tire chains / any suggested brands or styles

[Scottintexas]

Just one month until we drive from TX to Ely, Mn to go dog sledding.

I was thinking about buying some snow chains for our 2005 Toyota Sienna mini van (not intending on needing them) but every 2-3 years in TX we will get a good ice storm that will cause problems for a day or two and being the owner of the business I still have to try to make it in to work. I'm usually able to do it but it's often a bit iffy because we have a couple of big hills along the way.

Plus we may go skiing once a year and it's a good precaution to carry them.

I had an old pair of "cable" chains on my pick up that worked very well but they really scratched up the side walls. I was just wondering if anyone had a good experience using a particular brand.

 

[sysinu]

I use my chains sometimes to get out of my driveway, since it's pretty steep, but I have really large tires, so there is only really one type of chains I can use. My wife's Escalade has really low clearance so she has to use the Tule style low profile chains which work perfectly fine they just require that you replace a lug nut with their custom lug nut that the chains attach to.

Chains for cars are kind of like anchors for boats, each work better in different situations. If you need them for emergency only, then I would think the standard set of light chains would work fine - the kind you cannot drive very fast with on - so long as you get a bungee to hold tension on the chain (unless you have nice fitted ones). If you're going to use them for extra traction, there is GoClaws from flextrax (http://www.flextrax.com/) that work pretty good for providing a little extra bite. Otherwise, if you want to use chains for just extra traction and don't mind the ridiculous (it seems) price point, the Tule style chains as I previously described work great and you can travel at higher rates of speed with them on without worrying about vehicle damage.

 

[KXCam22]

The trick to using any chains is to add extra bunge cords to take up any slack and keep them tight around the wheels. Cam.

 

[sysinu]

The trick to using any chains is to add extra bunge cords to take up any slack and keep them tight around the wheels. Cam.

For chains that don't have cam's, yes. There are only a few mfg's that provide chains for 285/60R20 in my case and my choices were between two sets of V-Bar Twist Link. Both sets had options w/ and w/o cams and the options were either with cleats and without cleats.

Because of where we live, I got them with cams and with cleats.


To the OP, did you decide which kind of chains you were going to use yet? As @KXCam22 mentioned, it might be worth your while to get bungee's - but in my opinion if you have the option between using cams or using bungee's... I would suggest using cams if you haven't already made your choice.

 

[stever40]

Just a comment, Minnesota law does not allow chains on roads. Outside of the snow we are getting today, you shouldn't need them. Safe travels to you and your family.

 

[Scottintexas]

Thanks for the replies and comments about the law, I think I'm going to go with the Thule cs 10
http://www.amazon.com/Thule-Super-Premium-Passenger-Chain-pairs/dp/B000UNRJ6K/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1454434527&sr=1-1&keywords=cs10+104+thule

It seems like a lot of money but I'd rather have the peace of mind to know I can make it to the next hotel or at least up or down the mountain in NM or CO.

 

[Jackew]

Uuho - just avoid the snow. It's freezing anyways