[bullfrogi]

Hey everyone, I'm looking at making up a set of tyre chains for muddy terrain to go on my 2009 Jimny. I was wondering if anyone here owns any or has experience using them like this. I'm thinking of making them out of 6-8mm galv chain, but not quite sure whether to do a ladder or diamond pattern in the cross member chains. Any insight anyone could give me would be a big help.

[Pico42]

Off the top of my head...

It depends on the terrain. I have a "ski field" pair and a pair of icebreakers. The ski field pair are the quikfit diamond pattern style - primarily for smooth driving on snowy roads, but also do well on some muddy terrain. But to run them smoothly, they get done up quite tight so they don't move much. Which can be a disadvantage because...

The icebreakers (heavy deformed chain with v-bars) are a ladder style chain. Apart from just the size of them, one of the ways they work is that the chain moves around, flicking mud off and cleaning it for a fresh bite at the ground. So you generally leave them a little loose. Which limits high speed stuff.

One thing is that the chain is hardened - ordinary chain wears out far too quickly. The chain also tends to have a square profile to help with bite into the snow/ice/mud.

[bullfrogi]

A lot of that makes sense. The main reason I want the chains is for slippery hills, which tend to be a little bothersome when you have standard highway tyres. I'm just after a bit more grip when I need it. 95% of my driving is bitumen roads.

[jdk81]

Shitloads of traction, but they annihilate the ground.

Not a responsible solution, as they cause too much track damage.

[alien]

Not a convenient solution - but a spare set of rims with muddies and an ebay cigarette lighter electric rattle gun will see you swapping a set of 4 tyres in under an hour? if you don't drive on them much they're going to last about 10 years, so not too bad in the long run. FWIW my Kumho KL71s were bought in March 2011 and have seen roughly 6 months use of each year since (so call it 2 years total) and they're at about 50%. That's daily driving about 120km/week +4wding... about 13,000km.

[got_bar_work]

Plz don't drive with chains on public land. 4x4 get a bad enough name for damaging tracks. We dont need people seeing cars with chains destroying any more.
If u go off road there is no reason not to run a mt these days. A lot will handle just as well as ht on the road and some will get more wear as well. I got 95k on my last bighorns on a 3t ute

[MrRocky]

Thats terrible wear on a sierra aaron
Ive done 50,000 in the hankooks and there 90%+ tread
I did 100,000 on the bighorns and they still had 50% tread only the sidewall had canvas showing from airing down twice a week.

Back to original post ive seen chains in action in a couple of mud comps over here and soon as a slippery log or rocks pop up there goin nowhere

[Gwagensteve]

Chains were a thing in the 70's when you couldn't get decent off-road tyres. They are very hard on the terrain and very hrs on the car. Another factor that weighs against them is they don't work properly with an aired down tyre- they go loose, and once loose there's a good chance they will eat a brake line or similar.

[alien]

MrRocky wrote:

Thats terrible wear on a sierra aaron

You've seen how i drive, right?

All my tyres wear at about that rate. Coopers, KM2, KL71..

[BertZook]

get rid of the HT tyres, and get a set of ATs if you dont go out much then.

better quality, good grip on highway and get u good grip on off the track. I did a couple of tracks with my original HTs alotough didn't do anything hardcore or difficult, i do was afraid for one of them to get a puncture.


I used to have a set of federal ATs, I use them for all their life, never got any issue daily driving, either in rain, they never slip (not like my current Mts), and off road never got an issue either, good grip. For an AT tyre they had an aggressive pattern

[atari4x4]

IMHO it's a cunt act to run chains, not only for the environment but also for other track users... if you need chains to get anywhere, you really have no place being there.

[bullfrogi]

Thanks for all the input guys, you've giving me a lot of food for thought and I'm thinking the chains aren't as good an idea as I first thought. but like anything you never know unless you ask.

