Snow Chains

I'm driving to Morzine for February half term and I need to get a hold of snow chains, is it best to buy them or hire them and if so does anyone know if its better to get them in the uk or in France ?? Need advice as want to plan ahead and i think its a legal requirement help needed!!! Cheers )

depends what car you have - if the wheels are pretty standard, you can buy in resort easily (and generally cheaper).
Hire vs buy depends on how often you drive to resort and how often you change your car - as they may not fit the next car

Hi NIIIXSY,
I would say it depends how much spare money you have. If you can afford it I reckon it's a much better idea to pay a bit more and buy them in the U.K. and then you can be sure of buying ones the right size for your tyres and you will have plenty of time to practice with them.

I bought some snow chains here in the U.K. to cope with all the snow we had in our country lane, for about £90 from snowchains.co.uk. I got the more expensive self-tensioning Weissenfels ones. It took me quite a while to work out how to put them on (and I took a chunk out of my finger), but then it only took about 3 minutes per wheel. You don't have to drive onto them, you can put them on whilst stationary and they tighten themselves up. They sell them in pairs, to go on the drive wheels.

We had to take them off in the dark when we reached the tarmac of the main road, and it was pretty difficult because of trying to hold a torch and cope with the mud, snow and cold and remember what to do. We could have done with one of those head torches really.

So, as I said, if you can afford it I'd definitely recommend buying them before you go and practising with them.

Ally

It's unlikely that you'll need to use them so I would just get a cheap pair for the sake of the law. If you do need them it won't be for extensive use if you're only out for a week. Try ebay that's where we got ours £25 I think.

They are really easy to put on once you know how, so as Ally says do practice. I don't know how she managed to take a chunk out of her finger but then I don't know how she manages to get so many injuries full stop. :lol: :wink:

Thanks for advice and have just bought a pair on e/bay cheapest pair I could find £30 including postage, we have used them before on a hired car 2 years ago so have a bit of experience putting them on, thanks again! :roll:

NIIIXSY,
I'm glad you're sorted now :D

SnowBandit,
I took the chunk out of my finger when I was practising with the chains in the house. The automatic tension system has a control a bit like the lock on a metal tape measure - you push it one way and it releases, and you push it the other way and it locks. And I released it to pull out the extra cable (so that there is some spare to put it on the tyre), locked it, and then released it - and whoosh! The cable shot back into the control at a million miles an hour taking some of my finger with it :cry:

It wouldn't have happened if I'd actually had it on the tyre at the time, because it would have held it back, but I was just practising with the control. I am seriously thinking about writing a letter to the manufacturers :D

I had to do all my cleaning work all Christmas with that finger wrapped in toilet paper and surgical tape. At least it's healed now :lol:

And when we came to take the chains off the tyre my husband couldn't get the control to work, but I could - I knew all about it by that time :wink:

Ally

AllyG wrote:NIIIXSY,
I'm glad you're sorted now :D

SnowBandit,
I took the chunk out of my finger when I was practising with the chains in the house. The automatic tension system has a control a bit like the lock on a metal tape measure - you push it one way and it releases, and you push it the other way and it locks. And I released it to pull out the extra cable (so that there is some spare to put it on the tyre), locked it, and then released it - and whoosh! The cable shot back into the control at a million miles an hour taking some of my finger with it :cry:



Ally

OUCH!

Lots of chain vendors will sell you chains that may well cause problems once the vehicle is loaded and doing those hairpin turns. So ...

First, check the wheels and tyres fitted to your car against your owner's handbook, and see if the combination you have officially takes chains or not. For example, on my Audi A3 the only wheels that officially take chains are 16", not 17" or 18". If you're lucky, your wheels/tyres do take chains and then you can just buy wherever you like.

If your wheels aren't 'certified' to take chains then you have a decision: Do I buy some chains just for show (i.e. to convince an official that you're carrying some) or do I want some that I can use for real (i.e. without damaging the car)?

Personally, I would want some that really work without causing damage. If you're of the same view, then there are a number of possibilities. The key factor is going to be how much free space there is on the inside of the wheel - can you fit the chain's gubbins over the inside of the wheel without fouling the suspension, brake pipes, driveshaft or steering?

Whether there is enough space is a tricky one to judge, as you have to assume the chains will be used on a fully-loaded vehicle with the suspension going up/down. If your car is front-wheel drive then there's the added problem of the wheels being steered as well, which can reduce the available space.

In my case, even 'though I have (uncertified for chains) 17" wheels, I judge that there's enough free space to use Michelin Easy Grip chains. These have a minimal thickness, are easier to fit than most, and use much less internal wheel space. However, these are about £95 a pair. In my case, I'm comfortable because I swap my 18" summer wheels for 17" winter wheels and tyres and know I have 1" extra internal gap between the wheel and car to play with.

As I said, chain vendors will happily sell you anything, but when pressed, will mutter about "trying them out" or that they "should be OK". So what if they're not OK and you damage your car while 'trying them out' or worse, half way up a mountain in the dark and freezing snow?