4WD and tire chains

My work vehicle is a 4WD Suburban. The case that holds the chains looks like there is one pair of chains. Should the occasion arise, do I put them on the back wheels?

Somewhere (probably here) I read that 4WD should have chains on all four tires. Is that optimum? Is it necessary?

Sue

Instructions for mine says put them on the front.
I assume being able to steer is a useful feature!

Chains should go on the primary drive wheels. For a truck they go on the back. For a front-wheel drive car, mount on the front.

Serious off-roaders put chains on both the front and back of their 4x4s.

Ditto Doug.

I lived on Mt. Hood (2500-foot level) during my formative driving years. Had a '69 Mustang. I carried chains in the trunk and always got good result putting them on the rear (drive) wheels. With a rear wheel car it's also good to put some extra weight in the trunk to improve traction.

I did once add a chain to one of the front tires to get help steering when we also had a lot of ice. I think that was the storm that required me driving through the Gorge in a snowplow-led caravan on I-84, to get back to school after Christmas break.

My brother was Mr. 4x4 and rarely used chains at all. I do remember him once chaining up all four wheels on his '71 Blazer when we got 5-feet of snow in 36 hours. That was an unusual storm. His first car was a '53 Willy's with a short-block V-8.

I have chains for my 2004 Honda Element (kind of absurd for the mid-Atlantic but I can't break the habits of my Cascade Mountains days). Low-profile chains that are supposed to go on the front wheels -- the primary drive wheels in the Element's AWD system.

The front differential on a rear wheal drive 4x4 is weaker
than the rear. It is made for light duty occasional use.
You are more likely to wear and strain it
if you chain up the front only. That is why instructions
say to chain up the primary drive axle.

I have had a 4x4 swap ends with chains on the front only.
Very scary.

Chains on the rear give better traction going uphill
and keep you straight on the downhill.

The manual for my Jeep Cherokees (1984 and 2001) state to NOT put chains on the front tires. It doesn't say why but having spent extensive quality time underneath them the reason is likely to be that there's little clearance at the tie-rod end.
Simple translation- the chains will catch on something really important and you won't be steering anymore.

The vehicle's owners manual should say something about chains on your particular vehicle.

And I second the suggestion to try them on the vehicle. Do it when you have time and it's warm and don't really need them. It's 10x harder to install them when you really need them.

If I chained the front of my truck it would rip the inner fenders off. No clearance at all!

In CA during BAD BAD storms they even require 4x4s with MS tires to have chains too, unless you live there and are driving home and it's not the highway. When it's bad they just close the highway, mostly do to avalanche warning or extreme white-out conditions.

Dad's logger/surveyor friends from his Weyerhauser days were adamant that you only chained up the real wheels on pick-up trucks, whether they had 4wd or not. I took it as gospel cuz these were the guys that did it all their life for a living.

Sue, 4wd or all wheel drive? Not quite the same, and most Subies I know are AWD. They also don't have a huge amount of clearance in the wheel wells, so I'd be careful about mounting them anywhere.

"Sue, 4wd or all wheel drive?"

It has regular 2WD, Automatic 4WD, upper 4WD and lower 4WD.

Les Schwab provided the chains at the same time the tires were bought and studded.

Sue

Chains mean you don't need to go faster than around 30mph. I saw a Suburban that threw a chain at 70mph. The tow truck driver said it was totaled (bent frame) I doubt that that was true, but there was at least one panel to replace.

Sue,

Chains only go on the rear wheels of a Suburban (at least from the 07 manual). Those are the primary drive wheels and have sufficient clearance for the chains. Putting chains on the front wheels would be hard on the drive system, could damage the steering and could result in loss of control due to too little traction on the primary drive wheels.

Add some weight to the rear of the vehicle and make sure the chains fit well before you need them. Stay below 30 mph when using chains and don't run them on cleared (no snow/ice) roads, it is hard on the vehicle and can quickly lead to chain failures.

