Tire chains?

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
MDC is getting Chinese made chains now instead of the good Pewag Austrian chains:dissapointed:.
I have a set of PEWAGS in the truck, plus a spare, plus another set stashed in my locker in case my car gets switched or is being repaired when it snows. I run a lot of miles every winter on chains, on rough roads, and I need the good ones a lot more than a flat in-town route that might chain up once every 5 years. The Chinese ones are indeed junk, the steel is soft and the crosslinks break. I have never broken a crosslink on a PEWAG. Plus they come with a piece of steel cable with a hook on each end that allows you to hook the chain to the tread from the top and drive over it instead of having to lay them out in the snow. PEWAGS are the bomb!


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1BROWNWRENCH

Amatuer Malthusian
The Chinese ones are crapola. You will be lucky if they survive one use even if they are installed perfectly. I agree that most are destroyed due to poor installation. More bungees are not a substitute for properly installing them. If you need more than 2, they are way too loose!
 

scisector9

Well-Known Member
The tire chains we have at my center suck they are just single chains that go through the tire pieces of junk.

At my center we do not get charged with an accident unless property damage or damage to the truck. Thank God too because this rookie has been stuck a couple times this year and needed towed. Making a name for myself with automotive. Hope its a green horn thing.

We have had days where several drivers have needed tows. Sometimes they send another heavy spare car with straps other times a tow truck depending on situation. Had one guy who got stuck sent a small tow truck and couldn't get him out. Had to send a wrecker after that. Took 4 hours! we would be driver less if all these were crashes.

Cheers

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Maple7

Well-Known Member
We don't get charged in my Center. Just last week we had a guy who got stuck and needed a tow. The tow truck then got stuck too so it became a double tow. We don't get much snow but when we do its tough because of all the hills. My center would rather pay a tow fee then have even more sick calls on snow days cause drivers are afraid of getting stuck. On bad snow days basically just show up and do only what you safely can. From a accident/injury stand point we surprisingly do better on these days.
 

Rainman

Its all good.
25 years and I have yet to have to put a set of chains on. That's not to say I have never been stuck---I have----but the locals, especially on my country run, were always willing to help.

You will get charged with an accident only if it costs the company money.
We has so many people in our building get stuck a few years back when we had a particularly bad snow, that they quit charging accidents when we got suck unless someone did something really stupid,


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soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
One thing that happens when you spend an entire week with chains on all day is that the constant vibration destroys the filaments in your headlights. I had to do a MacGuyver last week when BOTH of my low beams burned out within 15 minutes of each other. It was dark and very foggy, so having high beams only was a safety hazard, and I was too far away from the nearest auto parts store to be able to just buy new ones like I have done in the past. So...I took some opaque brown strapping tape and applied a couple layers of it to the top half of the headlight lenses in order to "dim" my brights enough to let me finish the day.


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MethodsMan

Well-Known Member
We got those stupid ones with the rubber primarily. :censored2: the rubber. They always break off anyways. Grab about 4 bungees and make that as tight as a ducks arse. Works way better. The rubber is a joke.
 

some1else

Well-Known Member
I am a "pro chain" driver. Why struggle all day just put the chains on and putter around and you dont have to worry about getting stuck. They help with braking as well. If the roads have more than 2-4" i put them on (if its less than that it tends to be a bumby ride!)


Since we have a brownwrench in here let me ask; on new 1ton trucks electronic lockers are a 200$ option. Any reason we couldnt get those? Even a button on the dash that only locks it for 10seconds just so you can get rolling and people dont drive with it locked all day?
 

Wally

BrownCafe Innovator & King of Puns
The chains we get are single strand type. You use them to drive 15 feet or so then take em' off, usually around 45 minutes later. They keep breaking so the driver will go through at least 3 chains.

The old trucks had more holes so you could put 2 on (top and bottom).

PW6081_tn.jpg
 

Xexys

Retired and Happy
The chains we get are single strand type. You use them to drive 15 feet or so then take em' off, usually around 45 minutes later. They keep breaking so the driver will go through at least 3 chains.

The old trucks had more holes so you could put 2 on (top and bottom).

PW6081_tn.jpg


Does anyone remember the wheels that the mechanics had to chip out holes in just so we could get the chains through? That's what we had to deal with, just saying.
 

oldngray

nowhere special
I saw on the news this morning that several city school buses got stuck on side streets. The city seldom if ever plows side streets and will only occasionally spread a little salt. Won't matter for UPS drivers who have to drive those streets every day. :chaseups:
 

1BROWNWRENCH

Amatuer Malthusian
I am a "pro chain" driver. Why struggle all day just put the chains on and putter around and you dont have to worry about getting stuck. They help with braking as well. If the roads have more than 2-4" i put them on (if its less than that it tends to be a bumby ride!)


Since we have a brownwrench in here let me ask; on new 1ton trucks electronic lockers are a 200$ option. Any reason we couldnt get those? Even a button on the dash that only locks it for 10seconds just so you can get rolling and people dont drive with it locked all day?
Might be nice until they get destroyed the first time they get left on all day. Also would be extremely time consuming to replace/repair with every occurrence. Maybe if a timer were built in it would be worth a try. Detroit lockers have been around for a long time.
 
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