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Snow Chains

68225 Views 79 Replies 33 Participants Last post by  larryziegler, 
M
What is the best way to outfit our pilot for snow chains?

Please advise.....

front only....rear only or all four?

Michael
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N_Jay
Re: Re: Re: Today was the real test 2+ feet unplowed on our street, which also has a slig

Oahu_Dave said:


Yeah. The Integritys are so lame. It took me 15 minutes to rock my way out of the parking space. There was snow up past my waist, but it was soft. Even on the city streets which werent great, but nothing that bad it was hard to get going. Will be swapping for some CTs or something in the future.
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CTs are definetly better, but if you are stuck, don't blame the Goodyears.
They are not geat, but not as bad as people make them out to be.

I managed 2 Chicago winters with many trips throught PA without a problem.
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D
Looks like Rainbow lodge....here are some pics on the backside of Northstar.....first ones on the hill
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Edog
Re: 1st real snow test in Pilot

madfish said:

The Volvo XC90 up the street was unable to rise to the challenge. Even with cable chains on, it simply crabbed into the drainage ditch....bet they paid more than a Pilot cost!
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Chains WITH 4wd were the way to go this past weekend in Truckee. We got over 7 feet of snow in less than 48 hours.

My father-in-law drove his XC90, and ran into all kinds of problems. He had a heck of a time just making it up the driveway! Luckily, my mother-in-law drove her Land Cruiser, and they ended up using that car to drive around in. Those babies are AWESOME 4wd vehicles!

I am definately going out this week to buy some chains to have in case of a weekend like the last one. It may not be "necessary", but it would probably make the driving a lot safer and easier.

I'll post some pics of the driveway in question later tonight when I am off of work.
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Oahu_Dave
Re: Re: 1st real snow test in Pilot

Edog said:


Chains WITH 4wd were the way to go this past weekend in Truckee. We got over 7 feet of snow in less than 48 hours.
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Ack, you live in Truckee?! It was crazy last week when we were in Reno. The highway guys did an awesome job clearing all that snow though. I hear Truckee was snowed in for at least a day with no way out either way. Just what we heard on the news about 29th or 30th.
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Edog
Re: Re: Re: 1st real snow test in Pilot

Oahu_Dave said:


Ack, you live in Truckee?! It was crazy last week when we were in Reno. The highway guys did an awesome job clearing all that snow though. I hear Truckee was snowed in for at least a day with no way out either way. Just what we heard on the news about 29th or 30th.
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Nope. We live in Folsom. My in-laws have a vacation house in Truckee that we frequent. It was a complete mess getting to the freeway. The normally 10 minutes trip from the house to the freeway took 2 HOURS!!! Once we were on the freeway, it wasn't bad at all.

Here is a pic of the street and driveway. The snow removal company just came by 30 minutes prior to clear the driveway, and we immediately put ice-melt on it. This picture was Friday, when there was about 3 hours of sunshine. It was beautiful.

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Edog
Here is a view from the kitchen window on Friday morning at about 9 am.

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Oahu_Dave
Re: Re: Re: Re: 1st real snow test in Pilot

Edog said:


Nope. We live in Folsom. My in-laws have a vacation house in Truckee that we frequent. It was a complete mess getting to the freeway. The normally 10 minutes trip from the house to the freeway took 2 HOURS!!! Once we were on the freeway, it wasn't bad at all.

Here is a pic of the street and driveway. The snow removal company just came by 30 minutes prior to clear the driveway, and we immediately put ice-melt on it. This picture was Friday, when there was about 3 hours of sunshine. It was beautiful.
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Ah ok. We live in Ione, but moving to Sonora now. Great house there in Truckee. Wow.

Yeah getting around Reno was worse than the freeway. Once we got past Gold Ranch or Rush all was good. They had guys out there with stop signs doing what looked like chain checks, but I guess it was all for show.
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I drove up to Soda Springs/Truckee on New Years day on I-80. It was snowing the whole day and chain control was in effect (chains or 4WD w/snow tires). I had cables but decided not to use them. I saw a couple of AWD/4WD spin their tires in the parking lot, but my Pilot even with goodyears, was fine.

