Fender Styles... Which Do You Prefer?

For someone that has never chained because I live in the midwest, I am assuming when you chain the back axle you have to run the diff lock, which is probably recommended if your in a chain up situation anyway.

 

I have the poly fenders on both a Freightliner Columbia and a Pete 389. I've had the set on the Freightliner for about 7 years and they've held up great. I bought them from a company in MI. I liked them so much, I bought a set for the 389 I bought 6 months ago. If you absolutely destroy them, you can just order a replacement one as long as you don't break the mounting brackets.

 

We didn’t have a full locker. If I was slipping I’d throw in the power divider but most of the time I’d just drive as normal, only with chains on. Some people will throw their 3 railers on the front axle but that wasn’t an option on any of the trucks I’ve had to chain.

 

Doesn't matter which axle, without an interaxle lock, which ever has the least traction, that axle will have wheel spin on 1 wheel end.

No chains, no locks: One wheel end spins.
[][]-[][]
O
[][]-[][]

No chains, interaxle locked: One wheel end on both axles must break traction.
[][]-[][]
X
[][]-[][]

No chains, center diff locked, interaxle unlocked: One axle will spin both wheel ends, other axle doesn't spinout.
[][]X[][]
O
[][]X[][]

No chains, all locks engaged: all wheel ends must break traction on both axles.
[][]X[][]
X
[][]X[][]


Now for the logical way to chain up given circumstances...

Three railers on one axle, no locks: This method is nearly pointless on a twin screw truck because whatever axle doesn't get chained that axle will just spin while the chained axle does nothing but roll.
[X][x]-[x][x]
O
[ ][ ]-[ ][ ]


Three railers on one axle, interaxle locked: there is debate on this but I've found it's best to run the three railers on the front axle because it chews up the snow a bit for the back tires to grab slightly more. In this scenario, one of the chained wheel ends and one of the unchained wheel ends must break traction. This setup for most road going tractors with some weight over the drives will cover you on 90% of interstate passes.
[X][x]-[x][x]
X
[ ][ ]-[ ][ ]


Singles on all outside tires, interaxle locked: this setup is slightly better than 3 railers on one axle in my experience and is nearly unstoppable on any paved road if you have a diff lock. Same as above, you have to break loose traction on one wheel end on each axle. Instead of one axle being really hard to break loose and one barefoot, you have two moderately hard to break loose axles. You also don't have to fight with three railers between narrow spaces axles and mudflaps and crap like that. This method is deceivingly fast to chain. Also, if a three railer breaks, that chain is done and if you have no spares you're stuck. This method can save your bacon in that case. But you should always carry spares.
[X][ ]-[ ][x]
X
[X][ ]-[ ][x]

All drive tires chained, either three railers or singles, interaxle unlocked, diffs locked: Not too many use cases for this one, normally you lock interaxle then go to locking diffs with it but this setup lets you turn a bit better. I've used this on really thick snow going up switchbacks.
[X][X]X[X][X]
O
[X][X]X[X][X]


Fully chained up, fully locked out: turning is hard but you're basically unstoppable until you high center or are in an extreme situation. I've had this fail me only once on an 18% grade on 3" of solid ice with rain on top of it with a partially loaded smoothbore tanker. If I had V bars I'd have easily made it without spinning out. But this is the extreme setup here. If this fails you, you were risking your life anyways and being incredibly stupid and should have parked.

[X][X]X[X][X]
X
[X][X]X[X][X]

Normally, my go to for speed and normal interstate driving is throw a good pair of three railers on one axle and send it with the interaxle locked. If I start spinning I cut power, lock diffs, and hammer down again. This of course is only if I have a truck with good axle spacing, no mudflaps in the way, interaxle lock, and diff lock, and good quality chains. Any of those things missing I'm going 4 singles on the outside drives. Another benefit to 4 singles is, if an overzealous DOT requires max chains and the roads aren't bad, you ride by with spiders/bungies on the outside axles, they'll assume 3 railers and leave you alone. Throw in a drag chain when needed or in places like CA OR WA etc where DOT are mad at the world.

Forum broke my formatting, X means chain or a locked locker. O means open locker.

 

These are $100 each from Vander Haggs. I made my own mounts. I try and keep the tires covers as much as possible to keep the truck as clean as I can. Oh and the back glass and mirrors intact…

 

If you are mostly on gravel and job sites, full over the top fenders will control spray better than the singles. The single half fenders look cleaner and are easier to replace if you tear one up off road, but they leave more tire exposed up top where rocks get slung. Pair the full fenders with a good set of mud flaps mounted low and tight to the tire and you will notice a big difference in what hits the back of the cab. For what you are describing, function beats looks all day.

 

I can certainly appreciate all the time and knowledge you put into this post. The only thing i would disagree with is that 4 singles is the way to go.. nobody that chains on a regular basis is running singles. They throw a set of triples and go. Its way faster than messing with singles.. singles will get u in trouble on ice, where your inside tire that is unchained will not have any traction and you will be stuck. This is why you throw triples.