Truck and Car Tire Chain

The tire chains and snow chains are safety chains for winter snow or ice driving, in most states tire chains are required by transportation authorities, and snow chains should be installed on one or more drive axles of the vehicles, which means tire chains have to be installed by pairs, for single wheel tire chain the pair means tow chains, for double wheel chains the pair means two sets.

Before acquiring tire chains, you should know the exact size of your tire. There are series of numbers and letters printed on the side of the every tire, On most modern passenger car tires, the tire size will look like this: P175/60R14, this means the tire is 175 mm wide, has an aspect ratio of 70% and is mounted on a wheel with diameter of 14 inches, for commercial truck tires, the common size looks like this 11-22.5, the dash means this is bias ply tire while "R" for radial tires, 11 is the width of the tire in inches, 22.5 is the diameter of the wheel on which this tire will fit, and the aspect ratio for standard truck tire is 88%, so the height(from the wheel rim to the outside of the tire) of the 11-22.5 tire is about 9.68 inches.

The maintenance of the tire/snow/safety chains are of utmost importance for your safety, always follow the published rules:

1. Pre-Fit Chains prior to actual use.
2. Consult owner's manual to see if chains can be used on your tires.
3. Make certain the tire chains are properly sized for your tires, a proper fit is key to performance and safety;
4. Follow directions for installing the chains, apply as tightly as possible by hand for maximum chain life
5. Be sure to pull off highway to a safe place before installing, servicing or removing chains;
6. Do not deflate the tires to install snow chains;
7. Drive Approximately 1/4 miles, stop and re-tighten, extra links maybe cut off or retained on the fastener arm:
8. Do not drive at high speed, accelerate and decelerate slowly, avoid spinning or locking the wheel;
9. If a cross chain should fail, stop immediately to repair, never drive with a broken chain;
10. Avoid hitting curbs with tire chains;
11. Tire chains are not designed for towing vehicles.

SAE(Society of Automotive Engineers) Classification:
SAE class "S": Regular, non-reinforced passenger tire chains and cables for vehicles with restricted wheel well clearances.
SAE class "U": Regular, non-reinforced and lug-reinforced passenger tire chains for vehicles with regular, non-restricted wheel well clearances.
SAE class "W": Passenger tire chains that use light truck components, as well as some light truck chains.