Newfangled Tire Chains (Bozeman: closing, car, parking)

[JetMech72]

Cables are recommended for all light-weight vehicles such as the thousands of Subaru Outbacks that you see all over Missoula and should be used on the drive axles i.e. if its an AWD: all four tires should be chained, if it is front-wheel drive: chain the front tires. The one exception, in my opinion, is the venerable 4X4, I will chain the rear drive wheels when in 2 wheel drive and I chain the front when in 4 wheel drive for enhanced steering ability in deep snow. Owners of heavier vehicles should stick with chains. The reason is that the weight and torque of heavier vehicles would simply ruin cables. As far as the risk of damage to a vehicle by shedding a chain, you should never travel faster than 25-30 MPH or any faster than the manufacturer's recommendation. There are some cam-less, self-tightening chains that lower the risk of a chain loosening, as is the case when a cam-style chain is installed backwards (centrifugal force will act against the cam).
As should be with any 4X4, winch or chains, you should use those aids as a last resort, if you use these aids to get deep into treacherous terrain and get stuck doing so, you have no other aids to get you out. Chains are fine in snowpacked and icy conditions to maintain traction, but remember to not exceed the lower speeds.

[Reziac]

More good info, JetMech -- I hadn't seen self-tightening chains, but mine are older'n dirt (been in the family since the 1960s, probably from when we moved in December 1964 come to think of it, and might not have been new then! and I've had 'em since 1974 myself)

[Montana Griz]

Saw this month old thread and it got me to thinkin' back & realizing "how nuts and foolish" some of us were & what we'd do to "have fun"...................

Grew up on a lake in northern Illinois (just south of the Wis boarder) from 1932 to 1950. Lake was 1 3/4 mi by 3/4 mi. If our first hard freeze occurred on a "still" ("windless" night) we were in for a great winter of "smooth-ice sports" and other related (insane)activites......the ice some years would get to be 18 inches thick.

Since it was a 6 mile "hitch-hike" to high school (1946>>>>), most guys saved all their odd-job money they made all year long from about 4th grade on........knowing that was the only way they could buy a used car when they got to be freshmen in H.S.

Examples: '36 & '37, '38 and '39 Ford, Chevy & Mercs.

I was lucky to find a 4dr (suicide rear doors) 1939 Merc in decent condition & 'got that baby' for $275. To pick-up some extra money, we staged "races" around a 1/4 mile diameter circut....out in the center of the lake. The course was laid out with about (30) 55 gal drums in a circle.

Here we go now re "our special ice tires"..............As you may know, all tires were tube type, 4 ply nylon. We all had an extra set of used "casings",and extra set of used rims and various sizes of tubes (as many as maybe 30 tubes). These were strickly for racing (it took a long time to work these up).

1st step: using 1/4" dia, smooth, round headed bolts, we would drill the casing and mount a maximum of (40) bolts per tire...smooth head inside casing.... 1 flat washer, 1 lock washer and a hex nut on the outside with the bolt cut off clean with the nut.

2nd step: The inside of the casing was lined with a layer of "inner tube" to cover the bolt heads--this "tube(casing) liner" had to be the exact right size, cut with a scissors exactly right and then glued in place
exactly right--no wrinkles or ridges. After drying over night THEN you put the regular inner tube in place (Tip: sprinkel aome talcum powder in first), mounted the tire casing on the rim, inflated to the proper pressure and PRAYED. (Note) The 'bolt pattern" was up to the
car owner. Some used 2 rows of twenty each etc.......I used 2 rows: 15 in the inside row and 25 on the outside row.

We raced against the clock since the chance of collisions was quite high.
If there was more than 4 inches on snow on the ice.....the father of one of the guys would plow 3 passes around the "track" for us.

Avg number of guys that would turn out for a Sat afternoon race was about 12. Entry fee was $15. "with best time of the day takes all". Side bets were very numerous, and on a good day a guy could clear $200.

As an added feature...(a little more exciting)..... When the ice was "wind-blown clean" of snow for at lease at straight stretch of 1/2 mile, we had the "360" Dance!!!! With "Regular Street Tires" on, you would cross a start point at 45 mph and then see who could do the most "360" (s), until the car stopped. Again entry fee was $15. wiiner take all!! and side bets were common. Racing season was "weather dependent" usually lasted about 12 weeks.