If you have studded snow tires and 4WD you really shouldn't need chains unless you are going through some really, really serious snow and ice. Go slow, plan ahead, and drive where your tires can get some traction. The biggest challenge I recall from driving in W. Washington after a snow or ice storm was all those cars stuck all over the place.

- Eric

Hey Sue, That suberban will get you most places you DONT want to be in a bad snow storm. If you have to use chains (hopefully to get somewhere safe and warm) then I would put them on the front wheels and if possible all 4 wheels.

This is just me. I have been playing in the snow in Colorado and Wyoming all my life so I do qualify as a person that has been there and done that. I put them on the front because that is 1) where all your steering and breaking is done. 2) the most weight is over your front tires and you will be able to let the chains cut into the snow not just spin in it. 3) I dont know if anyone as tried to push a shoping cart in snow or slush, but it is much easier to pull it. The same theory applies to your vehicle. It is much more efficiant to pull the weight then push it. That would also explain all the front wheel drive cars now.

A lot of good advise was given on this post and one thing said was dont go over 30 mph and dont drive it on cleared roads. Unless you have a lot of experience with chains, you should have someone show you how to properly put chains on and then practice it once or twice. It is a lot different in a snow storm when you are already half stuck, it is dark and it is cold. Also this will assure you that they will fit. Just because someone says they will fit, doesnt mean they will.

Like I said, use chains to get out of trouble not to get deeper into it. Just as important as the chains is the shovel to dig out around the tires to get the chains on.

Chains are a tool, just like anything else, if you use it wrong you can cause damage.

Dont be afraid of chains.

This isn't true, espically on a vehicle like a suburban. You have the rear springs, axle, drive shaft, gas tank, etc all in the rear, transmission and transfer case in the middle and up front is an aluminum cased axle, engine, etc. The weitgh is pretty evenly spread out, CG is pretty well centered.

If you know you're going to need the chains, put them on before it gets ugly out--and shut the motor off, so you're not breathing exhaust while you're struggling to hook that last @##%$%$#^^^ hook.;-)

Read your vehicle's owner's manual. It should address the proper way to safely use chains on your tires.

I would think chains on the front could hit the wheel well during tight steering. Be careful!!

Thanks for all the input! I will drag the owner's manual out.

I hope I don't have to go anywhere that requires chains, for sure. But some of this job is on unpaved, unmaintained, and steep roads. Railroads apparently aren't known for 'wasting' money on maintenance of the trails to access their tracks and switches.

And rest assured that I go slow in snow and ice.

Sue

Good luck, Susan.

Uncle Goo had great advice in going ahead and practicing putting the chains on.

IMO, most vehicle manufactures are pretty conservative when it comes to chains. They will often just say don't use them instead of telling you the pros and cons and letting you make an informed decision.

Personally, I feel you should chain all four since you not only want traction, but also want to be able to steer effectively. I've been on a number of roads where vehicles without chains starting sliding sideways, and where people who were only chained in one end starting having the unchained end pivot around the chained end.

But.. You need to get a feel for how the chains apply to your specific vehicle.

For example, on our Jeep GC, there was plenty of space on the front wheels, but the rear had very little clearance between the tire and the rear shock. So obviously you were at risk to tear up the shock. In this case, I made sure we used a lightweight chain that fit well, and took care to go slow and make sure the chains didn't loosen up.

As suggested above, make sure they fit before you need them. I've found even chains marked for a given tire size may sometimes not fit correctly.

The upside is a (true) 4x4 (or good AWD) with all four tires chained can move effectively in some pretty impressive stuff. Of course you start to get in trouble when the snow is any significant depth over your ground clearance.

Good luck!

-john

The larger the links, the better traction too, especially in
deep snow, sand and mud. Cable chains won't dig you out of the
deep when large link chains will.
(They are easier to install however, and work well for icy highways
and low fender clearance.)