[ZUZUKI]

Chains still have a place in snow. Resort roads in Vic. require them to be carried & fitted if requested, during the season.
Ladder pattern chains are not able to be used on formed roads / tracks. ie, ones administered by the snow resorts, VicRoads or Parks Vic.
If you are a logging contractor with dispensation, or on private land, with land owners permission, ok, but they are a pain to drive on (think corrugations, but noisier) & suck at lateral grip.
As stated, ladder V bar, 'ice breaker' chains really make a mess of a track. More of a problem with bigger, heavier & more powerful cars than a Jimny.
Diamond pattern chains can be used on snow or mud, but best not to if it can be avoided on the latter. Can offer great traction, especially on greasy stuff. Run quite 'snug' on the tyre, with a bit more tyre pressure than you would otherwise have for the conditions & keep speed below 40km/h.
Piranha OffRoad in Melb. sell such chains & would be under $300 a pair for Jimny type size (hardened, square link, as mentioned in earlier posts) & can custom build to suit an odd size if required.
*Declared interest*. I work there, & get quite busy in the snow season, especially with making & repairing bus chains.
Rgs, Michael (not Johnson)

[atari4x4]

who ever thought there was a snow chain tech on AZ, knew you needed chains for the snow fields but didn't realise they had to be a certain type.

i've seen powered dry lime used on wet & boggy building sites to get trucks in & out, you'd be amazed how much moisture it will soak up... but like chains it leaves a mark, a bright white mark.

[vet 180]

Get a set of good ATZ's and call it a day

[Gwagensteve]

I can't stand chains on snow, but do understand their use on groomed roads subject to ice.

[Pico42]

I offered some advice earlier on this without thinking of the context. Subsequent posts have highlighted this to me and I need to correct this.

OP, I use tyre chains quite a lot. The difference they can make to traction is tremendous. But there is a lot of thought on where they get used. To provide better context, most of my 4WDing is centered around our clubs activities in Central Otago / Queenstown Lakes, NZ. Apart from snowy roads, we most often use chains on frozen ground, or frozen ground where the top cm or so is thawed - where normal mud tyres cannot get any bite. And in those conditions it is entirely possible to use chains with minimal impact on the tracks. There is a reason some High Country farmers put chains on the vehicles for the entire duration of winter. And some of our club runs stipulate mud tyres with chains - no simex/chevron tyres.

But go further north in the country and the 4WD club use of chains migrates from only being used on ski-field access road to even being banned. I cannot comment on their use in Australia - but when shopping for another 4WD, I must admit that using chains here (first Port Hedland and now Brisbane) never really entered my head.

They can very readily rip up ground. If you spin the wheels a lot, chains can rip the crap out of the ground (As can aggressive mud tyres). Also chains can and do come loose - ripping off flares and brake lines, and gouging panelwork.

But in the context of our driving, I wouldn't be without them.

PS - I have used them on rock too - a number of outcrops on the way straight up a hill beside a fenceline. About 10 vehicles, all with chains, late in the day. The flying sparks were something to see.

[BertZook]

this tread went bit too much out the the track of the main question

bullfrog wrote:

...The main reason I want the chains is for slippery hills, which tend to be a little bothersome when you have standard highway tyres. I'm just after a bit more grip when I need it. 95% of my driving is bitumen roads.

he wants an easy quick fix for every now and then he goes off road, as he is using HT tyres.


again, my advice and as other said too. get a good set of AT tyres. would give you the grip and durability you need for those little moments u go off road, but it would still retain good road manners for bitumen. Also would save you the hustle to build chains and waste time of in the track putting them on.

[HarryHoudini]

There are several versions of this type of adjustable spikes around,back in the 1970's/80's we had a similar type for our Datsun 1600 Rally car,plough thru mud with ease whilst other cars got bogged.It only took a couple of minutes to fit to rear wheels,it had 4 arms with a shark teeth(serrated) type bar on each that clamped on the tyre and was bolted to two wheel studs on the Datsun.I'll try and souce a Photo. but i haven't seen them around for 30 years so may have been banned by the State Transport Depts.

http://www.spikes-spider.ch/en/