(Side Bar Note): ALL DURING THE WAR YEARS PT-17 aka N2S (Stearman) ( aka "Yellow Peril") open cockpit 2 seater training planes would land on the ice frequently. Glenview Naval Air Station was about 25 miles away.

Oh to be young again!!

[Reziac]

Oh, to live in a society that both allows us to be young, and lets us do the crazy things that contribute to growing up!

I remember us driving on the lake ice in Minnesota when I was a kid... but because of the chinooks (and numerous small warm springs), I've never seen ice solid enough in MT to risk putting a bunch of cars on, at least not on the small ponds; dunno what the big lakes are like. Conversely I've seen rotten MT ice in January that wasn't even truly safe to walk on!

[Reziac]

Hey, that makes me wonder about "homemade" studded snow tires (tho I recall there's a length limit on the studs, 1/4 inch??) -- put in bolts as described, then fill the tire with sand, or better yet, a mixture of sand and shredded rubber (old tire treads) instead of air. The idea is to get extra weight directly on the road on all four wheels, and not have to worry about air leaks. Tho it would ride like a brick outhouse (you probably couldn't use all sand or it would shake your vehicle apart).

I remember farmers filling tractor tires with water instead of air, same principle -- put extra weight at the bottom for traction and stability. Of course, tractors don't go at highway speeds, either

[MTSilvertip]

Believe me, using water in those tractor tires was not a good idea!!
You used an anti-freeze or alcahol mix or when the temps were below freezing. If you used straight water, you had all the weight on one side of the tire with a small flat spot where the weight had flattened the tire when it froze, and a soft spot at what was the top of the tire if there was any air in there.

You could really get a gallop going when the flat spots (Solid Thump) and soft spots (a softer dip) weren't in sync on each side of the tractor!!
What a ride!!!

Using fluid in the tires worked well for traction when plowing fields or other hard pulls, but draining those tires in the winter was a must!!

Oh the good old days.....

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

Using fluid in the tires worked well for traction when plowing fields or other hard pulls, but draining those tires in the winter was a must!!

Well, of course. That's why I specifically didn't suggest filling homemade studded tires with water for MT winters! And of course you don't generally plow your fields when it's frozen, so not really a problem for a tractor.

Tho I suppose antifreeze would work well enough, if it doesn't eat the tires.

But I was also figuring that tires with that many penetrations for bolts would tend to leak, so you probably don't want a liquid (or gas) as the filler at all, if there's something else suitable available. Anyone ever tried sand-filled tires? I know you can buy foam-filled tires that can't go flat, but they're still expensive and hard to find.

[Rickers]

I have no use for chains or cables but I do carry a shovel and sand in my rig. I really could use some studs in my tires but I don't have to drive all that much anymore anyway.
One thing I thought was funny though is that in our local paper there is a column by the Police called "Calls For Law Enforcement". Last week one of the items written went like this;

"With the warm weather, parking lots and streets are beginning to ice-up and students are "hooky-bobbing". One student grabs a car handle or bumper and the driver takes off while the other person is sliding along. There was a complaint logged in about this. You just can't have fun anymore"

Ya gotta love "Mayberry Montana" !

[Reziac]

The Albertson's parking lot in Bozeman always iced up nicely, and had big piles of snow around all the lamp posts... so after closing it was our fave place to sling the ol' car around in all directions, with no danger of damaging anything (at worst you'd hit a snowbank).

And then I went and put four studded snow tires on the car instead of the usual two, and it wouldn't slide on the ice anymore at all!

[Mt-7]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

Believe me, using water in those tractor tires was not a good idea!!
You used an anti-freeze or alcahol mix or when the temps were below freezing. If you used straight water, you had all the weight on one side of the tire with a small flat spot where the weight had flattened the tire when it froze, and a soft spot at what was the top of the tire if there was any air in there.

You could really get a gallop going when the flat spots (Solid Thump) and soft spots (a softer dip) weren't in sync on each side of the tractor!!
What a ride!!!

Using fluid in the tires worked well for traction when plowing fields or other hard pulls, but draining those tires in the winter was a must!!

Oh the good old days.....

Oh man I would love to see a massey going with the tires galloping, what a riot.
Would love to see that old merc with the suicide doors!