I'm moving to Seattle and will be driving from Detroit in a couple weeks. I'm expecting to have to use snow chains to get through the Rockies in mid Nov. Has anyone used them on their 06 Civic? If so, I'm trying to garner as much info as possible about them (brands, installation and removal, driving instructions, etc.). I know virtually nothing on the subject as I've never had to use them before either in the MidWest or East Coast.

Much obliged,

BP

 

I will be purchasing some Blizzak tires for my car like others on the list. I drove through I-80 to San Fran this past summer and seem to recall that the mountain passes required snow chains OR dedicated snow tires (with the snowflake emblem on the sidewall). The Blizzak brand of tires are a good enough substitute for snow chains that friends of mine travel over the mountain from San Fran to Salt Lake City with nothing but Blizzak tires and they are allowed to pass. Check the webpages of the states through which you are driving and they will be able to tell you better though. I would trust a set of 4 Blizzak tires over snow chains on only the drive wheels 9 times out of 10.

 

I would suggest you consider a set of four good snow tires instead of chains. In fact, the next step up would be to use studded tires. However, even studded winter tires may be illegal in some regions. As Darren suggested, enquire with the states your travelling through to find out what is recommended and legal.

The second thing to keep in mind is the wheel well clearance when mounting chains. The clearance on our cars is very low. If not done properly they may damage the vehicle.

The third thing to keep in mind is that you should always affect your wheels in sets of four (4), particularly in FWD vehicles such as the HCH-2. Many accidents happen because people play it on the cheap (by adding just traction to the FW) and then lose yaw control in an emergency situations.

Finally, the areas you are travelling through will likely be cleared of snow (especially the main roads) and the only true challenge is ice. Again, a set of good winter tires is what I would recommend to tackle the icy & sloping roads ahead.


Good luck

MSantos

 

I have personally never used chains or studded tires and have only used the Blizzak brand of snow tires so I can't comment on other snow tires. The Blizzak tires are truly phenomenal though if you've never used them. My previous car had AWD though so it was exempt in many states when shod with snow tires on all corners but now that I am back to a FWD car then I'll have to keep that in mind again.

Washington travel info (states that some passes will require chains on all vehicles or an AWD vehicle with snow tires, etc. -- good info): http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/winter

Montana travel info: http://mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/tire_restrictions.shtml

Idaho travel info: Not inclued because the trip is only about 40 miles through this state and Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota don't have the mountains that the Western states do. =)

But I'll be sinking some cash for a full set of Blizzaks and most likely a spare set of wheels as they are still quite affordable and a separate set is so much easier.

 

I'll be mounting the Goodyear Ultra grip 7 snow tires pretty soon. Any experiences with these? they are the winners in the ADAC (german automobile club) and her Austrian sister snowtire test this year. We get a lot of snow in the alps, and snow tires are obliged by law in Germany. Even or this was an law around 80% of the drivers ran snowtires! Chains are a must when going into the mountains. I'll be checking in on these in the near future because i'll be going to the pyrenees in january

 

I'd hate to have to buy new tires already (the move's going to be expensive enough). I don't plan on doing much traveling to the mountains once I'm in Seattle and don't count on much snow there during the winter. Was hoping to be able to get the chains just to get through the mountain passes and get out there. For reference, I'll be taking I-90 pretty much the entire way out there.

 

Searching the internet I found tire chains at:
http://tirechain.com/P195-60R-15.htm

If you buy them, let us know how well they work.

SolarDEK

 

Well, this is what I ended up buying...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...442736-2980924

But I was able to just make it through the passes without needing to put them on (just barely made it though, by the time I made it out on the west side of Snoqualmie pass they were requiring chains on eastbound traffic).

I ended up returning them to Amazon as I just figured that I'd invest in a set of Blizzak's now that I'm out here if I need them and don't have to worry about leaving my old tires back in Michigan.

BP