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Rear End Chains

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Old Apr 17, 2009 | 01:03 PM
  #1  
chiaml's Avatar
chiaml
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From: East Northport, NY
Rear End Chains

I see these small link chains hanging by the rear ends of things like ambulances and i saw it on a delivery truck. There's a bunch of them hanging to the left and right of the differential. They don't hit the ground. Any clue what they are for?
 
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Old Apr 17, 2009 | 01:50 PM
  #2  
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johnstoys2
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From: Woodleaf NC
Automatic snow chains. A switch in the cab turns them into the tire & they spin underneath the tread.
 
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Old Apr 17, 2009 | 03:19 PM
  #3  
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From: Ft Scott
Here's a lil video that shows how they work:
Onspot Automatic Chains
 
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Old Apr 17, 2009 | 03:23 PM
  #4  
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That is awesome! I have never seen that before I use chains all the time on the big trucks at work but the old fashioned way lol
 
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Old Apr 17, 2009 | 08:20 PM
  #5  
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I've had them on my busses since 2000, won't have another without them!
 
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Old Apr 18, 2009 | 09:58 AM
  #6  
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Had them on my busses also, they do work great......buttttttt I found that they need to be maintained and looked after.......just can't put them on and forget about them..........also they work really good.....except in deep snow............if you've got a couple of inches on the ground or if the road is icy or just hard packed they work great...............they are a great asset...........I spent years shoveling my busses out and then fighting to put chains on them at 3:00 a.m before starting my runs.
 
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Old Apr 18, 2009 | 10:03 AM
  #7  
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From: Olympia, WA
That is really neat. I've never heard of automatic chains before. I always thought the chains were some sort of static buildup ground device or something like that.
 
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Old Apr 18, 2009 | 12:33 PM
  #8  
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From: THUNDER BAY
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If they are no good in deep snow than they would be no good for what I use chains for you should see some places they get us to drive into with are boom trucks I would probably rip them off before they would actually help me and maintenance looks to be a pain in the but.

cool Idea though
 
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Old Apr 18, 2009 | 07:23 PM
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Yep, anything over a couple inches or if you wait till your stuck to put them on and your done. They are made to keep you from trouble not get you out of it.... LoL Hard spinning is a no no with them b/c of the chance of ripping them apart. If your going off road I'd be afraid of ripping them off (spinning dragging)
Only problem I've ever really had was the air valve on the frame corroded internally, course don't know that till -10 and snow....
 
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