Any recommendations for chains for dually? We plan to be in ski country for the winter.

I'll probably be able to get around the ski resort in 4x4 mode, but sometimes they require you to install chains if it snows over half an inch. Anyway, if I have to buy a set, may as well invest in better ones, if there are such a thing. And do you need them for all wheels? This mostly for driving in CA and NV around Lake Tahoe area. The resort I'm staying it is 45 minutes out into national wilderness, and they can through chain controls up at the first snowflake coming down. Not because the road is impassible, but could become so during the 45 minutes or so it takes you to drive out there.

I'm guessing if they're more expensive, if that's possible for anything with this truck lol, they would have to be easier to install/remove, or work better than others.

I have snow plow prep package, but don't plan to be running that when I could be skiing instead, so probably won't invest in one.

 

I drive all over Tahoe to Truckee and out to Minden in the snow. I don't chain up unless it's a mandatory chain restriction which hasn't happened in a long time. I do carry full chains and use the heavy truck vee chains. Vehicles with 4x4 and snow tires are exempt from chains unless a mandatory chain restriction is called.

 

Perfect. That's what I needed to know. If it's going to snow hard enough for a mandatory, I'm going to already be parked at Kirkwood :-)

I'll get a set to carry when I'm going to South Lake for supplies.

 

 

Make sure that whatever you purchase is 'S' class compatible. eTrailer has several sets to choose from. What I don't know is if you can safely run chains (cables) on the outside tires only, or if you have to buy dually specific chains. eTrailer has dually specific chains, but they are actual chains rather than cables and rather pricy I think.

 

Or 'fabric' chains AKA Tire Socks

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...d-it/index.htm

 

I chained up all four tires on my SRW last week. S class on the front and full-on v-bar chains on the rear. I already had the S class chains and had verified that they fit. There was room to run the v-bar chains on all four tires.

If you do buy chains, make sure you test them at home to be sure they fit. I had chains sent up from town (I was stuck on the mountain with an RV trailer to get down) and the v-bar chains weren't quite right. The bag they were in said they fit my tire size. Yes, they fit, but only after dropping 40 PSI and using a BFS (Big F-ing Screwdriver) to get the cam closed. These were Laclede tire chains. An addition link or two would have made the job a lot easier. An extra set of tensioners could come in handy and are cheap insurance. The set of chains I used on the trailer said that tensioners weren't necessary. Yeah, they were necessary. The chains fit a little loose and the tensioners made up the difference.

If I had to carry chains to be legal then I would get the S class chains or maybe the cable chains. They'll do the job. In the above case, I had an 11K trailer behind the truck on snow packed and icy Forest Service roads. So I wanted heavy chains for the drive axle. Without the trailer, the S class chains on just the front would have been more than adequate.

 

You will be fine, I go past Kirkwood on 88 and continue past the closure at Woods lake. I go snowmobiling up there when the snow is good.

 

 

Agreed, but in California, they make you carry them whether you know how to drive in it or not. I used to travel to Vermont from Boston with six inches of snow on the road already, and drive in the ruts, in a Honda CRX with regular tires.

 

Colorado too. There are different levels that they enforce. Here's a summary:

Traction Law (Code 15) — Use George’s Head to Check Your Tread
• If weather conditions require, CDOT will implement a Traction Law.
• Under a Traction Law, motorists will need to have either snow tires, tires with the mud/snow (M+S) designation, or a four-wheel/all-wheel drive vehicle — all tires must have a minimum one-eighth inch tread.

Passenger Vehicle Chain Law (Code 16) — Chain Up or Stay Off
• During severe winter storms, CDOT will implement a Passenger Vehicle Chain Law — this is the final safety measure before the highway is closed.
• Under a Passenger Vehicle Chain Law, every vehicle on the roadway is required to have chains or an alternative traction device (like AutoSock).

Fines
• Motorists driving with inadequate equipment during a Traction Law or Passenger Vehicle Chain Law could be fined more than $130.
• If a motorist blocks the roadway because they have inadequate equipment during a Traction Law or Passenger Vehicle Chain Law, they could be fined more than $650.

 

 

There were quite a few trucks on the mountain last week running chains on just the front tires. They were getting around pretty good.

 

If you only have one set of chains put them on the front, the truck will get around far better than on the rear only.

 

Thanks all, for the feedback.

I'll get some from Les Schwab when I get out there. The chains can be returned if they end up not being used, which is highly likely. I wish I'd known about that place all those years I've been visiting. To buy a set of chains every time I flew out and rented a car for a week, and then having to leave them behind was making an expensive trip even more expensive. It was always frustrated they would throw up chain controls at the least bit of snow.

The first time I came out, they closed Hiway 50 at Pollok Pines. So I looked at the map and headed out across immigrant trail in a rental car, not knowing it was closed in winter. I mean, I saw the signs when I got there, but it didn't look bad so I headed up. I made about 15 miles before I started looking for a place to turn around, nothing but ruts, so I had to back down most of it in reverse. Young and dumb, but lived through it. If I'd gotten stuck there, they might not have found me until spring.

But yeah, it only takes one idiot to close the whole road and then everyone gets stuck in drifts while they clear it. Like the Subaru AWD upside down that I passed, and the Hummer that had slid off the road and down the embankment, passing them in a Nissan Altima lol.

If I see snow in the forecast that looks like it's going to snow that hard that chains would likely be needed, I won't be leaving the resort anyway as long as the lifts are turning.

The point is, they way overdo it with the chain controls. I think it's just to make people drive like they have some damn sense. That is, you can't go over 30mph with chains. Cept that one guy, who didn't realize they had torn his quarterpanel off, but he just kept on going.

lesschwab.com