When It’s Snowing Don’t Forget Snow Chains
KNOW THE EXACT TIRE SIZE
You will be able to find numbers and characters on the side of the tires. You will see on most modern tires the size shown like this: P205/70R14,this example indicates that the tire is 205mm wide, has an aspect ratio of 70% and is mounted on a wheel whose diameter is 14 inches. All of these numbers are critical in helping you to find the traction products that will fit your tire.
TIRES YOU NEED TO CHAIN UP
The vehicles drive tires are the tires on which tire chain should be installed. If you have a front-wheel drive vehicle then to chain up two front tires will be enough, on vehicles with rear wheel drive this would be the rear tires. If you don’t know what kind of drive you have, you only have to check out the vehicle manual. If you have a four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive vehicle, for some reasons you only want to chain up 2 tires, always check the owner’s manual for advice on which axle to chain up. If you’re not feeling comfortable with chaining up only 2 tires on your 4MATIC vehicle, install traction devices on all tires.
If you drive your vehicle under regular condition, all wheels of a vehicle will have about the same amount of traction, making you feel normal when asserting brake, acceleration and cornering. If you’re driving on the snow and ice you won’t find the balance under normal condition. If you only install snow chains on the front tires, during braking and driving the rear tires will swing. If only the rear tires have the snow chains on, you will find the vehicle steering ability is limited. To get this balance back, the vehicle should be completely equipped with snow chains. Since all tire chains are sold in pairs, if you want to put snow chains on all tires, you will have to get two pairs. As we can see, we have truck tire chain and car tire chain on the market, the truck tire chains usually are stronger and more expensive than car tire chains.