UKC

Looking for some sub £50 snow chains - what should I look for? Diamond pattern, hardened steel, spring loading?

In reply to iksander: I bought some generic ones in carrefor for about £15. Used in anger and seem really effective, even with really smooth worn summer wheels on.

In reply to LJC:

Just get whatever fits your tyres - they will work. The difference in price seems to be more about how easy they are to fit.

I live in a village with a ski lift and we have snow on the ground maybe 100 days of the year. I still probably only use chains a couple of times a year (I have winter tyres) so I don't see the point in spending a lot.

In reply to iksander:

As Yorkshireman says, the difference in price is down to how easy they are to fit rather than how effective they are. And (as he also points out) you will rarely use them. They are good to have in the boot of your car so that you have the confidence to go out knowing that if the conditions deteriorate you can still get home.

Having said all that, personally I get the more expensive ones which are easier to fit, but as long as you learn how to fit them (inevitably it will be dark when you need them) the cheap ones will be fine. Bear in mind that they probably won't fit your next car (because the tyre sizes will be different) and that you'll use them less than 5 times a year.

In reply to iksander:

The really cheap ones tend to fall to bits I find. I have some "Weissenfels Clack and Go" chains, which are robust and pretty easy to put on but can be a bitch to remove. If you go too fast they can chew up the road and your car.

A lot of people favour the socks for general use. I'm coming round to the idea that if I had my time again I would have bought some of those instead.

In reply to davidbeynon:

I've got cheap snow chains on my VW Passat and they'r fine.

We've also now got a Volvo V40 and this is the first winter with it. I've put winter tyres on, but yesterday was informed in Feu Vert that no chains will fit my wheels for that model - and a sock is pretty much my only affordable option.

So I've bought a sock - I'll be able to do a literal A/B comparison when we get a really heavy dump as to whether they're much good compared to chains.

In reply to iksander:
ave a think about autosocks rather than chains unless you really need chains (e.g. driving somewhere they are a legal requirement). I've found socks superb for driving in the snow / compacted snow and thats with a lightly laden rear wheel drive van (i.e. the ultimate "crapinthesnow-mobile"). Plus a lot easier / quicker than chains to fit for occasional use and a lot more tolerant of driving along sections with little / less snow.

Allegedly they only loose out to chains on steel thick sections of sheet ice. Never tried that with either though to compare!

On a club trip to mill cottage (near Kincraig, down a section of forestry track with a reasonably steep hill complete with c.180 degree bend at the bottom if you don't know it) only our van was able to get back out after a big dump of snow overnight. We had to lend our socks to folk who's wheels were big enough and push / dig everyone else.

Can't help with chains - we bought ours from a garage in France for about 25 euros, though got rid of them after we got the autosocks.

Cheers,

Stuart

In reply to StuDoig:

Socks wear out quite quickly, whereas chains don't. Think of the choice as a 'cheap get out of occasional crap' or 'investment for long term use'.

In reply to NottsRich:
I think it depends on where you live.

Where we live there are steep hills in/out of the village. No matter how much snow falls, the local populus manages to reduce the snow to rock hard sheet ice by determined wheel-spinning. Some of these hills don't get direct sunlight due to the hedges/banks, so the ice stays for a long time. We use snow chains (about £50.00 a pair) and are happy that we can always get home.

I don't know how snow socks would compare.

In reply to iksander:

I got given a brand new set of chains by a mate a few years ago - didn't fit his new car. I've never used them, either.

They weren't quite the right size for my current car, but I got them to fit with a bit of tweaking, in case I needed them. Hopefully they'll fit my new one.

In reply to StuDoig:


Dont do a lot of snow driving but I have used snow socks a few times and they seemed great, plus quick to put on and off.
Then skiing this year in French Alps had a couple of nightmare trips down the valley with very heavy snow fall. If memory serves me correctly was thick, softish snow. The socks gave no traction and, after a couple of nasty scares I put on the snow chains which were fine.

Moral? keep chains as a back up if thinsg get really nasty.

In reply to Slarti B:
Hi Slarti,
Hmm, seems different to my experience of them. Were they autosocks as opposed to another branding? I know some (e.g. halfords own versions) have been roundly slated as crap. I've had similar sounding conditions (in Scotland) and found I got comparatively good traction - without being there it's hard to say though.

Would chains have coped massively better if it was really heavy falling wet snow? I know I've had a couple of scary drives down from resorts in the Pyrenees in really heavy snow where chains were still really insecure and slippy. This was before I'd used auto socks though and I haven't had the same conditions to do a comparison since.

Only time I've noticed a huge difference was on hard glassy ice (rather than compacted snow-ice) rather than wet snow (which I've found my socks better in).

Still, for the UK I'm very happy with the autosocks, 4 years in with infrequent use every one of those years and not close to worn out. Given how infrequently 95%+ of folk in the UK will actually need them I do think autosocks are spot on for most people.

I'd agree that for daily prolonged use like in the alps, Norway etc chains are a better option though as the socks will wear out with that kind of use faster than chains.

Cheers

Stuart

In reply to davidbeynon:

"I have some "Weissenfels Clack and Go" chains, which are robust and pretty easy to put on but can be a bitch to remove."

I've got the same. Cost an arm and a leg, but very well made.

The instructional video shows a six-stone Italian woman with long nails and full make-up fitting the damn things, on snow, in about 30 seconds per wheel.

Took me half an hour and some exceptionally ripe language the first time. It does get easier with practice though.

So, to the OP: practice fitting them before you need to!

In reply to iksander:

I tend to buy chains and keep them The ones that fit my current car were bought originally for an MGB. In between times they also fitted a Peugeot 205GTI but nothing else. Unfortunately, the label that stated the sizes succumbed to garage damp and age long ago, so every new car gets tested.

OUr newest pair fits nothing now

They cost the equivalent of a tank of fuel, which I can live with over 3 years, just in case.

In reply to iksander:
got an old rope? google 'rope snowchains'