Hello,
I performed a search on here and did find a few topics but I have a different question.
I purchased Les Schwab snow traction devices. They have the cables on the back & front and chain links on the tire. (I have stock wheels/tires)

Question 1: do I place the traction on the front or the rear?
Question 2: do I put the vehicle in 4WD?

Thanks so much! Still driving the H3 daily but haven't posted for quite a while.........GULP!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

re: They have the cables on the back & front and chain links on the tire.

I mean the actual device I purchased has a portion that goes on the backside and the front side of the tire is the cable and the chain actually sits on the tire portion/part that touches the road.

 

isin't your H3 in 4wd all the time????

 

If it has 265's, they go on the back tires. If it has 33" tires or bigger they go in the trunk - according to the owners manual, there isn't enough clearance to run chains with the larger tires.

If you need the extra traction put it in full time 4, just don't drive around like that unless you are on the slick stuff.

 

Time to curl up with the owner's manual and do a little reading during the holiday season I would say.

 

Skeptic
Thank you for your great suggestions!

 

Doh! I just re-read my post. "If you need the extra traction put it in full time 4" should actually say put it in 4 locked. Normal driving around is full time 4.

 

If you're only running one set of chains, you'll probably want them on the rear. This has been a topic of debate for ever, with people who actually use chains and run in areas where they are a necessity. My reasoning for saying the rear in this instance is that, the rear axle is stronger than the front and chains can subject your drivetrain to more stress than normal depending on how aggressive you drive with them. I would definitely be concerned on the front if I was in a position that I might hae to spin the tires.

On the front you would probably also have rubbing issues even with the 265 tires at a full lock turn. Having said that, I have run some heavy duty chains on the rear of my H3 with the 285 tires and they do not rub at all.

Absolutely put the rig in four lock with the chains, unless you find yourself on a high traction surface for a time and know that you'll be going back to a low traction surface soon.

Anyone who would challenge whether or not chains are necessary I would just say that if you don't feel you need them you probably don't. I would also challenge you to try to follow where I can go with chains, with an identically set up vehical and the only difference being a set of tire chains, if the issue with making forward progress is traction, the chains will almost always win. (There are exceptions to that statement but they probably won't be found on snow and ice or slick mud.) Stan