What has never happened, Happened! Be prepared!

Rockies rule · Nov 13, 2011

Just a little reminder to everybody that even tho you have done something a thousand times it doesn't mean it cant go wrong. As i found out today!
I was taking the sleds out for the first ride of the season. I had the trailer on the back of the truck. I started pulling up a hill that i have been up a thousand times before. The temps were very mild out side and there had been lots of traffic on this bush road hill. Making the hill extremely icy. The hill is roughly 1.5 miles long with a 600 foot drop on one side. I was cruising up it like i always do and had to pull off to one side for oncoming traffic. when i tried to start out again i started sliding backwards across the single lane road towards the drop. luckly the shoulder had not been driven on and was not pack to a frozen slick. I managed to come to a stop before going over on the shoulder. but now how to get going again? lucky for me a couple of buddys of mine were coming in the opposite direction and we were able to mess around with chains and cables and get me unhooked from the trailer and turned around.
I learnt my lesson and am going to go and buy chains for all four corners of my truck this week. Like i said just because something has never happened doesn't mean it won't. I am just sending this out there to hopefully save somebody else the headache. Have a safe one boys and lets shred some pow!:face-icon-small-ton

skibreeze · Nov 13, 2011

This is why the person going up the road has the right of way. The person going down should have pulled over for you.

Rockies rule · Nov 13, 2011

skibreeze said:
This is why the person going up the road has the right of way. The person going down should have pulled over for you.

Yes you are correct but coulda, shoulda, woulda haha. It was also my fault for not being prepared for those conditions. I know better now:doh:

TonyG · Nov 13, 2011

Been there too. I took a couple cross links out of my chains so I can put them on tight with out moving the vehicle.

Rockies rule · Nov 13, 2011

TonyG said:
Been there too. I took a couple cross links out of my chains so I can put them on tight with out moving the vehicle.

That might not be a bad idea:thumb:

LAMBOFGOD · Nov 14, 2011

bahaha, this sounds a little too familer!!!!!
friday, had to make the choice to either tbone my brother, or hit the ditch doing 50km......chose the ditch, sleds everywhere, deck flew out of the truck, im lucky to be alive, 300 ft cliff another 1km down the road, and there was no way i was stopping!!!!

on that note, i got a package deal on an 04 dodge 2500 and a 2010 m8 :face-icon-small-ton

Scott · Nov 14, 2011

I have chains for my truck, but have never test-fitted them. Have had these for two seasons now.

gmustangt · Nov 14, 2011

bought chains last year, never used them, practise putting them on in a warm dry enviroment so when i need to on the mtn i can do it quickly

Code Blue · Nov 14, 2011

Shoulda bought a Duramax, Just Kidding, I remember coming down a road near Pikes Pike once and went into a slide, front drivers wheel dropped over the 900 ft cliff before coming to a stop.., I think I pushed the brake strait though the floorboard, and no need to say, Butt I did throw those shorts away.,. bbbwwwaaa

mountainhorse · Nov 14, 2011

Scary...glad you are OK...

Life throws come cureballs huh??

Ultra · Nov 14, 2011

It's why I went with a really big truck and a very light weight enclosed trailer instead of the other way around....on ice!

volcano buster · Nov 14, 2011

I have a set of Les Schwab speed chains and a set of the old link style chains. I can chain up all 4's. One thing I do have is a small container of split links, small chain couplers, cable clamps and the like. I figured if a chain breaks on me somewhere I may need to fix it to get home. I drop that container in my tire chain bag so I know where it is. I also have a small spool of fencing wire with pliers and a ton of zip-ties so I could stitch some links up if needed. I carry the wire and pliers for work, but they stay in the cross box.

Leaf27 · Nov 14, 2011

skibreeze said:
This is why the person going up the road has the right of way. The person going down should have pulled over for you.

It's the vehicle going down that has the right of way on all FSR in my area

Chaos · Nov 14, 2011

Great discussion. Carrying a set of chains got me out of a tight spot also.

I recently bought a new Chevy 2011 2500 HD Duramax, retiring my 2002 GMC 1500 with nearly 215K miles. Almost the first thing I did was to look for a new set of chains, and have been unsuccesful thus far. Local retailers, the dealer, and the vehicle manual all say, don't use chains. Plus, I'll be darn if I can find a set to match the tires on the truck (265/60R20). If you look at the back of the tires on this particular vehicle/truck, you can see why the warning against using chains; lines and wires look like they are prime targets. Whats a guy to do?????

Chaos

Rockies rule · Nov 14, 2011

mountainhorse said:
Scary...glad you are OK...

Life throws come cureballs huh??

Hell ya it does haha! Hey I learnt my lesson and it really didn't cost me anything! So I came out of it good.

heathkiks · Nov 16, 2011

Another vote for the guy going down has the right-of-way.... They may not be able to stop.

volcano buster · Nov 16, 2011

I work in the woods. Downhill guy has the right of way. Downhill is towards town, the mill is in town, and the downhill guy is likely loaded. Plus it is very hard on equipment to back uphill with a load on, if you can do it at all. Beware, don't assume you have the right-of-way in either direction though.

Since we are talking about tire chains, if you are using the Les Schwab speedy chains (Z chains or whatever they want to call them) inspect the little rubber bungee on the end of the tensioner chain. These are not to be pulled overly tight which puts stress on them, but more just to keep that loose chain contained. If the rubber breaks, your chains may not stay on, and/or the chain end will whip the paint off the fender. If in doubt, zip-tie/wire it in place if you have a ways to go.

Another trick I was shown. Carry a couple short pieces of 2x4 (or 2x6). When you pull over to chain up, slip the blocks in behind your tires to be chained up then roll the rig back until the tires are perched up on those blocks. Since the cross bars of the chains should be able to pull up under the tire now, you can install the chains super tight, pull forward and retrieve your blocks. This should help with the notorious slop once the chains take a set on your tires.

If you use standard cross link chains that are a bit over sized, don't cut them down to fit unless they are super huge. I test fit mine then fold the excess side chain (2-3 links) back and zip-tie it in place to another link. I have been in a spot once or twice where you simply can't dig down under the tire enough to get the chains under the footprint. If this is the case, you can cut the zip-tie and extend the side links until you get the rig up on more solid ground. I do like the excess pinned back to keep it from flailing and hitting things.

Givemeaboost · Nov 16, 2011

I carry a light truck set with the icebars on them for the front and a set of heavyduty ones for the rear. If you have a portable floor jack it makes putting on chains real easy. Just jack it up and spin the tire to get it hooked. I just bought a new set of studded Coopers for my rig.

Ken.....

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