20 miles but I likely would not have made it through two sections in Colorado, on two different days, without those chains on.

The 1st event was a completely iced-over winding and sloping 2 lane road to get off the Grand Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument at 8,000 feet and about zero degrees F... the solid ice was at least 2 inches thick and smooth, and I was towing a small camper, so those chains got us safely off the mountain down to where US 50 was nice and salted and plowed clear.

The next event was on the aforesaid Monarch Pass in the blizzard, the following night, where the danger was very slick layers of blizzard snow hard-packed by 18-wheeler semis, again in sub-freezing temps. Once through the Pass on its Eastern side and at a lower elevation, the chains came right off.

So for me, it's a niche capability yet a key capability when it really counts. Like any niche capability, it's not a panacea nor a license to get careless while in by-definition dangerous driving conditions.

I hope this makes sense.