Your post made me chuckle. I was snow wheeling in my lifted k5 blazer 25 years ago. Snapped the rear pinion in half. Removed the cover, axle c clips. Slid the wheels/drums/axles out. Removed the carrier. Unbolted and removed the ring gear. Slammed it all back together. Topped the diff with the litre of gear oil I had (I'm canadian). Drove 300km home on the front axle.
The stuff a person can do with a set of tools and the threat of a long, cold walk. I tore a CV boot once on my old Chevy, right in the valley of one of the folds. Glued it together with weatherstrip adhesive and half a tube of red silicone. Put dang near 3,000 km on it in winter conditions before I had a chance to pull it apart and change the boot. Didn't leak or anything.
My dad was a bit of a numbskull when it came to driving when I was young. We were stranded a few times when I was little. I learned. I'm very meticulous. My equipment knows better to get me home with what I got. Because if I get cold, I'm setting it on fire..
We aren't talking about local regional drivers who have no choice in the matter. We are talking about long haul drivers. Furthermore, we aren't talking about a little bit of snow. Use your brain... Can you imagine what would happen if a new driver came along... Never have been in a situation like that... Smash bang boom... And you are out of business. Long haul cross country owner operators (who care about thier business and thier trucks) ordinary avoid the situation. As far as "that's simply not true"... You aren't looking at the entire industry / picture. After almost 30 years of driving and meeting thousands of drivers... The consensus is... It simply isn't worth it. You will always have the 1$ a mile d!psh!t who wants to run. But those of us who don't get out of bed for anything under 5$ a mile know where and when to run as well as where and when not to run.
Chaining up multiple times per day is just a little piece of driving. There is no reason to fear chains, they are your friend. Use them, thank them, and happy truck'n.
Let's leave him alone. When you think about it, the more drivers that won't chain up, the better off we are. Lots less crowded. If everybody chained up can you imagine all the first time rookies and super-trucker know it alls who'd be tied in knots and blocking the road? It might be fun to watch but it sure wouldn't be fun to get caught in. Help me out here. Encourage the "I don't chain, never have, never will" drivers to stay in the coffee shop. In the meantime us poor souls will be out there chugging along and making money.