As I understand it, CA requires only chains on the drive axle for cars and SUVs. With respect to the Pilot does it make sense to chain all four tires to reduce the changes of the rear end slipping around curves and to provide more traction when the VTM is in use?
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colorider
ictvuser said:
I drove up to Soda Springs/Truckee on New Years day on I-80. It was snowing the whole day and chain control was in effect (chains or 4WD w/snow tires). I had cables but decided not to use them. I saw a couple of AWD/4WD spin their tires in the parking lot, but my Pilot even with goodyears, was fine.

As I understand it, CA requires only chains on the drive axle for cars and SUVs. With respect to the Pilot does it make sense to chain all four tires to reduce the changes of the rear end slipping around curves and to provide more traction when the VTM is in use?
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I pulled this off the Subaru forum:

=============================
Following info is taken from the link (note: It does refer to District 2 of California, which I wouldn't think it would change from area to area...):

CHAIN CONTROL REQUIREMENT LEVELS
W: No Restrictions - Watch for snow on pavement.
R-1M: Chains are required on single-axle drive vehicles with trailers.
(commonly referred to as R1 Modified)
R-1: Chains are required on all commercial vehicles (trucks or buses). All other vehicles (cars, pick-ups, vans, etc.) must have either snow tread tires or chains on the drive axle.
R-2: Chains are required on all vehicles except four-wheel drives with snow tread tires.
R-3: Chains required - ALL VEHICLES- no exceptions
C: Road Closed
T: Truck Hold - During major storms when traffic flow is heavy, Caltrans may hold tractor-trailer combinations at specific points below the snow line.
R-1 and R-2 are the most common chain controls. The highway will often be closed before an R-3 control is imposed.
==========================
From this - I doubt you would ever be REQUIRED to chain up as I think they would go to the "C" condition if it was that bad.

I have personally ran studded snows on a FWD - even when they recommend against it - and never had a problem. Same for cable chains on a FWD. As for the Pilot - if it were me - if it's that bad that you have to "chain up" - perhaps you should not even be there!!! :eek:
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Edog
colorider said:

From this - I doubt you would ever be REQUIRED to chain up as I think they would go to the "C" condition if it was that bad.

I have personally ran studded snows on a FWD - even when they recommend against it - and never had a problem. Same for cable chains on a FWD. As for the Pilot - if it were me - if it's that bad that you have to "chain up" - perhaps you should not even be there!!! :eek:
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I agree that on a highway, where they impose the chain restrictions, you should never need to use chains if you have 4WD. However, on side roads that do not get plowed that often, or on side roads that get plowed, then driven over by lots of cars, it is not a bad idea. Remember that snow plows do not get everything off of the road, and after a lot of cars drive over what is left, you get a VERY slippery surface. Also, if these roads get afternoon sun, the meltoff will typically turn to ice at nighttime.

While I do not like the idea of using chains on a 4wd vehicle, and would try to avoid it at all costs, I think that it would be prudent to carry chains just in case. IMHO :)

FYI. The road in the picture above is a 12% grade (the picture does not do it justice). The road that this one connects to, which leads to the freeway is a 15% grade.
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Went snow camping at Mt. Shasta over new years. After 3 days of snow the pilot looked like a snow bunny except for the wipers sticking out. Always stick your wipers out, will prevent broken wipers or linkage. From a dead stop plowed through 12"-16" of fresh powder. No slip no problems. Pure fun!!!!:)
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Oahu_Dave
landscaperjb said:
Went snow camping at Mt. Shasta over new years. After 3 days of snow the pilot looked like a snow bunny except for the wipers sticking out. Always stick your wipers out, will prevent broken wipers or linkage. From a dead stop plowed through 12"-16" of fresh powder. No slip no problems. Pure fun!!!!:)
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I had never seen the idea of pulling the wipers up while in a snowy area as I have never lived in snow, but luckily our past couple trips to Bear Valley we saw cars doing just that.

We were the only car in Reno that I saw that did it and I saw quite a few people prying their wipers off the windows.:)
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Ferdball
Funny thing about the XC90's. I'm assuming that they don't come standard with AWD...

Here's a pic of a driveway in Big Bear. The rental company neglected to mention that the driveway was sloped so bad that you'd need 4wd and chains to get out.

The 4x2 Explorer was able to get out most probably because of the Cross Terrains.

