Thread: Snow chains in mud

Chains work like spikes on icey roads, wich is why 2 wheel drive cars really need them on certain roads down south,
I have never used them on a 4wd, mostly as I have never needed to, if you drive easy the 4wd does most of the work for you on the ice,

but for Mud I remember seeing them being used as a kid, and allthough they did rip the track up, and chuck alot of mud about, and look impressive, they didnt give the driver any real advantage over anyone there without chains, infact I seem to remember them getting stuck when one wheel started spinning, it rooster tailed all over the place but that dosnt say much for getting traction,
invest in some good tires, let the presure down, and tractor your way out,
the next person to use the track will thank you for it,

The chains will rip up the track worse than most muddies.

And as for not using them on a four wheel drive - come down to Tassie and I'll take you for a run

I've had to fit chains to my Defender in Tassie before, and I am running Muddies permanently! :wink:

I've used them in mud once. The first time I went 4WDing we were stuck at the bottom of a steep valley, clay track and heavy rain. A couple of Land Cruisers (deer hunters) drove out using wheel chains. I had tipped the SIII on its side, so wasn't too confident about getting up; the Patrol I was travelling with broke a front hub and was stuck.

The deer hunters lent us a set of chains and the Landy got out without a worry. We fitted the chains to the rear of the Patrol, but the track was so steep he still couldn't gain any ground. It took 8 hours to Tirfor him 30m to the top, with him attempting to drive with chains on the back. One reason for the time delay was the hired tirfor had no handle, so we hacksawed a part off the patrol to make a handle, then the Tirfor needed a rebuild on the side of a slippery mountain!

I have custom xtra grips on the SIII for off road driving, but the tyres on the Range Rover are 80% on road 20% off road, so I always carry the chains when taking the RR off road, but have never needed to use them.

A lot of older guys who travelled outback [40+ years ago] have said that chains got them through bad situations and were the only "recovery" gear they had.

Driven sensibly chains will cause little damage. Was on a trip a while back and a 4wd club caught up to us as one of the vehicles with us had standard disco tyres and we spent most of the day winching him out of the bushes and up hills. (10 hours and about 25 Kms)
All the vehicles in the 4wd club but one were using chains as it was very slippery, even those with mud tyres. I saw no real damage after following about 15 Nissans and Landcruisers for two days and them using chains on all the hills.
I was also travelling with a Landcruiser 100 series with all terrains and he needed chains and a rear diff lock to get up hills. I had a brand new set of mud tyres and had no trouble anywhere but could not tow the disco up hills. The Landcruiser with chains and a diff lock could.

Ian

the rear Diff Locks would have been the major plus there,
Im not against them being used as a recovory measure., thick red mud can slather over the best of tires and really make it hard to get a grip even with low preasure, some times the fresh tread is good to get the punch up a steap muddy hill,
but when people just chuck them on and leave them on it often ripps the tracks up far more then regular mud tires would running 16-18psi, Might not matter so much in other states, but here the National parks will take any chance they get to shut the camp grounds and 4wd tracks down., or nick them back of state forrests who have plenty on there plates trying to keep the roads accesible dispite being seriously under staffed and under $$,
in the mud Good Muddys difflock low psi, and good clearance, will get you though most near anything,
without a good difflock you can still suffer the same fate with or without chains,

I had a pair of mud chains for a trip around Australia and never needed to use them. I thought I was better off putting on allterrains and carrying chains if need be. Before I set off I put them on to try them around the paddock. Out of the gullies where the series had no chance of getting up, and I am not talking mud or wet but steep and grassy, when the chains were on, it would crawl up easily. As far as ripping up the ground, no more than what my muddies at the moment would do with a bit slipping and sliding.
A diff lock would be far better!!! Yeh if you had the money to fork out instead of a couple of hundred for mud chains, and only really need to use them the same amount of time.
Cheers
Bren

I've used chains a number of times, mostly to get other crappy tyred vehicles up muddy slopes, but they do work.

First they must be ladder pattern & not diamond pattern.

Secondly the chains must have a square edge not rounded, or they'll spin on rocks.

Thirdly, in mud they must only be fitted on the front wheels (on the back if you have two sets). Uphill you need to be pulled over the top like a winch will & downhill the last thing you want is the front losing steer, on the back if you lose steer the back wheels with chains will push you into deeper trouble like over the edge.

Used properly with lowered pressure & retightened a number of times over 20mtres or so, and crawl speeds you will think your car is tractor driven, big thumbs up wouldn't leave home without them in winter.

Cheers
Bryce

RoverOne: Why do they have to be ladder and not diamond pattern? The 'top model' chains (the most expensive anyway) seem to be the diamond pattern, so I was assuming they are better.