Snow Chains

[The Other Mike]

Scotty probably has a T shirt with a C&A logo on it.

[Tim+]

Ditto. The R4 was great in snow. Good ground clearance and the skinny tyres seemed to track much better that wider tyres in snow.

Tim

[Java Jive]

Again, I'm rather late into this thread, but this was very much my problem about 20 years ago, I lived at the top of a very steep hill. While I can't completely solve such a problem for you, here are some tips ...

1) If a wheel is spinning:

a) Don't rev, you'll merely dig it further in. The trick is to use a lower torque gear such as second, and let the clutch up really slowly, so that the shear effect from the wheels trying to turn on the snow is minimised.

b) If you have a differential-lock on the vehicle, use it, because then you will still get traction from the remaining driving-wheel(s). Release the diff-lock(s) once out of the bother, otherwise steering will be adversely affected.

c) If you have four-wheel-drive, use that also, but again note that you will still need to use the diff-lock(s), if available, and that, depending on how the front and rear drives are taken off the engine, there may not just be a diff-lock between the left and right wheels at each end, but also between front and rear drive trains, so potentially three diff-locks in all, although there may be only one lever which controls all three together.

2) If one or more wheels are stuck in a rut, try to rock them out by applying traction in resonant pulses timed just as the weight of the car is driving them up the side of the dip.

3) Don't rev or brake excessively - drive as you would if you were trying to walk on ice, do everything very progressively and gently.

4) If you get into a skid, steer progressively into it.

Some of the above are just as valid with mud, as any dirt-track biker will tell you, as in fact one once taught me, but using a tractor.

5) For front-wheel drive cars, as most are these days, you may be able to get up a hill in reverse when you can't forwards, as then the slope of the hill puts more weight on the driving wheels. Rear-wheel drive cars of course should travel uphill forwards.

6) Keep a tub of grit/salt (lashed) and a proper shovel in the boot.

Now that I appear to be about to spend a winter comparatively out in the wild, I've wondered about changing tyres, etc, but the simple truth seems to be that, here, the council is so good at gritting that no especial measures have yet proved necessary, despite snow on the high peaks, some frosty nights, and roads that commonly have moisture or even water dripping from rock faces onto them. Hence so far I've not done anything about preparing for winter.

If action should prove necessary, I'm minded to go for a spare set of wheels from a scrapheap or eBay, and put suitable winter tyres on them.

For an old Volvo 122 estate, I used to have some clip-on metal frames that were rather like snow chains, but far quicker and easier to fit. They got me out of a couple of bad spots - once I used them to tow a friend's car from a dangerous position where he'd had to abandon it to a safe place to park it. However, if the wheel bounced they'd hit the wheel arch, and the treads on them wore away quite quickly, tho' if I'd had a welder it would have been easy enough to fix that.

I w> I live in a very hilly area - and, though we live off a decent quality

[bert]

Simmonites do a snow plough for a Defender. Doesn't look like a quick job to attach it.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

I hope he wears it the right way round.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

It was always mud and snow.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Filled the boot with coal? What were you, millionaires?

[John Williamson]

I remember Dad religiously putting the Mud & Snow tyres on the car every Winter in the '60s. That was in the days when each tyre on the car had a different pressure in it, too.

[John Williamson]

Have you seen the size of the boot on a Skiderra?

[The Natural Philosopher]

I think it was originally a German term..I've heard both, early on in rallying, mud and slush: latterly mud and snow in consumer car parlance.

[Chris J Dixon]

Around that time, the ones my Dad used to put on were "Town & Country".

Chris

[bert]

Made by Firestone IIRC

[Davey]

Now that's the term I know. Thanks.

[Andy Champ]

As I mentioned up-thread, even if I _could_ get winter tyres it isn't worth it. The big problem is being stuck behind someone who is stuck behind someone else who is...

And that's in a car with RWD, no limited slip diff, low ground clearance and fat tyres.

Andy

[The Other Mike]

It was in a rallying context I first heard of them.