Question about chains and laws requiring them.

Socks are best for snow covered roads, ok on ice, unneeded on wet roads, destroyed on dry pavement. If you buy something just to show you are carrying approved traction devices, socks are light & take less space than chains.

 

instead of getting them from the truck stop. Walk over to the kenworth dealer and buy them there. Much cheaper. Agreed the truck stop is handy but they certainly ham it up over winter with the captive audience

 

Great thread. But again I fins myself unprepared for the law....back to the stoee I go

 

I've got no issue throwing chains but socks are just too ###### easy to pass up. Yeah, you've got to run under 20mph, which is fine as I'm not interested in going faster than that with chains/socks on anyways. Never had the spin issue either but you sound like you're in the #### on a regular basis so I'll give you that. For chaining up once or twice a year I'd still recommend socks over chains.

 

I carried a set of socks for those occassions that I needed a little more traction to get under a trailer or out of an icy dock... Anything going down the road I strictly ran chains.

Socks work AWESOME for adding traction to the steers on polished icy lots when trying to maneuver a trailer into a tight spot.

 

If you use cable chains, the cable that runs around the outside must be 3/8 of an inch thick. 1/4 cable in the edge is not enough.

 

If i remember correctly . colorado is the only state that has a regulation for cables to be a certain size. I could be wrong though.

 

Are cables installed on tires the same as chains? I`ve only done chains before

 

I wore out 5 of 6 socks in ONE trip across OR. OR had chain law enforce from the top of Cabbage Hill to Baker City. I bought the socks with the boss's money. He said buy 6 more socks and they mostly rode in the side box until another storm. "Luckily" that storm was heavy enough snow that the roads were covered with packed snow. While I was driving 20 mph for 4 plus hours I was being passed by dozens or a hundred trucks wearing iron and even some trucks going "barefoot." Socks are VERY effective on packed or powder snow. As for ease of install/removal, they are easy if you bring a piece of lumber to place under the inside tire of a dual. Roll up on the lumber and you can put the socks on the entire wheel without rolling half a tire length forward or back. Without that lumber you have to put the socks on the top half of all your intended tires, then roll forward 1/2 of a wheel and slide them over what was the bottom half. So they are easier to install/remove, but not much faster if you get past the first 2-5 chain installs. Most driers I know that chain can chain in about 30 minutes, form what I've heard. As with the socks, if you have apiece of 4 x 4 lumber to get your outside wheels off the ground it will be easier for you. You also need to let your socks dry after using them.

Socks work, but they are not durable by any definition unless you run so far north or northwest that the roads are snow covered, not a mix of dry, wet, ice, snow. I used socks to climb and descend a big mountain/hill in the Wilamette National Forest that was snow packed. I never slid or felt remotely out of control. The socks get wrapped around the hub if you spin a drive wheel such as if you try to rock your way out of a parking spot. Regardless of which direction you are trying to move, if the wheel spins even 1 revolution, the sock will be either wrapped around the axle between you dual tires or thrown off.

Obviously steel tire chains also break links, etc. And that can cause lots of damage to the tractor or trailer. There is no free-lunch. If anyone is planning just to carry socks to legally be allowed to drive in an area, IIRC WA & OR require you carry traction devices (socks or chains) from Nov 1 to May 1. Tire socks are a good option, many drivers and their companies use the activaton of chain law as the red light that causes them to park. Socks are good for that use.

 

This is Oregon's chain law page. It has diagrams for almost any commercial vehicle use of snow chains. Some states changed their laws replacing "snow chains" to "alternative traction devices" which include tire socks, SOME TIRE CABLES, and auto chains. At most truck stops in Oregon the DOT leaves a stack of cardboard cards you can take that show the legal setup in OR. Oregon's setup is legal for the surrounding states. The various Western states differ mostly about how many or if you need to carry spare sets of chains. Enough chains to cover 6 wheels is the most common and widespread minimum for a conventional tractor and 48-53 ft trailer, other than any requirement for spares. I don't know if there is any benefit for putting one tire of the trailer in chains, say on te lead axle of one side, and the rear outside tire on the other side, as is shown in a few diagrams. I always used which ever trailer tandem axle was easiest to get my arms in and around for installation. I never ran the one "chained" wheel on 2 different trailer axles. Also I consider it mandatory for anyone driving in or near Oregon to check OR DOT's fantastic web site that gives road conditions and traffic movement info on one handy map at Tripcheck.com