hop down
This was in the french alps, and I paid my tax de jour!
if they spent less money on crap sculptures and more on road maintenance and xmas lights the place would feel a whole lot nicer
who cares about a £1million green snail.....
Snow chains . . . again . . . ?
- Thread starter stockhausen
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hop down
This was in the french alps, and I paid my tax de jour!
if they spent less money on crap sculptures and more on road maintenance and xmas lights the place would feel a whole lot nicer
who cares about a £1million green snail.....
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Snow chains on undriven wheels?
An associated question on snow chains relates to whether or not it might make sense to use them on undriven wheels for braking purposes?
All the recommendations are that you should use snow chains on the driven wheels but I wondered whether there would be any benefit in using them on the rear wheels of a FWD car.
I ask this because last winter, I was driving over the Honister Pass in Cumbria when I encountered ice on the road (with no snow chains at all); I knew it was there and slowed to a stop before moving gingerly onto it. I was going downhill and even without using the brakes, the car was sliding all over the place.
Had I been going uphill I know that I would have been completely stuffed but fortunately the ice had melted by the end of the day.
This set me to pondering on the question above.
As to the question of spending money improving the appearance of the French Alps - surely Flaine is an obvious candidate?
An associated question on snow chains relates to whether or not it might make sense to use them on undriven wheels for braking purposes?
All the recommendations are that you should use snow chains on the driven wheels but I wondered whether there would be any benefit in using them on the rear wheels of a FWD car.
I ask this because last winter, I was driving over the Honister Pass in Cumbria when I encountered ice on the road (with no snow chains at all); I knew it was there and slowed to a stop before moving gingerly onto it. I was going downhill and even without using the brakes, the car was sliding all over the place.
Had I been going uphill I know that I would have been completely stuffed but fortunately the ice had melted by the end of the day.
This set me to pondering on the question above.
As to the question of spending money improving the appearance of the French Alps - surely Flaine is an obvious candidate?
I just wish they'd get rid of the sodding Haflinger Ponies from the center of 1850. They bloody reek!
I only put them on the rear of my car (RWD obviously), and still didn't have much issue with braking or steering. Don't forget that as a FWD user, you have the added bonus of your driven wheels not only being the directional control, but also responsible for the bigger proportion of the braking force (probably around a 60%-40% balance), and as such the rear wheels will be doing surprisingly little.
I'd not worry about it, just stick with the front.
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Has anybody tried AutoSocks? They look like a great alternative if you just need a little helping hand up a slippy road or driveway. Last year in the snow the MR2 was fine on the main roads but I couldn't get up my road and drive as it isn't gritted. These look way easier and quicker to fit...
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I believe that the Gendarmes will not accept Autosocks or WeissSocks as being suitable for use on snow covered Alpine roads - not sure if that is an urban myth?
That's fine - the only roads my car will be seeing this winter are British ones - specifically around the Warwickshire area. Not many Alps there.
AutoSocks might be the best option for getting me out of tricky spots this winter.
AutoSocks might be the best option for getting me out of tricky spots this winter.
pretty much an urban myth, loads of frenchies love the socks, god knows why they are pretty useless, but it gets them past the cops and probably later gets them into a tree or two!!
durability wise, I doubt if you would get 30-40miles use out of them, if you wheel spin them they burn up pretty quickly likewise if you get them on the tarmac
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It appears that snow chains ARE Compulsory in France. "Chains should be carried and used as dictated by local signs or road conditions. Reduced speed limits may apply." (AA LINK)
No mention of socks, stockings or suspenders (the French must be losing their grip
)It also seems that chains on the front and rear do offer an advantage - I'll still stick with just a set on the driven wheels.
expect these chains to break quite a few links if you are using them for any period of time, I had mine for 6 months and I'm pretty sure I replaced nearly 30-40 links! bit like trigger in only fools and horses's broom
Go easy on me folks, if this is a daft question... I registered for Overclockers specially to ask - but it's such a fascinating forum, it's taken me three days of reading other stuff before I got round to asking
Will Gill, you say you've replaced 30-40 links so far - where the heck do you get them from?!
I got three replacement links with my Arctics, but managed to use them all in the first week; I'm searching high and low for replacement links (the cross-links, not side ones with the screw-up closures on,) and can't find a decent supply in the UK for love nor money.
Anyone got any links or clues for a supplier? (Or do I just go down Jewsons, because a 9mm link is a 9mm link?)
Thanks for any help anyone can give.
Cheers.
B
I worked as a ski instructor in the alps, in our workshop are about 200 (not far from the truth) pairs of chains so we used to just butcher healthy links from them
link spacing wise its all much of a muchness, you might lose a bit of tension or you might gain a bit too much but it doesnt really matter
link spacing wise its all much of a muchness, you might lose a bit of tension or you might gain a bit too much but it doesnt really matter
I worked as a ski instructor in the alps, in our workshop are about 200 (not far from the truth) pairs of chains so we used to just butcher healthy links from them
link spacing wise its all much of a muchness, you might lose a bit of tension or you might gain a bit too much but it doesnt really matter
Thanks Will Gill.
But "bu**er" as well, at the same time
In the event one isn't confronted with a workshop full of several hundred sets of chains, would anyone else know where I can get hold of a nice fat handful of repair links?
Cheers.
B
you can use anything you like to replace the links to be fair, keyrings work well
Cheers Will - your posts really got me thinking, and I found a fabulous solution...
Some hardened steel chain from our local garden centre, just the right size and £10 for 20 metres (heaven knows when I'll use all that - if anyone wants a few metres let me know!!) which I snipped up and keep in my boot, and it works a treat.
Just need to keep two pairs of pliers handy, as the links are too damn hard to bend with just one pair and fingers, but apart from that it's completely ticketyboo.
Many thanks indeed, for helping me get to the conclusion that I didn't need to go to www.expensivesnowchainreplacementlinks.co.uk for my answer.
Happy new year, and safe driving all round.
B