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colorider said:


From this - I doubt you would ever be REQUIRED to chain up as I think they would go to the "C" condition if it was that bad.
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I think that's generally correct; they usually jump from "chains except for 4wd w/snow tires" straight to closing the road altogether.

We've had this discussion several times (well, every winter) on the X forum and everyone's experience (including peeps living up in Tahoe) bears this out.

FWIW, the manual says chains on the FRONT wheels, although chains on all four would be better. There was some interesting discussion about axle placement...put 'em on the fronts since that's where the bulk of the driving is taking place, plus that's your steering. But the risk of chains on the fronts and none on the rears was that the backend could turn into the front end!
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Edog said:
I agree that on a highway, where they impose the chain restrictions, you should never need to use chains if you have 4WD. However, on side roads that do not get plowed that often, or on side roads that get plowed, then driven over by lots of cars, it is not a bad idea. Remember that snow plows do not get everything off of the road, and after a lot of cars drive over what is left, you get a VERY slippery surface. Also, if these roads get afternoon sun, the meltoff will typically turn to ice at nighttime.
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I went to my place in Arnold for skiing at Bear Valley between Christmas and New Years when we had that rash of warm snow. On 12/28, Highway 4 had the exact conditions that you described with plowed, well-packed snow still on the road, and it was treacherous. On one gradual descent, I noticed the GX470 braking and starting to drift left. I barely touched my brakes and the ABS started firing continuously. I checked my rear view mirror and saw the Wrangler behind me spinning counterclockwise at about on revolution per second.:eek: He must have spun twenty times around, but managed to not hit anything nor to be hit! The folks behind him somehow managed to steer to the left and go around him. Needless to say, we ALL slowed down to 15mph or less after that.
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Edog
shutrbug said:

I went to my place in Arnold for skiing at Bear Valley between Christmas and New Years when we had that rash of warm snow. On 12/28, Highway 4 had the exact conditions that you described with plowed, well-packed snow still on the road, and it was treacherous. On one gradual descent, I noticed the GX470 braking and starting to drift left. I barely touched my brakes and the ABS started firing continuously. I checked my rear view mirror and saw the Wrangler behind me spinning counterclockwise at about on revolution per second.:eek: He must have spun twenty times around, but managed to not hit anything nor to be hit! The folks behind him somehow managed to steer to the left and go around him. Needless to say, we ALL slowed down to 15mph or less after that.
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Right, like I said before, it stinks to have to put on chains. However, if I am going to be on roads like that, and my KIDS are in the back seats, I think I would prefer a little inconvenience for the added pease of mind. :4:

We are going up to Tahoe again this coming weekend, since the weather forecast looks great. I'll take some more pics for a new gallery thread, unless I find another gallery thread of snow pics.
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Had to use chains on 1/8/2005

I drove to South Lake Tahoe Fri. night 1/7. It was snowing at about 4,000 feet. It turned back to rain where US50 dropped down to American River, then started again as highway climbed to Echo Summit at 7,382 feet. Chain control was on, but road was OK with 4WD and I left a good distance from other cars.

The next morning, Heavenly ski resort was reporting 40 inches of new snow. I had no problem going up steep back road to ski area. The parking lot was not well cleared so I kept up momentum and parked in front row near tram. I knew I would have to back up and get a run to go forward when I left as the snow where I parked was over a foot deep.

After skiing what may have been the best powder of my life, I quit about 3:45 to go back to the cabin. I was only able to back up about a foot before tires spun helplessly. I could not go forward much either as some of the weight of the car was on the snow and Goodyear Integrity tire were not doing much. I dug out around tires as much as I could. After putting floor mats under front wheels and with four or five people pushing I got going enough to get to more packed down snow behind me. I stopped to pick up mats and was stuck again.

I was able to get chains (cables) hooked on the inside by pushing them around and under front tires. I had to use a bungee on one side to make temporary outside connection until I spun tire enough to connect properly. After borrowing a shovel and digging some more, I still needed help of two people pushing to get moving. Since distance to cabin and casinos is only about a mile, I left cables on until I was ready to leave Sunday afternoon because it is easier to leave them on than to put them back on when you are stuck.

Cabin picture from Saturday morning attached.

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Cable picture

This is my set of Goodyear Integrity tires with about 12K miles. I have the original LX rims with Bridgestone tires that I wanted to put on for the snow because they should work better for snow, but ran out of time last week to do it.

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