4WD with Snow Tire Peeps - when do you decide to use chains?

Question for people with 4D trucks with snow tires. When do you decide 4WD with snow tires is not sufficient and you break out the chains?

I have a 3rd gen Tacoma Offroad, 4WD with Falken Wildpeaks 3-peak snow tire rating. Just got them a few months ago and have never had them in the snow, heck haven't had truck in snow yet. Big Bear is getting about a foot of snow slow and steady Sunday and Monday. I am planning to head up the mountains on Tuesday to do some snowboarding.

I'm expecting the road rating requirements that day will be R2 (for those not familiar, the R2 definition is "Requirement 2 (R2): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except four-wheel/all-wheel drive vehicles with snow-tread tires on all four wheels.". There is a higher R3 rating that requires chains even with 4WD and snow tires but I don't think that rating will be in effect. If it is I will follow it.

My question is would you tend to use chains on a curvy mountain road if you had 4WD and snow tires for the extra level of confidence, or would you trust that if the roads are rated at R2 conditions and you meet them, you should be fine in 4WD and snow tires (assuming you know how to drive in the snow, which I do. I have just never done it in the mountains on windy hills with some steeper inclines).

I will be carrying chains regardless.

 

Only if my wife is in the mood and asks for them

 

I wouldn’t go much over 40mph with chains on, so…

I’d just go 4Lo if it came to it.


(take ‘em, but you ain’t gonna NEED ‘em)

 

I have never chained (canadian near mountains, run winter tires), but I don't think I would if I had falken wildpeaks. I always imagine chains for oem highway tires.

Just leave it in 4WD when you can't see pavement, and consider lowering pressures to 25psi if it starts to feel dicey.

Big thing is, if you're plowing through fresh heavy snow, is getting high centered, you can usually tell when the skid plate is leaving trails. Chains and tires won't help when the snow is too thick.

 

I lived in Utah for 9 years ..t he snow is lighter drier a fluffier than in cal...I would put 50lb sand bags one over each side of axle and had ta ko's never did me wrong ...that was in 2000-2009 1st gen taco

 

You will need to carry chains but you won't need to use them. CalTrans very seldom actually uses R3. They tend to shut down the road if the conditions are that bad. I work in Mammoth every day and have for 20 years. I've never put chains on.

 

Deep fluffy snow = Aired way down and no chains.
*You want to float, not dig to the bottom.

Really cold grippy snow = Street pressure, no chains.
*As long as the frame/diffs are not dragging, traction should be fine.


Patchy snow/ice/bare pavement on the highway = Street pressure, NO chains.
*Drive extremely cautiously, nothing abrupt with steering/braking. Chains are dangerous on bare pavement.

Miles of slick densely packed snow several inches deep = Chains.
*As long as snow is packed and no bare pavement, chains are best.

Miles of snow covered ice = Chains.
*Cold snow over ice can be tricky, but chains will work best. Drive extremely cautiously, nothing abrupt with steering/braking.

Black ice = Ice is too thin for chains to any good amd quite dangerous. Just stay off the road.

 

I see snow 6 months out of the year, but I've never used chains or seen anyone using them. If I did happen to have some, I wouldn't use them until there was no other choice, e.g. if I were unable to get up an icy incline.

I've also ridden a lot of miles on bicycle in the winter and found that studded tires are a game changer on icy surfaces but don't do squat on soft snow.

 

Falken Wildpeak aren't really what I would consider actual winter tires. The 3 peak rating isn't that hard to achieve and lots of AT tires have that rating. That being said if you're going through deep snow, they should be fine.

Personally I run studded winter tires in winter and Duratracs in summer and don't even own chains so can't really tell when those would come in handy other than if they are mandated.

 

I think if anyone were to don chains in Minnesota they would get a lot of weird looks and probably some middle fingers and honks for driving 30-40mph on the hiway. I can see how it could be different in the mountains though.

 

Unless the snow is really, deep 12" or more, 4X4 and good tires are probably fine. It is ice where you NEED chains.

 

Is that because the people without chains are parked in the ditch?

 

I was born and raised in the San Bernardino mountains and those of us who live there or at least have been driving in snow for many years virtually never chain up our 4x4s unless we are forced to by chain check, or it snows a ton (like 2’+) and there’s no other choice to leave the house. In 45 years, I’ve honestly only needed to chain up a 4x4 exactly 2 times in my life. However, if you haven’t sat behind the wheel in snowy conditions for many hours, you need to put chains on when you start to feel even slightly uncomfortable with them off. Too many people fail to realize that chains are NOT meant to get you unstuck - They’re meant to prevent you getting stuck in the first place. Don’t be one of the asshats that thinks they can make it without chains, then gets stuck in the middle of the road, and blocks traffic for an hour while they put their chains on after the fact with cars sliding all around them. That makes the locals want to throat punch you.

 

Never used chains in my live. I drive in a foot of snow, no issue with my awesome Duratracs! Usually leaving many people in the dust....

 

I’m not sure if you are joking or misunderstanding me. No one uses chains here, so a person using then would look highly unusual. Possible reasons for this are a very capable snow removal system, the lack of mountains, and experienced drivers.

 

when you see 4wd vehicles coming down opposite direction all with chains

 

As long as your snow is not packed slick, then you are absolutely golden with decent tires.

When it gets packed super tight or frozen solid, no bare tire is a good option.

There is a very wide range of snow types across the country and each condition deserves the right approach.

A person that has lived and driven on the same perfect condition snow for 45 years would lose it if they didn't adapt to the conditions.

I would love to have cold mountain pass snow to drive on, but we get this shitty wet floppy snow that is really close to slush when it starts to accumulate and then it freezes solid at night.

Ever see the videos of Seattle and PDX slip-n-slides? Try driving on that without chains and results will be the same.

 

Add very incapable snow removal, mountains, and inexperienced drivers from out of state, and you see what kind of shit show we deal with in the PNwet.

We just don't get good snow on the wet side if the state (Oregon/Washington). Central and eastern sides are much much colder and flatter, and inexperienced drivers don't tend to venture far from major cities.

 

It is highly unlikely that you will never need them if driving on roads that lead to ski areas. Never had to chain up w/a 4x4 in 40+ years of driving in the mountains of the PNW. I have them onboard to meet National Park access requirements, but they remain untouched.

 

The one thing that does break down in the twin cities during a snow storm is the Uber/Lift system. A majority of the drivers are recent immigrants from places where there isn’t much snow and they shun snowy roads.

A similar thing happened to me in New Orleans during a thunderstorm. I ended up stranded at a bar all night because the entire Uber/lift/cab system shut down due to flooding. Luckily bars stay open all night there. That was a trip.